Re: NANFA-L-- I'm blogging fish; really.

dlmcneely-in-lunet.edu
Thu, 27 Apr 2006 09:35:56 -0500

Well, can't cite specifically for fish. However, there is the famous
story of the very famous naturalist resident on an Australian island
who obtained seven specimens of a bird new to science from the gifts
his cat brought to him -- a kind of collecting, I guess. The bird has
never been found again, but the specimens allegedly reside in the
British Museum of Natural History. True? Apocryphal?

More to the present point: I absolutely agree, and I think that
science does as well, that pollution and habitat degradation/loss are
the main sources of endangerment. But consider a population that is
barely holding on due to these matters, and is hit by collectors. Does
it help? That may be the rub. Do we as conservationists have an
obligation to apply the precautionary principle? That is the principle
that says that until we know an action is harmless, we eschew that
action. Only when data overwhelmingly say that there will be no harm
done do we go ahead.

So, for me, if a population is already stressed or has the likelihood
of being stressed, I'd rather not risk harm by collecting.

Dave Mc

David L. McNeely, Ph.D., Professor of Biology
Langston University; P.O. Box 1500
Langston, OK 73050; email: dlmcneely-in-lunet.edu
telephone: (405) 466-6025; fax: 405) 466-3307
home page http://www.lunet.edu/mcneely/index.htm

"Where are we going?" "I don't know, are we there yet?"

----- Original Message -----
From: Derek Parr <derekparr-in-earthlink.net>
Date: Thursday, April 27, 2006 8:43 am
Subject: Re: NANFA-L-- I'm blogging fish; really.
> well.. I've certainly garnered a sense of paranoia occasionally
> from
> this list.. but I've yet to hear any stories of any horrible
> things
> happening as a result of collecting. From what I've seen, all the
> real
> world dangers have come from habitat loss and pollution. I for
> one,
> would love to hear some stories of non-game fish being decimated
> or hurt
> by collecting in your region. It would fill this obvious void in
> my
> knowledge on the subject.
>
> Thanks,
> -derek parr
> Chapel Hill, NC
>
>
> Chip Rinehart wrote:
> > I agree with this 100%, having witnessed some of our sites
> trashed in the past.
> >
> > Chip in SC
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