Slayer's Seemingly Sweet and Socially Silly Random Banter # 107

[Recaiden]

The thing is, most people assume that some things are morally right or wrong. Helping a friend get back on his feet after they have a major change in lifestyle is generally seen as good, whereas killing, eating, and torturing children is seen as bad.

Assumptions can be made. "Don't kick that old guy" "Give that guy some cash" "Stop licking my soup!" "Oh God, you've killed him without him being an imminent threat or in a notion where capitol punishment is in effect!"

There are just as valid arguments against any set of morals, but they kind of mess up society, sometimes even if everyone has them. So, we say, "these things are wrong, these are right", when they really are neutral, whether they seem like it or not.

[Mordokai]

So... yeah.

In about an hour and a half, I have an exam. Nothing too important, and yet, very important. Consisting of first aid, laws and some other... stuff. Basically, not too big a deal if I flunk. It won't be first time and probably not the last as well. But if I do, that means I have to start all over again and with December coming in, I'd really preffer to avoid that. If nothing else, I can't bear to go over all the stupid and boring laws once again. The problem is, I'm not sure if I studied enough. I probably didn't. What was the cause for that, best left undiscused. So, right now, I'm getting out of my PJs, putting some clothes on, start the car and go for whatever will happen. I feel irritated, panicked, slightly sad and just a tad violent as well. It's not a good morning to be me.

I just felt like getting this out of me. And no better place for it than Random Banter.

The first one that makes the "paladins are lawful good" joke gets it.

[TFT]

So... yeah.

<snip>

I just felt like getting this out of me. And no better place for it than Random Banter.

The first one that makes the "paladins are lawful good" joke gets it.

but Paladins are la-
Uhhh I mean, paladins are too be lauded. Of course that's what I meant. No joke intended

Anyways... I only have a half day of school tomorrow, and no homework due(First time in about a month) So I'm just spending right now relaxing...

[ghost_warlock]

So... yeah.

In about an hour and a half, I have an exam. Nothing too important, and yet, very important. Consisting of first aid, laws and some other... stuff. Basically, not too big a deal if I flunk. It won't be first time and probably not the last as well. But if I do, that means I have to start all over again and with December coming in, I'd really preffer to avoid that. If nothing else, I can't bear to go over all the stupid and boring laws once again. The problem is, I'm not sure if I studied enough. I probably didn't. What was the cause for that, best left undiscused. So, right now, I'm getting out of my PJs, putting some clothes on, start the car and go for whatever will happen. I feel irritated, panicked, slightly sad and just a tad violent as well. It's not a good morning to be me.

I just felt like getting this out of me. And no better place for it than Random Banter.

The first one that makes the "paladins are lawful good" joke gets it.

Good luck, Mords. To be honest, I actually kinda miss the feeling that passes for test-anxiety in GW's world. But I can't say that this particular test sounds like it'd be much fun.

The sicko-biologist in me would be really interested in the first aid stuff, though, at least if there's pictures. I'm not really much of a gorehound, as it relates to movies, but RL stuff is just so...interesting. While most other people are cringing, I'm thinking 'fascinating.' The mad scientist/amoral observer in me just loves seeing how stuff fits together and falls apart.

[Coidzor]

Part of paladins have always reminded me of Saul of Tarsus who became that Paul guy. Since he never really wanted to receive the call in the first place and all, but he kept to it through it all after the call found him (since it does know where you live after all).

So I keep thinking of Mordokai as one of those less-than-willing paladins who keeps shouldering on with it due to his natural personality and duty to his role/personality.

Mordokai's becoming an EMT? Kudos!

[Phase]

Anyways... I only have a half day of school tomorrow, and no homework due(First time in about a month) So I'm just spending right now relaxing...

Same for me, but for today. The school picked this as community service day. Hooray for helping others!

[Cristo Meyers]

So... yeah.

In about an hour and a half, I have an exam. Nothing too important, and yet, very important. Consisting of first aid, laws and some other... stuff. Basically, not too big a deal if I flunk. It won't be first time and probably not the last as well. But if I do, that means I have to start all over again and with December coming in, I'd really preffer to avoid that. If nothing else, I can't bear to go over all the stupid and boring laws once again. The problem is, I'm not sure if I studied enough. I probably didn't. What was the cause for that, best left undiscused. So, right now, I'm getting out of my PJs, putting some clothes on, start the car and go for whatever will happen. I feel irritated, panicked, slightly sad and just a tad violent as well. It's not a good morning to be me.

I just felt like getting this out of me. And no better place for it than Random Banter.

The first one that makes the "paladins are lawful good" joke gets it.

It's been my personal experience that the people that always thought they've studied enough tended to find out they were sorely mistaken...

...lawful paladin says what?

[TwoBitWriter]

It's been my personal experience that the people that always thought they've studied enough tended to find out they were sorely mistaken...

That is why I stopped studying entirely!

[Cristo Meyers]

I was one of those people that could pretty much not study at all, ever, and still manage to do decently if not well.

[TwoBitWriter]

Me too, throughout most of my school career.

Now, that doesn't mean it didn't start kinda catching up to me my last year of college, but I still managed to graduate at a 3.0...

@V Thanks, I am ready for Babeh Week!

[Fostire]

I was one of those people that could pretty much not study at all, ever, and still manage to do decently if not well.

Same here. I remember people talking on test days about how they spent days studying and how they didn't even sleep the previous night and I was thinking "why would anyone do that? I studied the whole thing in 2 hours".
I also remember after the test everyone comparing results and how they all got the same result and my result was usually completely different. When that happened I was the one who got it right (most of the time )

TBW: Love the avatar .

[Cristo Meyers]

Pretty much Though I didn't even put in the two hours. I might, might look over notes before the exam.

I remember my HS Bio teacher pulling me aside my senior year and saying "you're not going to be able to pull this coasting thing in college like you did here..."

Sorry Mr. P, wrong again

[TwoBitWriter]

I do love all the lies that high school teachers told us about what college was going to be like.

I went to a very reputable, big-name university, and it wasn't anywhere near as awful as was described to me.

[Cristo Meyers]

Only horrible thing about college was those stupid bloody "icebreaker" things they always did on the first day of class. I always wanted to make something up:

"Stand up, tell us your name and something about yourself."

"My name is Cris and I'm an Emissary from the Emirate of Oman."

...or is it Sultanate? Where's Rand when you need him?

[TwoBitWriter]

During the "Icebreakers" I did lie, several times. Nothing too big, but stuff like "When I was a teenager back in Louisiana, I used to wrestle Alligators for my Summer job."

[Cristo Meyers]

My favorite was this:

"My name is X and by the end of the semester I will have slept with half of this class."

*looks at nearest student, male or female*

"Hey..."

[unstattedCommoner]

"my name is ... not to spoken by mere mortals."

[Mordokai]

Passed the law part and the stuff, flunked first aid Oh, the bitter sweet irony!

But it's all ok, since at least those two stay So all I have to do now is to study some more of first aid and it will all be ok.

Anybody volunteering for my test subject on internal bleedings? Bloody internal bleedings...

And thanks for all the nice words Means a lot.

[TwoBitWriter]

Sure Mordy, you can take a look at my guts anytime!

Er... yeah. Congratulations. I would have given encouragement before, but I just woke up a couple hours ago!

[Cristo Meyers]

Anybody volunteering for my test subject on internal bleedings? Bloody internal bleedings...

...

...what? Why is everyone looking at me?

*hug*

See? We knew you could do it.

[Mordokai]

Sure Mordy, you can take a look at my guts anytime!

