Corals; Where do they come from?

Ok, simply put there is a little difference between aquacultured and "1st generation" or "off-the boat" corals.
But I think some people look into it too much. They worry about taking a coral from a piece of the reef in the Pacific Ocean, but they don't bother thinking about the 6 year old kid in a sweat shop in China that sewed their shoes. All in all, it's a commercialized world-wide industry, and the people harvesting the corals need to make a living doing it to feed their children as well.

 

Thats funny, a kid in a sweat shop in China. Most people dont care and say he is making money for his family. It's all a balance, some people care about saving (the world) reefs, tree's, and whatever else and some people care about themselves ( humans). I know the world will be fine no matter what we do to it. But us as humans are not as resiliant and we need to care for this planet so the survival of humans can go on. I like the movies that show aliens coming and enslaving or eating all the life here and stripping the planet of its resources and show a baron dead planet in the end. We are the invaders.

 

Well I see where you are coming from now and it's a decent point. However, where I was going with it, besides the environment angle, is that you can infer a few important things about your coral if you know where it came from like lighting requirements, feeding, water flow - that sort of thing.

 

Great article. More people should care.....maybe the world itself would be a better place !

 

Thats a pretty ignoarnt, arrogant and careless attitude to have.

Do you want to destroy one of the more populated (in terms of differnt species) on the planet?

Do you know of the effects it would have on the world if Reefs were eliminated?

Do you not want your kids to enjoy the same things you do?

 

Problem is there are species that are becoming extinct before we have time to learn about them and in some cases before we DISCOVER them!!!

Also where corals come from not only affects the ocean but also your tank, think about pests and all that... has anyone ever dealt with parasitic nudibranchs?? Its NOT fun!!!

Thanks to all those that care about the reefs and our planet!

 

Dr Frag, that was a brilliant article, we should all care about where our corals come from and everything else that we buy, and at least try to make sensible decisions.
There are lots of problems and issues with the world we live in, it's lots of small changes for the good that can and do make large positive action overall.
As we learn about the world and its oceans and seas at times it feels like they are getting smaller, they're not it's the amount of things in them that are.

 

Thank you!
We all can make a difference, esp now more than ever as many municipalities and federal governments are REALLY cracking down on the trade and importation of marine animals!

We need to show the world that the marine hobbyist is NOT at the heart of this issues at hand!!

Happy reefing!

 

Excellent post... just one small error. PI allows 0% collection/export of corals. It will take an major law to be over turned before they ever will be able to do as such. There are coral farms there but for restoration, not export for the aquarium trade.

 

We got a box of trans-shipped corals one time and there were a couple Phillipine Pesos in the box. I freaked when I saw that and told my partners that this whole shipment was illegal. It turned out not only did my FORMER partner know they were illegal, he was proud of it and intended to send an email advertising rare, illegal corals. I said, "Are you NUTS???" I was a little more than upset.