illegal hobby

[Aplysia]

hi all,

I'm new to this hobby and have just set up my tank but have found out recently that our country seem to have ban coral. Are we into a illegal hobby. And is having coral at home illegal? Will we get into problems with the law?

Recent newspaper also see our gorvenment raided and confisated coral from farms and around singapore.

Please give me a truthful answer. thanx

worried member

[bubble_gum]

its nt an illegal hobby. those confiscated corals are corals which are nt brought in with a CITES cert. this cert permits lfs n farms to sell corals

[lightningstrike]

relax bro, we r the consumers, not the suppliers.

[Achilles Tang]

Hmmm... a 'reefer' is also a slang for those who deals with marijuana.

Unless we are growing & selling marijuana, we reefers have a very legitimate hobby of reefkeeping....

Chewing gum is not illegal. Littering with chewing gum is.

AT

[Morgan]

Who knows...one day to own corals may be illegal,

If you are worried, maybe you should not start...go for fresh water aquarium

[FuEl]

Even the mildest things r illegal here. If you are so concerned slimpy stay elsewhere but sg.

[Virus]

You saw the news..? The great barrier reef over at austarlia might be wiped out by the year 2050 from global warming or somethig.. unless they can do something them selves to customise to the higher temperature..

Sad, we're destroying the earth..

[andy777]

The devastation of the reef is caused by global warming 50%, and the rest is by us, the reefers. Our human need to have everything personally, including having coral reef personally in our home, so we could watch them everyday, has created the a sooner catasthrophy for the reefs.

Been thinking about it lately also....may be it would be better to switch to F/O

[maKo]

Will there come a day when all corals are destroyed by global warming, and the only remaining corals are the ones enjoying chillers in our living rooms?

[Asfur]

I think, being a hobbist, even a Reefer or a F/O enthusiast, we MUST take a responsibility about our hobby. The coral and the fish will last so many years in a responsible aquarist , the problem occur only to unresponsible aquarist that bought fish or coral to fulfill their greediness.

[Achilles Tang]

The devastation of the reef is caused  by global warming 50%, and the rest is by us, the reefers. Our human need to have everything personally, including having coral reef personally in our home, so we could watch them everyday, has created the a sooner catasthrophy for the reefs. 

Been thinking about it lately also....may be it would be better to switch to F/O 

I don't think your figure is accurate. It's definitely not 50%.

It is quite hard to quantify how much damage the hobby trade has caused the reef as much as:

1. Mother Nature: hurricanes and storms can wipe out whole reef systems in a few minutes what took hundreds of years to grow.

2. Increase in commercial sea traffic, increase in wastes dumped at sea.

3. Commercial fishing: use of nets have devastated the sea floor.

4. Sea accidents: chemical pollution caused by shipping accidents have caused massive damage to ocean ecosystems years after the mess has been cleared up.

5. Illegal fishing methods like dynamite blasting.

6. Land reclamation

7. Land pollution run-offs from fertilizers, industrial waste products.

8. Diving activities

9. Global warming is also another factor - but it's directly tied to human industrial activities.

There are a few other factors but I don't have time to elaborate.

The sheer volume of corals being harvested for the trade can appear very scary but there's also a lot of ocean and reefs out there. CITIES quotas are restricting how much corals can be traded worldwide in a year, in a sustainable pattern. And every year, the quota is shrinking.

We all have to treasure what corals are made available for the hobby.

That is why coral propagation and survivability is very important for us hobbyists.

Responsible Reefing.... don't buy corals if you don't give them a fighting chance to prosper in your tank.

We may one day even hold the key in restoring natural reefs with corals propagated from our reef tanks.

[Asfur]

Yeah yeah yeah, you damn right.

[Aplysia]

yeah I think I agree with Marko that if we become a responsible hobbyist we may be the one that let these beautiful creature live beyond their fate as global warning cannot be stop.

By keep them in our tank with chiller we actually saving them....hee anyway they are too wonderful creature, half-plant half-animal, must definally keep them alive in our tank

before they are gone forever.

[junyong84]

its nt illegal provided u buy from vendors tat haf e license to import and sell...