That was equally sweet and disturbing

...

...what? Why is everyone looking at me?

*hug*

See? We knew you could do it.

*looking for a sarcastic reply*
*found none*

Awww, thanks!

[TwoBitWriter]

*sings horribly*

"Lean on me, when you're not strong... and I'll be your friend... I'll help you caaarrryy onnn...."

[Serpentine]

The sicko-biologist in me would be really interested in the first aid stuff, though, at least if there's pictures. I'm not really much of a gorehound, as it relates to movies, but RL stuff is just so...interesting. While most other people are cringing, I'm thinking 'fascinating.' The mad scientist/amoral observer in me just loves seeing how stuff fits together and falls apart.

Was talking to a friend of mine recently (actually, I've already mentioned him to you. Cory, the Fat Gay Bastard). He's working as a nurse. According to him, he enjoys it partly because he "wants to help people" - you know, the usual - but also because he's really interested in the human body and injuries and death and stuff. He said he'd look at other students who were fainting or getting naucious (how the bajeebus do you spell that?) or going "ew" at all the films/pictures/disections and think "How exactly are you going to cope with working with this stuff every day? "

I was one of those people that could pretty much not study at all, ever, and still manage to do decently if not well.

I once studied for the entirely wrong exam.
I got at least a Credit for both classes

Well this is good timing. I just came in to say
I'VE ALMOST FINISHED THE LAST ASSIGNMENT OF MY DEGREE
Only 9 days late <.<
Just have to edit it down (it's meant to be 2500 words, with 10% leeway, and references don't count, and it's currently 3,827 words including 922 reference words) and "hand" it in.

[Cristo Meyers]

Yay for Serpy!

I'd write another episode of that fic, but even being glad for someone is powerless against the might of the Writer's Block...

*sings horribly*

"Lean on me, when you're not strong... and I'll be your friend... I'll help you caaarrryy onnn...."

Oi! That's my schtick!

*looking for a sarcastic reply*
*found none*

Awww, thanks!

Don't tempt me paladin...

[TwoBitWriter]

Oi! That's my schtick!

That's why I made sure to indicate that I was singing badly...
You aren't a bard that sings badly, are you?

I remember the last bard I made for D&D wasn't a singer, he was a stand-up comedian...

[Serpentine]

Because I feel like it, here is the whole (not-quite-completely-edited) essay. If anyone is so utterly bored that they read the whole thing, any advice/correction/whatever is most appreciated, and I really need a better title.

Spoiler

Show

Coral Reefs on the Edge

Assignment #2
A Review of the Management of the Tropical Marine Ornamental Live Trade

