Re: [Killietalk] killifish importation and red tape---sounding off...

["Robert Goldstein" <rgoldstein at rjgacarolina_com>]

The lesson here is not to run an experiment to see if you can import
something or not from someplace or other, but to consult with somebody in
the aquarium importation business. Often the guys in the business will
assist either directly or by putting you in contact with someone who can
make it happen. Don't blame the system for your troubles. The problem is
trying to run through the system without first understanding how it works. -
bob g.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bruce J. Turner, Dept. Biology, VPISU, Blacksburg,VA 24061"
<fishgen at vt_edu>
To: <killietalk at aka_org>
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 1:41 PM
Subject: [Killietalk] killifish importation and red tape---sounding off...


> The stuff I have been reading in the last few days about killfish
importation
> and the red
> tape that crops up is aggravating to say the least. I wonder if commercial
> importers
> have to go through nearly this amount of garbage? In some respects, the
> situation
> reminds me of the problems one encounters in attempting to obtain
collecting
> permits in
> countries like Brazil (forgive me, Brazilian colleagues, but I will be
bitter
> about this until
> I die)---the large commerical interests who participate
in/facilitate/catalyze
> the
> destruction of entire ecosystems have no hasles, for they are "connected"
in
> the most
> basic way, while the biologists and aquarium hobbyists encounter endless
red
> tape...
>
> I think that the only potentially effective way to deal with these import
> problems is at the
> national level. We must find/cultivate political allies who can speak to
the
> power people
> and get the regulations modified. To be sure, the federal government does
have
> a
> legitimate role in preventing the importation of endangered species, for,
> presumably,
> this just might impose some constraint on collecting them in the wild. But
how
> does the
> government determine if a shipment contains any of these? There is no body
of
> government experts who could do this with killifish. I daresay that I know
of
> none of my
> professional colleagues who could determine, by inspection, especially at
an
> airport, if a
> particular bag/box of fish contained the common Fundulopanchax gardneri
Akure
> or the
> rare Fundulopanchax gardneri Lafia, etc. For the federal government to
claim
> otherwise
> is frankly silly. Killifish specialists, both hobbyist and professionals,
are
> the only credible
> "experts" in this area. And, of course, they are the ones who want to do
the
> importing of
> fishes that is in question in the first place.
>
> We are left with an almost anarchistic thought: the only group that can
> credibly monitor
> our import activities to ensure that truly endangered species are not
imported
> is
> ourselves... In fact, I would carry this one step further: I would have
> trouble accepting
> the judgement/opinions of any monitoring system that does not include
> consultation with
> some people who are/were AKA members or closely associated with them. This
is,
> ultimately, an argument for including our organization in the import
> monitoring business.
> If we could do that, we could stop the nonsense interference and
concentrate
> on the few
> really abusinve situations (and, while rare, these do occur...)..
>
> I know that this sounds impractical, but the federal government does
regularly
> consult
> with experts on other groups of organisms, and organizations like the
Audobon
> Society
> keep such experts on their staffs to advise the government on
> conservation-related
> issues. We could do this too.
>
> If the above seems like a good idea, I believe that a good place to start
is
> to have a
> code of ethics or behavior regarding the importation of killifishes, and
to
> widely publicize
> that code in the hobbyist press and with online sources. It may seem
strange,
> but, as I
> have learned in my pofessional consulting activities (I have done a lot of
> forensic DNA
> consulting, generally interpreting evidence fo public defenders), the step
in
> acquiring
> credibility is to assert it.
>
>
>
> To join the AKA see http://www.aka.org/pages/join.html
> Archives are at http://fins.actwin.com/killietalk/
>



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