If Brazil (IBAMA) has put a species on a banned list, it was put on that list for a reason, because stocks are totally depleted
do you think that they have put a " ban " on the exportation because they dont want people flooding to the dam area so they dont have to keep moving them on? also i believe that 75% of the people on this forum have at least one to their name,and are over dramatising the " plight ". this fish will survive, as will all fish like this due to people conserving themn in their tanks. cant wait for all these fish in your tanks to spawn
The posting wasn't contributing to the topic. It was a pure and simply "oh yeah?!" - posting. I think neo was right when he tried stop any firther development in that direction.
It's been really hot and humid up here the last 2 weeks, how's it been in the UK? We've been close to what it's called the silly season in Darwin Australia, too hot and all of us short tempered
Keep focused, we're all here for our love of the Zebra, life's too short
Last edited by McEve on Fri Jul 15, 2005 11:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
Hello First of all let me appologise for not getting on top of this sooner, but once again I ahve been out and about letting work get in the way of the forum.
Ok, this is, understandably a hot topic, that everyone feels strongly about. I think that each side of the arguement ( despite how confusing this thread is getting) has valid points.
I do believe however that it is getting personal, and I would like to thank Neo and McEve for stepping in during my absence.
Like McEve I think neo was correct to point out that it was getting personal. I think however that Sojapat was defending a comment that was unjustified. I do however feel this could be done in a slightly "Friendlier Manner"
I have deleted the above posts as I feel that they ar irrelevant from the topic. If anone has a problem with this please PM me and keep this topic free for constuctive information.
OOOOHHHHH it's Hot!!!
Rob
The perfect white lie..."Of course I didn't pay that much for the fish honey"
I am not personally convinced that zebras are in danger of being depleted in the wild; I am told by people who have been there that there are spots that the numbers have gone down considerably due to overfishing, however, a couple of miles up the river there are plenty of fish as the spots they live are not easily accessible. This argument of course goes to support both views expressed so far.
In the last year or so prior to the ban, I noticed there were plenty of very young zebras available on sale in various fish shops - and I personally disagree with that. Fishing and selling juveniles and young adults definately endangers a species for various reasons - one of which being that it reduces a colony's ability to procreate. I also believe that we lose (unnecessarily) more lives by this kind of trading, as youngsters are more vulnerable to the stress caused by packing and travelling and you name it than adults - and of course, by losing lives, we also increase demand (most people want to replace what has been lost). If anything I would personally like to see a permanent ban on fishing and exporting very young fish.
I have to agree with those who worry about the dam; my experiences are similar to those Dan De Man had. In addition to the permanent or temporary change in water conditions the dam may have on the river, please consider everything (materials, chemicals etc) that will be damped in the river during and following construction! I am originally from Greece and I have seen the fish stock being exterminated in 2 rivers following similar work. So much so that last time they did it, the Greek government decided to start a breeding programme to protect the local species (it was trout) in a protected space in the river, above the space the dam would be built.
One last remark: a number of species have been threatened and/or got lost without direct human intervention (fishing, hunting etc) either as an indirect result of human civilisation or due to changes in weather conditions, food supplies etc. (In Greece the lowering of the water level of a river for a period of time during the building of a dam resulted in some species being more easily accessible to natural predators, for example). The more we know about a species, the more people care about it, the more we are able to protect it. The fish trade is, in a way, promoting the zebra cause, as, for a start, it made the fish so popular and loved (look at us here discussing it - who would know zebras if it wasn't for the trade?). In addition, there are people around now who do and can breed zebras and who can assist if need be in supporting its re-establishment in the wild. We owe this knowledge to the fish trade. So here is some food for thought: maybe the ban would be better lifted and instead have permanent restrictions imposed on the fishing and the number of adult fish exported? This way we could ensure more people would get to know, love - and breed zebras - we could increase our knowledge about them but all that without the dangers of overfishing.