The marine aquarium trade is a multi-billion dollar international enterprise. It involves fish, live rock, and echinoderms, crustaceans, molluscs, hard and soft corals, and other invertebrates. The vast majority of traded specimens are wild-caught on coral reefs in small, developing, tropical nations, and are destined for markets in the US, Eastern Europe and other wealthy regions. Although fairly benign and small-scale relative to other anthropogenic reef impacts, the collection and trade of marine species entails its own, often unique, threats and issues. These include physical impacts on habitat, depletion of species, changes in community structure, the spread of pathogens and introduction of alien species, and animal welfare concerns. Heightened awareness and interest in the environmental costs of the marine ornamental trade, accompanying its escalation, has resulted in worldwide pressure on collectors, traders, retailers and consumers to assess the damage and scale of the trade, improve collection and handling methods, and manage all its impacts through legal regulations, education, technological advancements, development of alternatives and product certification.
Tropical marine fish were originally collected in small numbers in Sri Lanka in the 1930s (Sadovy & Vincent 2002:396,400; Wabnitz et al 2003:9). The occupation expanded in scope, abundance and variety during the 1950s into other island and developing nations with reefs (Helfman 2007:374; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:400; Wabnitz et al 2003:6). Most aquarium species are collected from Southeast Asia, and island nations in the Indian and Pacific Oceans (Sadovy & Vincent 2002:396-7; Vincent 2006:192; Wabnitz et al 2003:6). Many of the exporting nations are small and developing (Helfman 2007:374; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:391; Wabnitz et al 2003:6), and many of the collectors are rural, low-income islanders and coastal people working in small, often family, groups either for themselves or a wholesaler or exporter employer (Wabnitz et al 2003:6,12). These ground-level traders often have few alternative means of employment (Wabnitz et al 2003:6).
Fish, coral, and other invertebrates are all in high demand for private, commercial and public aquariums (Sadovy & Vincent 2002:397; Vincent 2006:194; Wabnitz et al 2003:6). The main importers of wild-captured aquarium species are the United States of America, Europe, and to a lesser extent Japan (Bruckner 2002:2,4; Gasparini et al 2005:2884; Helfman 2007:375-6; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:394,397; Vincent 2006:193-4; Wabnitz et al 2003:6,19,25). As many as 2 million households around the world own a marine aquarium, more than a quarter in the US (Helfman 2007:376-7; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:397; Vincent 2006:194; Wabnitz et al 2003:9). Exotic marine animals are very valuable, and commerce in them very lucrative (Sadovy & Vincent 2002:400; Vincent 2006:195; Wabnitz et al 2003:6). The trade is worth more than US$200 million annually (Bruckner 2002:1; Helfman 2007:374; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:391,400; Vincent 2006:195; Wabnitz et al 2003:9).
Nearly 1,500 species of fish, represented by more than 20 million individuals, are traded worldwide every year (Gasparini et al 2005:2884; Helfman 2007:374; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:394,400; Vincent 2006:190,194; Wabnitz et al 2003:6-7). Most of these are species of damselfish (Pomacentridae), angelfish (Pomacanthridae), surgeonfish (Acanthuridae), wrasses (Labridae), gobies (Gobiidae) and butterflyfish (Chaetodontidae) (Gasparini et al 2005:2885; Helfman 2007:376; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:394; Vincent 2006:190-1; Wabnitz et al 2003:7,18-20). About 12 million pieces of approximately 140 species of stony corals and 61 species of soft corals are traded annually (Bruckner 2002:2; Vincent 2006:191,194; Wabnitz et al 2003:7-8). Up to 500 species, or about 10 million individuals, of other invertebrates, in particular molluscs, shrimps and anemones, are also traded annually (Vincent 2006:192,194; Wabnitz et al 2003:8).
While the impact of even very poor live collection practices is small in comparison to the larger-scale anthropogenic damage of pollution, tourism, food fishing, bleaching, and so on, the ornamental trade has the potential to exacerbate these pressures (Gasparini et al 2005:2888; Helfman 2007:374,383; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:391; Wabnitz et al 2003:10,42,58). On the other hand, if managed well live specimen collection can cause minimal damage to sites (Wabnitz et al 2003:10), and the high value of live trade can be a powerful incentive for local collectors to protect the reefs upon which their livelihoods depend (Helfman 2007:391; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:391; Wabnitz et al 2003:10). At the other end of the market, public marine aquaria can provide important educational opportunities to inform people of the ecology, fragility, and conservation needs of marine environments (Helfman 2007:374,392-3; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:417; Wabnitz et al 2003:10).
Several marine species are commonly traded despite the difficulty keeping them, including a number whose dietary requirements and other characteristics render them “truly unsuitable” for aquariums. Many of these, which include corals, particularly azooxanthellate species, and obligate corallivores, normally die within a very short time (Bruckner 2002:2; Gasparini et al 2005:2891; Helfman 2007:379-80,402-3; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:403; Wabnitz et al 2003:7-8,25,43-6). Some traded species, moreover, are on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals as “vulnerable” (Sadovy & Vincent 2002:407).
Insufficient care in the collection, handling and transport of marine animals can stress, damage, or kill many individuals (Bruckner 2002:3; Gasparini et al 2005:2887; Helfman 2007:374,380-2; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:392,401-3; Vincent 2006:192; Wabnitz et al 2003:6,10,46-7). Fish, in particular, are sensitive to prolonged travel, incorrect packaging, disease, aggression, water chemistry, and other stressors that can result in increased mortality (Gasparini et al 2005:2887; Helfman 2007:380-1; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:401-3; Wabnitz et al 2003:13,46-7). It is in the traders’ own interest, however, for the specimens to at least reach the customer alive and reasonably well. Thus many trade organisms are treated with great care and increasing investment in equipment and training are helping to minimise fatalities (Helfman 2007:380; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:395,401-3; Wabnitz et al 2003:13,47). Expanding involvement of “transhippers”, who simply collect the animals from the airport, take them through customs and distribute them to retailers, as opposed to wholesalers who also acclimatize and check the animals, places many traded specimens at risk of greater mortality (Wabnitz et al 2003:13-4). However, widespread criticism and pressure from the Marine Aquarium Council has encouraged transhipping companies to improve their procedures (Wabnitz et al 2003:12).
Despite the great variety of animals collected, it is very selective and species-intensive. Over-harvesting of some species may threaten their viability and in some cases result in local extinction (Gasparini et al 2005:2891; Helfman 2007:383; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:392; Vincent 2006:196; Wabnitz et al 2003:6,10,31,35). Studies and anecdotal evidence of fish harvesting found that many of the heaviest-targeted species decrease in number under collection pressure, though others, and other sites, showed little or no decrease (Bruckner 2002:3; Gasparini et al 2005:2888-9; Helfman 2007:383-5; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:410-1; Wabnitz et al 2003:36). One study on the impact of coral harvesting found that heavy use resulted in a reduction of 31% in coral cover and 64% of coral density and a decline of more than 70% in abundance of six popular corals (Wabnitz et al 2003:36). Such an impact on coral populations may have long-term effects on their reproduction, and therefore on the stability and health of the reef as a whole (Bruckner 2002:3; Helfman 2007:379; Vincent 2006:196; Wabnitz et al 2003:37).
The risk of over-harvesting is heightened where the species is also under other pressures (Gasparini et al 2005:2888,2890; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:410; Vincent 2006:192; Wabnitz et al 2003:31,42,45). Several species of giant clam (Tridacna spp.), for example are, as well as popular ornamentals, harvested as a subsistence and delicacy food, an aphrodisiac, and for their shells for decorative and practical purposes. As a result they are subject to over-harvesting by legal operators and poachers and consequent depletion in the wild (Lucas 1994; Vincent 2006:192; Wabnitz et al 2003:31,42). In response a number of source countries are placing restrictions on the trade of giant clams, applying quotas, banning their export or collection outright, or limiting export to cultured specimens and improving farming of vulnerable species (Wabnitz et al 2003:32,42).
The selective collection of individuals of a particular size, sex, colouration or other feature may further impact upon the fitness of the population as a whole. The selective collection of juvenile fish, a common occurrence due to their greater attractiveness and hardiness, may be beneficial in maintaining the adult breeding stock, but also risks depleting the pool of replacements (Bruckner 2002:3; Helfman 2007:383; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:394-5,406; Vincent 2006:191,196; Wabnitz et al 2003:39-40). The preference of consumers and, consequently, of collectors for the more aesthetically pleasing males can cause drastically unequal sex ratios, reproductive failure and potentially the collapse of populations (Sadovy & Vincent 2002:394-5,400,406,408; Vincent 2006:196; Wabnitz et al 2003:42). Sexual selection can also effect hermaphroditic fish such as anemonefish, where the largest and strongest is always the female and repeated removal of the female can result in a smaller and less viable wild population (Helfman 2007:383; Sadovy & Vincent 2002: 394-5,400,406-8; Vincent 2006:196; Wabnitz et al 2003:39). As well as potentially driving prices, the abundance and distribution of fish species can determine their vulnerability to exploitation (Gasparini et al 2005:2890; Helfman 2007:377; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:391,395,400,405; Vincent 2006:191; Wabnitz et al 2003:40). Variations in distribution can mean that a species rare and thus vulnerable at one site may be abundant and therefore able to cope with greater harvesting (Sadovy & Vincent 2002:407; Vincent 2006:196; Wabnitz et al 2003:40).
Over-harvesting of keystone species may affect their ecosystem, altering reef communities and potentially causing phase shifts (Bruckner 2002:3; Gasparini et al 2005:2888,2891; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:392; Wabnitz et al 2003:6,35). There is evidence that the depletion of herbivorous fish such as surgeonfishes does not necessarily lead to an increase in algal cover, but it is a potential problem (Bruckner 2002:3; Helfman 2007:389; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:412; Wabnitz et al 2003:36). The removal of predators, too, has the potential to cause an outbreak in prey species (Sadovy & Vincent 2002:411-2). The intense harvesting of an animal upon which another depends may have impacts beyond the reduction in the population of the target animal itself. The collection of sea anemones, for example, has been demonstrated to reduce the population of their obligate symbiont anemone fish beyond the impact of their own harvesting (Gasparini et al 2005:2891; Wabnitz et al 2003:37).
Conversely, some aquarium fish have been introduced, deliberately or accidentally by individuals, farmers and traders, into areas in which they are not naturally found, and so threaten to become invasive and alter their new ecosystem or to introduce foreign pathogens. Difficult to keep species may be abandoned by owners when they become too much trouble, and escapes from hatcheries in non-source countries are common (Helfman 2007:386-9; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:412; Wabnitz et al 2003:47).
Some methods of collecting aquarium species are destructive to their habitat (Sadovy & Vincent 2002:401; Wabnitz et al 2003:6,10). In the past, Sri Lankan collectors would scare fish into small cast nets by hitting the coral with a stick, damaging the coral (Wabnitz et al 2003:12). Branching corals are often broken to capture the fish, such as members of the Dascyllus and Chromis genera, that shelter in them (Gasparini et al 2005:2888; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:411; Wabnitz et al 2003:12,33). Sodium cyanide, quinaldine or other chemicals squirted in underwater crevices stuns many fish and allows them to be more easily captured live (Bruckner 2002:3; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:401; Wabnitz et al 2003:10,12,33).
