Re: NANFA-L-- Re: Chinese Sturgeon on AquaBid

Dustin Smith (dsmith73-in-hotmail.com)
Tue, 09 May 2006 07:31:37 -0400

Aquabid does not get a percentage from sales. They ask for a voluntary 3%,
but in no way require it. I certainly understand everyone's issues with
this auction and I had actually sent a message to Mark before I noticed it
was being taken up here. The thing is that Aquabid provides a valuable
source for trade and distribution of fish. Many fish that are now readily
available were never seen in certain parts of the country before. Mark has
done an excellent job-in-policing the auctions, but he is in unchartered
territory as far as how do do so. Like someone else mentioned, there are
many fishes that are protected or even possibly extinct within their home
range(ie. Ameca splendens and other Goodeids), but are readily available via
other hobbyists on Aquabid. Should these sales also be disallowed.

I am not on one side or the other here. I believe the sturgeon auction
should be removed, if for no other reason, the sketchy origin. I also think
that some fish such as the Goodeids and killies should continue to be
allowed. These fish would be gone altogether due to habitat loss if not for
the network of hobbyists and other institutions that continue to propagate
them.

Dustin Smith
Lexington, SC
At the convergence of the Broad, Saluda and Congaree

----Original Message Follows----
From: Mysteryman <bestfish-in-alaweb.com>
Reply-To: nanfa-l-in-nanfa.org
To: nanfa-l-in-nanfa.org
Subject: Re: NANFA-L-- Re: Chinese Sturgeon on AquaBid
Date: Tue, 09 May 2006 04:38:49 -0700

matt ashton wrote:

>It falls under Cites Appendix II. All Acipenseridae species that are not
>listed under Appendix I are listed under Appendix II.
> The see know evil approach that Aquabid is said to be taking is kind of
>surprising to me. A tank raised captively bred Sturgeon that is rare just
>doesn't seem likely to fit into the reasons they gave for allowing it to
>remain unless contacted by authorities. The actual listing with its
>suspicious language (don't question how I got it I have my ways - to
>paraphrase) just makes it even more obvious they should suspend or take a
>second look-in-what they allow and how they allow things to be auctioned.
> Matt
>
>
>
I'll tell you the reason for the attitude:
money.
Aquabid gets a percentage from sales, and an expensive fish like that makes
more money for AB. ALSO, controversy results in pageviews, and pageviews
translate into money from the advertisers.
Aquabid disallows the sales of all herps, but hypocritically & routinely
allows the sale of restricted fishes & plants. No one has been able to
figure out that one.
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