SCIENTISTS CALL FOR BAN ON SALE OF CORALS
Conservationists are calling for a ban on the sale of Caribbean elkhorn and staghorn corals, newly protected today under the Endangered Species Act, though still legally sold in shell shops and souvenir stores of South Florida. Last month NOAA announced that these two species of Caribbean coral are to be placed on the list of "threatened" species protected under the Endangered Species Act. These species were once dominant builders of Caribbean coral reefs, but over the last 30 years have experienced dramatic declines throughout the region. The new protection is an effort to reverse this decline, thought to have been the result of disease, global warming, and hurricanes. Despite these declines, and the new protection that came into effect, these corals are still legally being offered for sale in shell shops and souvenir stores around South Florida, say Dr. Andrew Baker, of the Wildlife Conservation Society and the University of Miami, and Steven Lutz, of the Marine Conservation Biology Institute in Washington, DC.
Source: Newswise, 8 June 2006
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/521145/#imagetop