These chemicals are detrimental to the health of both the captured individuals and those left behind and increases the mortality of fish in transit, necessitating that more fish be collected than would be otherwise to replace losses (Bruckner 2002:3; Helfman 2007:378,380; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:401-2; Wabnitz et al 2003:10,12,33). They are also toxic to coral and other non-target organisms (Bruckner 2002:3; Helfman 2007:378; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:401-2,411-2; Wabnitz et al 2003:10,12,33-4). This method is used in such places as Indonesia and the Philippines; in the latter country as much as 80-90% of marine ornamental reef fish captured in the mid 1980s (Bruckner 2002:3; Helfman 2007:378; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:401; Vincent 2006:192; Wabnitz et al 2003:12,34). Despite legislation against this practice in many countries, corruption of officials, the ease and lucrativeness of the method and difficulty of policing has allowed it to run largely unchecked throughout south-east Asia (Bruckner 2002:3; Helfman 2007:378-9; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:401; Vincent 2006:192; Wabnitz et al 2003:34).
Other means of motile animal collection, such as often highly-specialised hand and cast nets and fishing lines, can cause minimal damage to the habitat and stress to the fish. Actual impacts often depend upon experience and training (Gasparini et al 2005:2887; Helfman 2007:378; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:401-3,412; Vincent 2006:192; Wabnitz et al 2003:12).
The collection of corals, live rock and other immobile organisms and materials require brute physical force and by necessity involve damage to the reef, but generally the damage is very small and localised (Bruckner 2002:2; Gasparini et al 2005:2887; Wabnitz et al 2003:12). At some collection sites, such as rocky and soft bottom habitats, the corals can be collected without damaging any reef (Wabnitz et al 2003:33). Usually whole small colonies of hard and soft corals are taken, although sometimes fragments are instead (Wabnitz et al 2003:12).
Live rock is limestone laid down over several millennia and encrusted with coralline algae and invertebrates (Bruckner 2002:2; Helfman 2007:379; Vincent 2006:191). It has been demonstrated that heavy harvesting of live rock can cause serious damage to reefs, increasing erosion, loss of habitat, deterioration of the substrate and in extreme cases causing a phase shift from coral to algal reefs (Bruckner 2002:2; Helfman 2007:379; Wabnitz et al 2003:33). A number of businesses are farming live rock by placing land-quarried limestone in areas of speedy marine flora and fauna growth, a less destructive method than wild collection (Bruckner 2002:5; Helfman 2007:379).
Other resources are farmed to ease pressure on natural ecosystems (Bruckner 2002:5; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:415-6; Wabnitz et al 2003:8). The captive breeding of ornamental species reduces the need for capture and increases the overall abundance of these species (Bruckner 2002:5; Helfman 2007:401; Wabnitz et al 2003:41,49,51). At present only very few fish and even fewer corals are so raised, despite many determined to be potentially well suited to captive breeding (Bruckner 2002:5; Helfman 2007:401; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:397; Vincent 2006:192; Wabnitz et al 2003:8,9,10,25,50-1). The Banggai cardinalfish (Pterapogon kauderni), a popular species abundant within only a small range and the overexploited seahorses (Hippocapus spp.) are fish that would benefit from captive rearing and developments to this end have been implemented (Gasparini et al 2005:2890; Helfman 2007:395-7,401; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:410; Wabnitz et al 2003:41,52-3). Presently commercial-scale mariculture remains an expensive and problematic venture in most cases (Helfman 2007:401; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:416). This is due in large part to the difficulties of raising successive generations (Bruckner 2002:5; Helfman 2007:401; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:416; Wabnitz et al 2003:51-2). Another possibility for fish is a variety of mariculture that involves the capture of larvae with light traps or specialised nets (Wabnitz et al 2003:52). The high death rate in the wild and success rate of captured larvae mean the ecological impact of this method would be minimal (Wabnitz et al 2003:54), while the unpredictability of larval dispersal, timing and species composition is a difficulty (Wabnitz et al 2003:54).
Many hard and soft corals are also suitable for aquaculture, and moreover corals so grown are demonstrably easier to transfer to aquarium conditions than wild harvested (Bruckner 2002:5; Helfman 2007:379; Wabnitz et al 2003:49-50). Despite this, very few of the corals traded are of “domesticated” origin (Bruckner 2002:5; Wabnitz et al 2003:50). The application of marine ornamental farming is hindered by the fact that most popular species are slow and difficult to grow, and the high start-up and operating costs and relatively low profit of fledgling operations (Bruckner 2002:5; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:416; Wabnitz et al 2003:50).
Of other invertebrates, a lack of information on life histories means that few steps have been made towards developing the cultivation of many, other than the relatively straightforward and well-understood giant clams (Tridacna spp.) and several species of decorative shrimp (Lysmata and Stenopus spp.) (Wabnitz et al 2003:53-4). Heightened interest and further research in mariculture technology promise greater application to trade and conservation in the future (Bruckner 2002:5; Helfman 2007:401; Wabnitz et al 2003:8,9,10,49,51-2). However, the wider, potentially detrimental effects of mariculture on reef and other habitats due to land developments for the facilities and discharge into the environment must be considered and monitored (Bruckner 2002:5,6; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:416,419).By developing these mariculture farms in the poorer nations, local collectors can continue their part in the trade with no loss of income and greater ecological sustainability. Unfortunately most already established are situated in wealthy countries such as the US (Helfman 2007:401-2; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:416; Wabnitz et al 2003:11,41).
Comprehensive understanding of the life-cycles and ecologies of marine ornamental species, their trade statistics and quantitative evidence of the impacts of different sections of the aquarium trade on the environment, not only on a global scale but also a nation-by-nation basis, are necessary for the sustainable application of quotas, other restrictions, trade and general management of coral reef organisms (Bruckner 2002:6; Gasparini et al 2005:2892; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:407,413-4,418; Wabnitz et al 2003:24,38,54-5,58). The recruitment and growth rates of different marine species and individual reefs, for example, can determine how readily a species or reef can recover from harvesting and other impacts (Bruckner 2002:2-3; Gasparini et al 2005:2890-1; Vincent 2006:191; Wabnitz et al 2003:38).
Much data on coral reef organisms, specifically hard corals, live rock and seahorses, has been collected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) since 1985. CITES classifies species according to vulnerability and provides a management framework for the marine ornamental trade (Bruckner 2002:2,4). Since 2000, the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) in collaboration with the Marine Aquarium Council and various aquarium trade associations have been collecting quantitative trade data from wholesale exporters and importers of marine aquarium organisms (Helfman 2007:376; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:414; Wabnitz et al 2003:6,11,16-7). The resulting Global Marine Aquarium Database (GMAD) provides extensive information essential to the sustainable and environmentally friendly management of the live ornamental fish and invertebrate trade (Gasparini et al 2005:2884; Helfman 2007:376,403; Wabnitz et al 2003:6,11).
National legislation has been implemented in many places to restrict when, how many, which and with what methods animals can be collected (Sadovy & Vincent 2002:417; Wabnitz et al 2003:8,14). Export quotas, especially at a species-specific level, limit the numbers of individuals that can be collected and thus the pressure on stocks (Bruckner 2002:4-5; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:415; Wabnitz et al 2003:14,55). Some countries establish sites in which it is forbidden to collect anything at all. Marine reserves, which should ideally be very large and encompass a variety of habitats, can increase fish stocks and protect ecosystems from fishing-related damage (Bruckner 2002:4,6; Helfman 2007:400; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:415; Wabnitz et al 2003:14,48,56-7). In some cases, site exploitation is permissible only for a very specific group of people, generally one that has intrinsic cultural ties to the area or utility, with the expectation that they will possess a sense of ownership and therefore responsibility for the welfare of such places (Wabnitz et al 2003:57). Alternatively, carefully timed and placed temporary closures of fishing areas protect fish stocks at a critical point, usually reproductive events (Bruckner 2002:6; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:415; Wabnitz et al 2003:57).
Another commonly employed option, to varying degrees of effectiveness, is the use of permits to limit and monitor the number of people collecting (Bruckner 2002:4; Helfman 2007:399; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:415; Wabnitz et al 2003:48,54). Size limits can also be useful, with a minimum size to prevent wastage of stock through increased mortality of sensitive juveniles or to allow individuals to reproduce prior capture and maximum to maintain numbers of breeding adults or, in the case of corals, mature and habitat-building colonies (Sadovy & Vincent 2002:415; Wabnitz et al 2003:56).
Many nations have banned the use of destructive collection methods such as coral-whacking, and in particular the extremely harmful cyanide fishing, but with limited success (Bruckner 2002:3-4; Helfman 2007:378-9; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:415; Vincent 2006:192; Wabnitz et al 2003:12,14,34,55). More successful to this end have been intense education programs, public media campaigns and cyanide-detection facilities (Bruckner 2002:3-4; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:401; Wabnitz et al 2003:34). The best hope of truly suppressing the use of poisons in the collection of aquarium fish is an increase in the quality, strength and persistence of all these methods within the source nations, as well as pressure from consumers for more sustainable collection techniques (Bruckner 2002:4; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:401,417; Wabnitz et al 2003:34-5).
Certification of specimens collected with environmentally sustainable methods allows the consumer to selectively purchase those animals and so personally reduce the impact of the marine ornamental trade through market pressure (Helfman 2007:378,403; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:417; Wabnitz et al 2003:8,11,48). This certification has begun, with the development of the Marine Aquarium Council (MAC) certification process (Bruckner 2002:4; Helfman 2007:378,403; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:417; Wabnitz et al 2003:11,48-9). This body assesses specimens at every point between harvest and sale. Certification is based on: the habitat, stock, species management and ecological impacts and sustainability at the collection site (Ecosystem and Fishery Management (EFM) Core Standard); methods of collection, handling and transport of specimens at the source (Collection, Fishing and Holding (CFH) Core Standard); and transport, handling, segregation and documentation during the journey to retail (Gasparini et al 2005:2892; Helfman 2007:403; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:401; Wabnitz et al 2003:11,49). In addition, this certification process provides a system for monitoring the populations and any changes in the animals at collection sites (Wabnitz et al 2003:49).
Communication and cooperation with and consideration for the needs and livelihoods of the poorer people who make up the majority of the base of exotic ornamental trade is essential for the long-term effectiveness of conservation efforts (Bruckner 2002:5-6; Helfman 2007:403; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:416-7; Wabnitz et al 2003:8,54,57,58). In many cases of conservation success it is these collector communities who themselves take the responsibility for protecting and managing their reef workplaces (Sadovy & Vincent 2002:415; Wabnitz et al 2003:26,54,57). The people of the Fijian village of Malomalo, for example, raised concerns over the long-term impact of their live rock harvesting industry and worked with the WWF, MAC and their government to develop policies and processes for its management. Furthermore, they themselves allocated a no-take sanctuary zone within their traditional fishing grounds (Wabnitz et al 2003:26).
Legislation and mariculture are important for the management of the marine tropical live trade. Essential to both these methods and the overall success of sustainable ornamental harvesting, however, is constant and considerate communication with and education of the generally low-income collectors and high-end consumers, and the gathering of trade data and ecological and biological information of exploited organisms and habitats. Without the cooperation of the people involved and the information to determine best practice, any efforts towards sustainability are doomed, or at least heavily handicapped. With these means, however, the detrimental impacts of the marine ornamental trade can be minimised, and its positive capacities for education, aesthetic enjoyment and psychological benefits fully capitalized.



