[CSeaSee]

My read on the Reefs.org thread (which makes me very happy to belong to this board...) is that Haiti does have a permit of sorts, in the neighborhood of 6,000 lbs. max. Also, after reading the press release at the beginning of this post, it seems to be implied that the US has ways of getting permits for non-CITES countries, like Haiti ("To legally import such specimens into the United States, the importer must, among other requirements, obtain and present to the Fish & Wildlife Service a valid foreign export permit from the country of origin, or if the country of origin is not a CITES member, such as Haiti, a corresponding document described in U.S. regulations.")

[sihaya]

Right, but the question remains... is the "permit of sorts" that Haiti issues really according to CITES principles/guidelines? The US requires a "corresponding document." We still need to ask, does Haiti really have a corresponding document to issue? Is there any committee or management in place in Haiti to make sure that the Haitan "permits" are issues similarly as CITES permits are?

[Poseidon]

If Haiti wants to sell the rock, or maybe a better phrase is they don't care about the rock, why should CaribSea be blamed for wanting it?

Now as an ethical company, maybe they should have limited the purchase to 6,000 lbs or whatever the CITES guidelines WOULD have been if Haiti had them.

I guess I am taken aback by the whole ordeal, and like Sihaya, I don't personally have enough information to condemn or defend CaribSea. I am sure the owners of CaribSea are alot like me and the average Joe, just trying to do what it takes to feed the family....

[sihaya]

Yeah... it's an interesting issue. If nothing else, at least the article got our attention and got us thinking/talking about it. I wish I had time to read more about it.