Kalk, There is no safe threshold concentration. Cyanide is a very potent toxin. Get it? Distorting the trends presented in my paper is also unacceptable. Cyanide is totally unacceptable and always will be.
The only reason that it is still in use, is because BFAR did not use the CDT results to prosecute the exporters and collectors when they had the data from IMA's CDT analyses. The exporters used death threats, threats of legal action, and other forms of intimidation against Dr. Pratt of IMA and even against the head of BFAR, Guillermo Morales (the only BFAR head with the guts to stand up to them).
It is silly on your part to defend the use of cyanide. The result may be the shut down of the trade. If the trade had truly supported net-training and other reform measures, you would not have to deal with the USCRTF.
The problem is not confined to the aquarium trade, so I sympathize with retailers (like Dizzy) that are concerned about the future of their own businesses. They did not create the problem, and if the only fish available are cyanide-caught they buy them. That still does not make it legal or acceptable.
I have long stated that we need to implement CDT in the country of origin. Philippine and Indonesian laws need to be applied against those most responsible, which is not the collectors, but against the middemen and exporters who distribute the cyanide. This needs to be done before the remaining reefs are destroyed.
People like Steve Robinson need to be enlisted to train collectors to use nets. Shooting the messenger (who is offering his services) is not the answer.
Peter Rubec
The only reason that it is still in use, is because BFAR did not use the CDT results to prosecute the exporters and collectors when they had the data from IMA's CDT analyses. The exporters used death threats, threats of legal action, and other forms of intimidation against Dr. Pratt of IMA and even against the head of BFAR, Guillermo Morales (the only BFAR head with the guts to stand up to them).
It is silly on your part to defend the use of cyanide. The result may be the shut down of the trade. If the trade had truly supported net-training and other reform measures, you would not have to deal with the USCRTF.
The problem is not confined to the aquarium trade, so I sympathize with retailers (like Dizzy) that are concerned about the future of their own businesses. They did not create the problem, and if the only fish available are cyanide-caught they buy them. That still does not make it legal or acceptable.
I have long stated that we need to implement CDT in the country of origin. Philippine and Indonesian laws need to be applied against those most responsible, which is not the collectors, but against the middemen and exporters who distribute the cyanide. This needs to be done before the remaining reefs are destroyed.
People like Steve Robinson need to be enlisted to train collectors to use nets. Shooting the messenger (who is offering his services) is not the answer.
Peter Rubec