Bruckner, Andrew W., 2000, ‘New threat to coral reefs: trade in coral organisms’, Issues in Science and Technology

Gasparini, J.L., Floeter, S.R., Ferreira, C.E.L. & Sazima, I., 2005, ‘Marine ornamental trade in Brazil’, Biodiversity and Conservation, 14:2883-99, Springer

Helfman, Gene S., 2007, Fish Conservation: A Guide to Understanding and Restoring Global Aquatic Biodiversity and Fishery Resources, Island Press, Washington

Lucas, J.S., 1994, ‘The biology, exploitation, and mariculture of giant clams (Tridacnnidae)’, Reviews in Fisheries Science, vol 1, no. 3, pp 181-224

Sadovy, Yvonne J. & Vincent, Amanda C.J., 2002, ‘Ecological issues and the trades in live reef fishes’, Coral Reef Fishes, ed. Peter F. Sale, Elsevier Science, San Diego

Vincent, Amanda C.J., 2006, ‘Live food and non-food fisheries on coral reefs, and their potential management’, Coral Reef Conservation, ed. Isabelle M. Côté & John D. Reynolds, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

Wabnitz, C., Taylor, M., Green, E. & Razak, T., 2003, From Ocean to Aquarium: The Global Trade in Marine Ornamental Species, UNEP-WCMC, Cambridge

Now that, my friends, is a freaking Wall of Text.

[Mr. Mud]

That's why I made sure to indicate that I was singing badly...
You aren't a bard that sings badly, are you?

I remember the last bard I made for D&D wasn't a singer, he was a stand-up comedian...

My last bard was a stand-up comedian too!... G Gordon Liddy!

*Note: Please don't look at the URL

@ Serp: Yeah... I never liked parenthetical-documentation either...

[Mordokai]

Don't tempt me paladin...

Aw, coooome oooon! [/whiny voice]

[Serpentine]

@ Serp: Yeah... I never liked parenthetical-documentation either...

Down with Author-Date/In-Text Referencing! Up the Footnotes!
It's such a pain for finding the word-count

[Cristo Meyers]

Aw, coooome oooon! [/whiny voice]

Fine...

*clears throat*

So does this mean you're no longer qualified to Lay On Hands?

*ba-dum-tish*

Because I feel like it, here is the whole (not-quite-completely-edited) essay. If anyone is so utterly bored that they read the whole thing, any advice/correction/whatever is most appreciated, and I really need a better title.

Spoiler

Show

Coral Reefs on the Edge

Assignment #2
A Review of the Management of the Tropical Marine Ornamental Live Trade

