HR 996 being proposed again!

I think someone is doing it for Yellows and Blue tangs... I thought I saw somewhere online but could be wrong...
 
Unrelated question, does anyone know who sells those bags for fish that fit easily in your butt on an airplane?
 
Tank2379 said:
I think someone is doing it for Yellows and Blue tangs... I thought I saw somewhere online but could be wrong...
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Ive read there not tank breeding em but ocean breeding em basically making a blocked of area in ocean filling wit tangs letting breed then collecting.
 
I dont care much for fish, because they reproduce real fast in the ocean. Just think how much more we harvest for food, they just keep making more babies.
Coral harvesting needs to stop, because the reefs are slowly dying and us harvesting huge amounts of corals, just to have most of them be killed in our tanks needs to stop. Corals can be aquacultured. Stop harvesting them!
 
I somewhat concur on the corals. Unless they're planted and farmed specifically in the ocean for this purpose, they should not be harvested. We can frag from here.
 
Errr, not sure where you're getting your information Cola, but overfishing and depleted fish populations is a huge concern. Not universally for all fish, but certainly for many species.
 
Yeah over fishing has already damaged the structure of the eco system... Take for instance the Hump Head Wrasse he a prime predator for the Crown of Thorns stars fish, now these Star fish are killing areas that they are native because of the depletion of the Hump head wrasse... These Crown of Thorns starfish if not controlled can wipe out colonies of Acros and other Corals we have in our tanks today...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Crown-of-thorns_starfish
 
I like the spirit of trying to conserve what remains of our natural resources, but am also fairly anti-regulation, and this blanket approach does not seem to be a step in the right direction. It seems too broad to be truly effective, and overly punitive. My opinion is only based off of what is written in the article, though! I would have to look into the actual legislation being proposed to form a real opinion on it!

Aquaculturing, or sustainably farming seem like good options of course!
 
So here's the highschool debater breakdown! I just read through everything, and here are the important passages:


PROHIBITIONS.—Except as provided in this section or section 12, it shall be unlawful for any person subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to import into the United States any non-native wildlife taxon the Director has designated as Injurious I or Injurious II under section 5(a)(1)(A) or under section 6, or to knowingly possess such an animal, or the descendant of such an animal, that was imported in violation of this subsection;
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This means if the director determines anything in our tanks to be potentially invasive, this bill affects it.


(1) IN GENERAL Except as provided in paragraph (2), an individual animal that was lawfully owned prior to the taxa to which the animal belongs being regulated by the Director under this Act as Injurious II may be transported interstate without a permit by any person for noncommercial purposes only.
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If you are allowed to have the animal, then you're free to transport it to someone else who is allowed to have the animal.


EXCEPTION The exemption under paragraph (1) does not apply to an animal of any taxa designated by the Director as Injurious I.
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IN GENERAL The prohibitions in this section shall not apply to— any action by Federal, State, tribal, or local law enforcement personnel to enforce this section
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People who work to enforce this bill are exempt from it.


LIMITATION ON APPLICATION OF PROHIBITIONS TO PREVENT RELEASE The Director may limit the application of this Act to facilitate implementation of any State, local, or tribal program that results in voluntary surrender of regulated nonnative wildlife, if the Director determines that the limitation will prevent the release of that wildlife.
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The Director has the power to do whatever they see fit to get us to surrender all of our fish and coral.


NATURAL RESOURCE DAMAGES All costs relating to the mitigation of injury caused by a violation of this Act shall be borne by the person that violated this Act.
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If you release something into the ocean and it becomes invasive, you get to pay for the whole crisis.


A person who is determined to have violated any provision of this Act shall forfeit to the United States any property, real or personal, taken or retained in connection with or a result of the offense; and any property, real or personal, used or intended to be used to commit or to facilitate the commission of the offense. DISPOSAL OF PROPERTY Upon the forfeiture to the United States of any property or item described in clause (i) or (ii) of subparagraph (A), or upon the abandonment or waiver of any claim to any such property or item, the property or item shall be disposed of by the Secretary in a manner consistent with the purpose of this Act.
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If the government finds out that you have an animal that has the potential to be invasive, they'll take all of your livestock and equipment, then "dispose of it".


In addition to regulations required under section 5 and other provisions of this Act, the Secretary shall promulgate such regulations as are necessary to carry out this Act.
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The secretary can pitch any new ideas/improvements to congress or the senate immediate.


So yeah. If this bill passes and the director doesn't have sympathy towards reefing, we're screwed and all of our tanks and animals will be "disposed of".
 
Yeah I can't see it happening in Illinois since most of the saltwater fish wouldn't survive in freshwater.. I can see this happening in the states near the ocean but then again this is horrible if this happens and some Bull cause we all just spend 1,000's of dollars on this stuff
 
Oh, and I forgot to mention: the bill would apply nationally until individual states overturn them. So if the bill passes on a national scale, we just have to wait for our state to overturn it...

If it does pass, prices should drop and Chicago would become an import hub!
 
Although the high scool debate version should have a pro section too! ;)

Thank you for the summary, though! Like I said before, I,like the spirit, but this bill sounds like bad news. Not to mention, what do you do about species that would be invasive on one part of the country (the US is huge!), but is actually native elsewhere..? Ahh, politics and legalese!
 
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