The marine aquarium trade is a multi-billion dollar international enterprise. It involves fish, live rock, and echinoderms, crustaceans, molluscs, hard and soft corals, and other invertebrates. The vast majority of traded specimens are wild-caught on coral reefs in small, developing, tropical nations, and are destined for markets in the US, Eastern Europe and other wealthy regions. Although fairly benign and small-scale relative to other anthropogenic reef impacts, the collection and trade of marine species entails its own, often unique, threats and issues. These include physical impacts on habitat, depletion of species, changes in community structure, the spread of pathogens and introduction of alien species, and animal welfare concerns. Heightened awareness and interest in the environmental costs of the marine ornamental trade, accompanying its escalation, has resulted in worldwide pressure on collectors, traders, retailers and consumers to assess the damage and scale of the trade, improve collection and handling methods, and manage all its impacts through legal regulations, education, technological advancements, development of alternatives and product certification.
Tropical marine fish were originally collected in small numbers in Sri Lanka in the 1930s (Sadovy & Vincent 2002:396,400; Wabnitz et al 2003:9). The occupation expanded in scope, abundance and variety during the 1950s into other island and developing nations with reefs (Helfman 2007:374; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:400; Wabnitz et al 2003:6). Most aquarium species are collected from Southeast Asia, and island nations in the Indian and Pacific Oceans (Sadovy & Vincent 2002:396-7; Vincent 2006:192; Wabnitz et al 2003:6). Many of the exporting nations are small and developing (Helfman 2007:374; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:391; Wabnitz et al 2003:6), and many of the collectors are rural, low-income islanders and coastal people working in small, often family, groups either for themselves or a wholesaler or exporter employer (Wabnitz et al 2003:6,12). These ground-level traders often have few alternative means of employment (Wabnitz et al 2003:6).
Fish, coral, and other invertebrates are all in high demand for private, commercial and public aquariums (Sadovy & Vincent 2002:397; Vincent 2006:194; Wabnitz et al 2003:6). The main importers of wild-captured aquarium species are the United States of America, Europe, and to a lesser extent Japan (Bruckner 2002:2,4; Gasparini et al 2005:2884; Helfman 2007:375-6; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:394,397; Vincent 2006:193-4; Wabnitz et al 2003:6,19,25). As many as 2 million households around the world own a marine aquarium, more than a quarter in the US (Helfman 2007:376-7; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:397; Vincent 2006:194; Wabnitz et al 2003:9). Exotic marine animals are very valuable, and commerce in them very lucrative (Sadovy & Vincent 2002:400; Vincent 2006:195; Wabnitz et al 2003:6). The trade is worth more than US$200 million annually (Bruckner 2002:1; Helfman 2007:374; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:391,400; Vincent 2006:195; Wabnitz et al 2003:9).
Nearly 1,500 species of fish, represented by more than 20 million individuals, are traded worldwide every year (Gasparini et al 2005:2884; Helfman 2007:374; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:394,400; Vincent 2006:190,194; Wabnitz et al 2003:6-7). Most of these are species of damselfish (Pomacentridae), angelfish (Pomacanthridae), surgeonfish (Acanthuridae), wrasses (Labridae), gobies (Gobiidae) and butterflyfish (Chaetodontidae) (Gasparini et al 2005:2885; Helfman 2007:376; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:394; Vincent 2006:190-1; Wabnitz et al 2003:7,18-20). About 12 million pieces of approximately 140 species of stony corals and 61 species of soft corals are traded annually (Bruckner 2002:2; Vincent 2006:191,194; Wabnitz et al 2003:7-8). Up to 500 species, or about 10 million individuals, of other invertebrates, in particular molluscs, shrimps and anemones, are also traded annually (Vincent 2006:192,194; Wabnitz et al 2003:8).
While the impact of even very poor live collection practices is small in comparison to the larger-scale anthropogenic damage of pollution, tourism, food fishing, bleaching, and so on, the ornamental trade has the potential to exacerbate these pressures (Gasparini et al 2005:2888; Helfman 2007:374,383; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:391; Wabnitz et al 2003:10,42,58). On the other hand, if managed well live specimen collection can cause minimal damage to sites (Wabnitz et al 2003:10), and the high value of live trade can be a powerful incentive for local collectors to protect the reefs upon which their livelihoods depend (Helfman 2007:391; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:391; Wabnitz et al 2003:10). At the other end of the market, public marine aquaria can provide important educational opportunities to inform people of the ecology, fragility, and conservation needs of marine environments (Helfman 2007:374,392-3; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:417; Wabnitz et al 2003:10).
Several marine species are commonly traded despite the difficulty keeping them, including a number whose dietary requirements and other characteristics render them “truly unsuitable” for aquariums. Many of these, which include corals, particularly azooxanthellate species, and obligate corallivores, normally die within a very short time (Bruckner 2002:2; Gasparini et al 2005:2891; Helfman 2007:379-80,402-3; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:403; Wabnitz et al 2003:7-8,25,43-6). Some traded species, moreover, are on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals as “vulnerable” (Sadovy & Vincent 2002:407).
Insufficient care in the collection, handling and transport of marine animals can stress, damage, or kill many individuals (Bruckner 2002:3; Gasparini et al 2005:2887; Helfman 2007:374,380-2; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:392,401-3; Vincent 2006:192; Wabnitz et al 2003:6,10,46-7). Fish, in particular, are sensitive to prolonged travel, incorrect packaging, disease, aggression, water chemistry, and other stressors that can result in increased mortality (Gasparini et al 2005:2887; Helfman 2007:380-1; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:401-3; Wabnitz et al 2003:13,46-7). It is in the traders’ own interest, however, for the specimens to at least reach the customer alive and reasonably well. Thus many trade organisms are treated with great care and increasing investment in equipment and training are helping to minimise fatalities (Helfman 2007:380; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:395,401-3; Wabnitz et al 2003:13,47). Expanding involvement of “transhippers”, who simply collect the animals from the airport, take them through customs and distribute them to retailers, as opposed to wholesalers who also acclimatize and check the animals, places many traded specimens at risk of greater mortality (Wabnitz et al 2003:13-4). However, widespread criticism and pressure from the Marine Aquarium Council has encouraged transhipping companies to improve their procedures (Wabnitz et al 2003:12).
Despite the great variety of animals collected, it is very selective and species-intensive. Over-harvesting of some species may threaten their viability and in some cases result in local extinction (Gasparini et al 2005:2891; Helfman 2007:383; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:392; Vincent 2006:196; Wabnitz et al 2003:6,10,31,35). Studies and anecdotal evidence of fish harvesting found that many of the heaviest-targeted species decrease in number under collection pressure, though others, and other sites, showed little or no decrease (Bruckner 2002:3; Gasparini et al 2005:2888-9; Helfman 2007:383-5; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:410-1; Wabnitz et al 2003:36). One study on the impact of coral harvesting found that heavy use resulted in a reduction of 31% in coral cover and 64% of coral density and a decline of more than 70% in abundance of six popular corals (Wabnitz et al 2003:36). Such an impact on coral populations may have long-term effects on their reproduction, and therefore on the stability and health of the reef as a whole (Bruckner 2002:3; Helfman 2007:379; Vincent 2006:196; Wabnitz et al 2003:37).
The risk of over-harvesting is heightened where the species is also under other pressures (Gasparini et al 2005:2888,2890; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:410; Vincent 2006:192; Wabnitz et al 2003:31,42,45). Several species of giant clam (Tridacna spp.), for example are, as well as popular ornamentals, harvested as a subsistence and delicacy food, an aphrodisiac, and for their shells for decorative and practical purposes. As a result they are subject to over-harvesting by legal operators and poachers and consequent depletion in the wild (Lucas 1994; Vincent 2006:192; Wabnitz et al 2003:31,42). In response a number of source countries are placing restrictions on the trade of giant clams, applying quotas, banning their export or collection outright, or limiting export to cultured specimens and improving farming of vulnerable species (Wabnitz et al 2003:32,42).
The selective collection of individuals of a particular size, sex, colouration or other feature may further impact upon the fitness of the population as a whole. The selective collection of juvenile fish, a common occurrence due to their greater attractiveness and hardiness, may be beneficial in maintaining the adult breeding stock, but also risks depleting the pool of replacements (Bruckner 2002:3; Helfman 2007:383; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:394-5,406; Vincent 2006:191,196; Wabnitz et al 2003:39-40). The preference of consumers and, consequently, of collectors for the more aesthetically pleasing males can cause drastically unequal sex ratios, reproductive failure and potentially the collapse of populations (Sadovy & Vincent 2002:394-5,400,406,408; Vincent 2006:196; Wabnitz et al 2003:42). Sexual selection can also effect hermaphroditic fish such as anemonefish, where the largest and strongest is always the female and repeated removal of the female can result in a smaller and less viable wild population (Helfman 2007:383; Sadovy & Vincent 2002: 394-5,400,406-8; Vincent 2006:196; Wabnitz et al 2003:39). As well as potentially driving prices, the abundance and distribution of fish species can determine their vulnerability to exploitation (Gasparini et al 2005:2890; Helfman 2007:377; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:391,395,400,405; Vincent 2006:191; Wabnitz et al 2003:40). Variations in distribution can mean that a species rare and thus vulnerable at one site may be abundant and therefore able to cope with greater harvesting (Sadovy & Vincent 2002:407; Vincent 2006:196; Wabnitz et al 2003:40).
Over-harvesting of keystone species may affect their ecosystem, altering reef communities and potentially causing phase shifts (Bruckner 2002:3; Gasparini et al 2005:2888,2891; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:392; Wabnitz et al 2003:6,35). There is evidence that the depletion of herbivorous fish such as surgeonfishes does not necessarily lead to an increase in algal cover, but it is a potential problem (Bruckner 2002:3; Helfman 2007:389; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:412; Wabnitz et al 2003:36). The removal of predators, too, has the potential to cause an outbreak in prey species (Sadovy & Vincent 2002:411-2). The intense harvesting of an animal upon which another depends may have impacts beyond the reduction in the population of the target animal itself. The collection of sea anemones, for example, has been demonstrated to reduce the population of their obligate symbiont anemone fish beyond the impact of their own harvesting (Gasparini et al 2005:2891; Wabnitz et al 2003:37).
Conversely, some aquarium fish have been introduced, deliberately or accidentally by individuals, farmers and traders, into areas in which they are not naturally found, and so threaten to become invasive and alter their new ecosystem or to introduce foreign pathogens. Difficult to keep species may be abandoned by owners when they become too much trouble, and escapes from hatcheries in non-source countries are common (Helfman 2007:386-9; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:412; Wabnitz et al 2003:47).
Some methods of collecting aquarium species are destructive to their habitat (Sadovy & Vincent 2002:401; Wabnitz et al 2003:6,10). In the past, Sri Lankan collectors would scare fish into small cast nets by hitting the coral with a stick, damaging the coral (Wabnitz et al 2003:12). Branching corals are often broken to capture the fish, such as members of the Dascyllus and Chromis genera, that shelter in them (Gasparini et al 2005:2888; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:411; Wabnitz et al 2003:12,33). Sodium cyanide, quinaldine or other chemicals squirted in underwater crevices stuns many fish and allows them to be more easily captured live (Bruckner 2002:3; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:401; Wabnitz et al 2003:10,12,33).
These chemicals are detrimental to the health of both the captured individuals and those left behind and increases the mortality of fish in transit, necessitating that more fish be collected than would be otherwise to replace losses (Bruckner 2002:3; Helfman 2007:378,380; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:401-2; Wabnitz et al 2003:10,12,33). They are also toxic to coral and other non-target organisms (Bruckner 2002:3; Helfman 2007:378; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:401-2,411-2; Wabnitz et al 2003:10,12,33-4). This method is used in such places as Indonesia and the Philippines; in the latter country as much as 80-90% of marine ornamental reef fish captured in the mid 1980s (Bruckner 2002:3; Helfman 2007:378; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:401; Vincent 2006:192; Wabnitz et al 2003:12,34). Despite legislation against this practice in many countries, corruption of officials, the ease and lucrativeness of the method and difficulty of policing has allowed it to run largely unchecked throughout south-east Asia (Bruckner 2002:3; Helfman 2007:378-9; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:401; Vincent 2006:192; Wabnitz et al 2003:34).
Other means of motile animal collection, such as often highly-specialised hand and cast nets and fishing lines, can cause minimal damage to the habitat and stress to the fish. Actual impacts often depend upon experience and training (Gasparini et al 2005:2887; Helfman 2007:378; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:401-3,412; Vincent 2006:192; Wabnitz et al 2003:12).
The collection of corals, live rock and other immobile organisms and materials require brute physical force and by necessity involve damage to the reef, but generally the damage is very small and localised (Bruckner 2002:2; Gasparini et al 2005:2887; Wabnitz et al 2003:12). At some collection sites, such as rocky and soft bottom habitats, the corals can be collected without damaging any reef (Wabnitz et al 2003:33). Usually whole small colonies of hard and soft corals are taken, although sometimes fragments are instead (Wabnitz et al 2003:12).
Live rock is limestone laid down over several millennia and encrusted with coralline algae and invertebrates (Bruckner 2002:2; Helfman 2007:379; Vincent 2006:191). It has been demonstrated that heavy harvesting of live rock can cause serious damage to reefs, increasing erosion, loss of habitat, deterioration of the substrate and in extreme cases causing a phase shift from coral to algal reefs (Bruckner 2002:2; Helfman 2007:379; Wabnitz et al 2003:33). A number of businesses are farming live rock by placing land-quarried limestone in areas of speedy marine flora and fauna growth, a less destructive method than wild collection (Bruckner 2002:5; Helfman 2007:379).
Other resources are farmed to ease pressure on natural ecosystems (Bruckner 2002:5; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:415-6; Wabnitz et al 2003:8). The captive breeding of ornamental species reduces the need for capture and increases the overall abundance of these species (Bruckner 2002:5; Helfman 2007:401; Wabnitz et al 2003:41,49,51). At present only very few fish and even fewer corals are so raised, despite many determined to be potentially well suited to captive breeding (Bruckner 2002:5; Helfman 2007:401; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:397; Vincent 2006:192; Wabnitz et al 2003:8,9,10,25,50-1). The Banggai cardinalfish (Pterapogon kauderni), a popular species abundant within only a small range and the overexploited seahorses (Hippocapus spp.) are fish that would benefit from captive rearing and developments to this end have been implemented (Gasparini et al 2005:2890; Helfman 2007:395-7,401; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:410; Wabnitz et al 2003:41,52-3). Presently commercial-scale mariculture remains an expensive and problematic venture in most cases (Helfman 2007:401; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:416). This is due in large part to the difficulties of raising successive generations (Bruckner 2002:5; Helfman 2007:401; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:416; Wabnitz et al 2003:51-2). Another possibility for fish is a variety of mariculture that involves the capture of larvae with light traps or specialised nets (Wabnitz et al 2003:52). The high death rate in the wild and success rate of captured larvae mean the ecological impact of this method would be minimal (Wabnitz et al 2003:54), while the unpredictability of larval dispersal, timing and species composition is a difficulty (Wabnitz et al 2003:54).
Many hard and soft corals are also suitable for aquaculture, and moreover corals so grown are demonstrably easier to transfer to aquarium conditions than wild harvested (Bruckner 2002:5; Helfman 2007:379; Wabnitz et al 2003:49-50). Despite this, very few of the corals traded are of “domesticated” origin (Bruckner 2002:5; Wabnitz et al 2003:50). The application of marine ornamental farming is hindered by the fact that most popular species are slow and difficult to grow, and the high start-up and operating costs and relatively low profit of fledgling operations (Bruckner 2002:5; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:416; Wabnitz et al 2003:50).
Of other invertebrates, a lack of information on life histories means that few steps have been made towards developing the cultivation of many, other than the relatively straightforward and well-understood giant clams (Tridacna spp.) and several species of decorative shrimp (Lysmata and Stenopus spp.) (Wabnitz et al 2003:53-4). Heightened interest and further research in mariculture technology promise greater application to trade and conservation in the future (Bruckner 2002:5; Helfman 2007:401; Wabnitz et al 2003:8,9,10,49,51-2). However, the wider, potentially detrimental effects of mariculture on reef and other habitats due to land developments for the facilities and discharge into the environment must be considered and monitored (Bruckner 2002:5,6; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:416,419).By developing these mariculture farms in the poorer nations, local collectors can continue their part in the trade with no loss of income and greater ecological sustainability. Unfortunately most already established are situated in wealthy countries such as the US (Helfman 2007:401-2; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:416; Wabnitz et al 2003:11,41).
Comprehensive understanding of the life-cycles and ecologies of marine ornamental species, their trade statistics and quantitative evidence of the impacts of different sections of the aquarium trade on the environment, not only on a global scale but also a nation-by-nation basis, are necessary for the sustainable application of quotas, other restrictions, trade and general management of coral reef organisms (Bruckner 2002:6; Gasparini et al 2005:2892; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:407,413-4,418; Wabnitz et al 2003:24,38,54-5,58). The recruitment and growth rates of different marine species and individual reefs, for example, can determine how readily a species or reef can recover from harvesting and other impacts (Bruckner 2002:2-3; Gasparini et al 2005:2890-1; Vincent 2006:191; Wabnitz et al 2003:38).
Much data on coral reef organisms, specifically hard corals, live rock and seahorses, has been collected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) since 1985. CITES classifies species according to vulnerability and provides a management framework for the marine ornamental trade (Bruckner 2002:2,4). Since 2000, the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) in collaboration with the Marine Aquarium Council and various aquarium trade associations have been collecting quantitative trade data from wholesale exporters and importers of marine aquarium organisms (Helfman 2007:376; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:414; Wabnitz et al 2003:6,11,16-7). The resulting Global Marine Aquarium Database (GMAD) provides extensive information essential to the sustainable and environmentally friendly management of the live ornamental fish and invertebrate trade (Gasparini et al 2005:2884; Helfman 2007:376,403; Wabnitz et al 2003:6,11).
National legislation has been implemented in many places to restrict when, how many, which and with what methods animals can be collected (Sadovy & Vincent 2002:417; Wabnitz et al 2003:8,14). Export quotas, especially at a species-specific level, limit the numbers of individuals that can be collected and thus the pressure on stocks (Bruckner 2002:4-5; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:415; Wabnitz et al 2003:14,55). Some countries establish sites in which it is forbidden to collect anything at all. Marine reserves, which should ideally be very large and encompass a variety of habitats, can increase fish stocks and protect ecosystems from fishing-related damage (Bruckner 2002:4,6; Helfman 2007:400; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:415; Wabnitz et al 2003:14,48,56-7). In some cases, site exploitation is permissible only for a very specific group of people, generally one that has intrinsic cultural ties to the area or utility, with the expectation that they will possess a sense of ownership and therefore responsibility for the welfare of such places (Wabnitz et al 2003:57). Alternatively, carefully timed and placed temporary closures of fishing areas protect fish stocks at a critical point, usually reproductive events (Bruckner 2002:6; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:415; Wabnitz et al 2003:57).
Another commonly employed option, to varying degrees of effectiveness, is the use of permits to limit and monitor the number of people collecting (Bruckner 2002:4; Helfman 2007:399; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:415; Wabnitz et al 2003:48,54). Size limits can also be useful, with a minimum size to prevent wastage of stock through increased mortality of sensitive juveniles or to allow individuals to reproduce prior capture and maximum to maintain numbers of breeding adults or, in the case of corals, mature and habitat-building colonies (Sadovy & Vincent 2002:415; Wabnitz et al 2003:56).
Many nations have banned the use of destructive collection methods such as coral-whacking, and in particular the extremely harmful cyanide fishing, but with limited success (Bruckner 2002:3-4; Helfman 2007:378-9; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:415; Vincent 2006:192; Wabnitz et al 2003:12,14,34,55). More successful to this end have been intense education programs, public media campaigns and cyanide-detection facilities (Bruckner 2002:3-4; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:401; Wabnitz et al 2003:34). The best hope of truly suppressing the use of poisons in the collection of aquarium fish is an increase in the quality, strength and persistence of all these methods within the source nations, as well as pressure from consumers for more sustainable collection techniques (Bruckner 2002:4; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:401,417; Wabnitz et al 2003:34-5).
Certification of specimens collected with environmentally sustainable methods allows the consumer to selectively purchase those animals and so personally reduce the impact of the marine ornamental trade through market pressure (Helfman 2007:378,403; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:417; Wabnitz et al 2003:8,11,48). This certification has begun, with the development of the Marine Aquarium Council (MAC) certification process (Bruckner 2002:4; Helfman 2007:378,403; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:417; Wabnitz et al 2003:11,48-9). This body assesses specimens at every point between harvest and sale. Certification is based on: the habitat, stock, species management and ecological impacts and sustainability at the collection site (Ecosystem and Fishery Management (EFM) Core Standard); methods of collection, handling and transport of specimens at the source (Collection, Fishing and Holding (CFH) Core Standard); and transport, handling, segregation and documentation during the journey to retail (Gasparini et al 2005:2892; Helfman 2007:403; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:401; Wabnitz et al 2003:11,49). In addition, this certification process provides a system for monitoring the populations and any changes in the animals at collection sites (Wabnitz et al 2003:49).
Communication and cooperation with and consideration for the needs and livelihoods of the poorer people who make up the majority of the base of exotic ornamental trade is essential for the long-term effectiveness of conservation efforts (Bruckner 2002:5-6; Helfman 2007:403; Sadovy & Vincent 2002:416-7; Wabnitz et al 2003:8,54,57,58). In many cases of conservation success it is these collector communities who themselves take the responsibility for protecting and managing their reef workplaces (Sadovy & Vincent 2002:415; Wabnitz et al 2003:26,54,57). The people of the Fijian village of Malomalo, for example, raised concerns over the long-term impact of their live rock harvesting industry and worked with the WWF, MAC and their government to develop policies and processes for its management. Furthermore, they themselves allocated a no-take sanctuary zone within their traditional fishing grounds (Wabnitz et al 2003:26).
Legislation and mariculture are important for the management of the marine tropical live trade. Essential to both these methods and the overall success of sustainable ornamental harvesting, however, is constant and considerate communication with and education of the generally low-income collectors and high-end consumers, and the gathering of trade data and ecological and biological information of exploited organisms and habitats. Without the cooperation of the people involved and the information to determine best practice, any efforts towards sustainability are doomed, or at least heavily handicapped. With these means, however, the detrimental impacts of the marine ornamental trade can be minimised, and its positive capacities for education, aesthetic enjoyment and psychological benefits fully capitalized.



Bruckner, Andrew W., 2000, ‘New threat to coral reefs: trade in coral organisms’, Issues in Science and Technology

Gasparini, J.L., Floeter, S.R., Ferreira, C.E.L. & Sazima, I., 2005, ‘Marine ornamental trade in Brazil’, Biodiversity and Conservation, 14:2883-99, Springer

Helfman, Gene S., 2007, Fish Conservation: A Guide to Understanding and Restoring Global Aquatic Biodiversity and Fishery Resources, Island Press, Washington

Lucas, J.S., 1994, ‘The biology, exploitation, and mariculture of giant clams (Tridacnnidae)’, Reviews in Fisheries Science, vol 1, no. 3, pp 181-224

Sadovy, Yvonne J. & Vincent, Amanda C.J., 2002, ‘Ecological issues and the trades in live reef fishes’, Coral Reef Fishes, ed. Peter F. Sale, Elsevier Science, San Diego

Vincent, Amanda C.J., 2006, ‘Live food and non-food fisheries on coral reefs, and their potential management’, Coral Reef Conservation, ed. Isabelle M. Côté & John D. Reynolds, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

Wabnitz, C., Taylor, M., Green, E. & Razak, T., 2003, From Ocean to Aquarium: The Global Trade in Marine Ornamental Species, UNEP-WCMC, Cambridge

Now that, my friends, is a freaking Wall of Text.

Yes...yes it is...

Your opener seems a tad clunky. The first thing I thought was you could blend together a couple sentences and that might help, but that would also create a single giga-sentence and that really peeves some professors.