Caulerpa Ban Update

[MaryHM]

Some of you may have seen/heard that the Caulerpa bill ammendments that I previously posted were changed the next day. The change reverted back to the entire genus being banned. Here is the quote from the bill:

This bill would prohibit the sale, possession, importation,
transportation, transfer, releasing alive in the state, or giving
away without consideration the salt water algae of the genus
Caulerpa, except the bill would authorize the possession of salt
water algae of the genus enumerated
Caulerpa species for bona fide scientific research upon
authorization by the Department of Fish and Game.

Basically, as it reads now the ENTIRE genus is banned, except for the few "bad" species which are allowed to be imported for scientific purposes only.

The change in the bill was brought to my attention by some very diligent hobbyists, and I HIGHLY appreciate their thoroughness and bringing this matter to my attention! I can't stay on top of everything, and I really appreciate when you guys pitch in and help out! When I originally heard about the change on Friday evening, I told everyone to "chill out" until I could talk to Dave Weaver. The new changes just didn't make sense- scientists could bring in the bad species for research, but the good species couldn't be imported for ANY reason. I'm very glad I held back and waited until I spoke to Dave Weaver before calling all of you to grab your torches and head to Sacramento I just got off the phone with Dave and he was appalled that the amendments were miswritten. He assured me that all Caulerpa, except the species noted at www.reefsource.com, will be allowed for import. The bill is scheduled to go before the Senate Committee tomorrow. Dave is writing up the author's ammendments now to be included with the bill. The new ammendments should be posted Wednesday or Thursday. If they still screw it up, we have one more Senate Committee to go through, so we'll have time to make sure it gets fixed.

I'm going out of town Thursday and will be gone for a week. If the new bill doesn't get posted before then, here's how you go about finding out if the legislature has posted it:

1. Go to http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/bill/asm/ab_1301-1350/

2. Scroll down until you get to the AB 1334 section. There are dates next to each entry- look at anything dated past June 22.

So in summary, I'm being told this is all a big mistake and it's getting taken care of- I told Dave it better be, or else I'm going to release the hobbyists on him again! ;)

[MaryHM]

Some of you may have seen/heard that the Caulerpa bill ammendments that I previously posted were changed the next day. The change reverted back to the entire genus being banned. Here is the quote from the bill:

This bill would prohibit the sale, possession, importation,
transportation, transfer, releasing alive in the state, or giving
away without consideration the salt water algae of the genus
Caulerpa, except the bill would authorize the possession of salt
water algae of the genus enumerated
Caulerpa species for bona fide scientific research upon
authorization by the Department of Fish and Game.

Basically, as it reads now the ENTIRE genus is banned, except for the few "bad" species which are allowed to be imported for scientific purposes only.

The change in the bill was brought to my attention by some very diligent hobbyists, and I HIGHLY appreciate their thoroughness and bringing this matter to my attention! I can't stay on top of everything, and I really appreciate when you guys pitch in and help out! When I originally heard about the change on Friday evening, I told everyone to "chill out" until I could talk to Dave Weaver. The new changes just didn't make sense- scientists could bring in the bad species for research, but the good species couldn't be imported for ANY reason. I'm very glad I held back and waited until I spoke to Dave Weaver before calling all of you to grab your torches and head to Sacramento I just got off the phone with Dave and he was appalled that the amendments were miswritten. He assured me that all Caulerpa, except the species noted at www.reefsource.com, will be allowed for import. The bill is scheduled to go before the Senate Committee tomorrow. Dave is writing up the author's ammendments now to be included with the bill. The new ammendments should be posted Wednesday or Thursday. If they still screw it up, we have one more Senate Committee to go through, so we'll have time to make sure it gets fixed.

I'm going out of town Thursday and will be gone for a week. If the new bill doesn't get posted before then, here's how you go about finding out if the legislature has posted it:

1. Go to http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/bill/asm/ab_1301-1350/

2. Scroll down until you get to the AB 1334 section. There are dates next to each entry- look at anything dated past June 22.

So in summary, I'm being told this is all a big mistake and it's getting taken care of- I told Dave it better be, or else I'm going to release the hobbyists on him again! ;)

[FishKid]

Lets keep our fingers crossed. Otherwise, we are all going to have to grab some brooms and torches, its shananagins!


I think I have some C. taxifolia in my tank! its growing on the glass somehow!

mark

[wgscott]

This helps to clarify everything: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/bill/a...21_status.html

[SPasse]

Hi All,

I re-read the bill as amended June 21st.

It does indeed read “This bill would prohibit the sale, possession, importation, transportation, transfer, releasing alive in the state, or giving away without consideration the salt water algae of the genus Caulerpa.

The species that I previously posted would only be available for “bona fide scientific research upon authorization by the Department of Fish and Game.”

Big problem

Hopefully this was just an error that will be fixed.

Regards,

Scott Passe

[Ninong]

The Senate Natural Resources and Wildlife Committee was scheduled to hold hearings on the bill (AB1334) today, June 26th.

It appears that someone made changes to some paragraphs in the text of the bill but failed to make the same changes to other paragraphs. This appears to be clerical oversight.

According to the 6/22/01 Senate Analysis of the proposed bill:

PROPOSED LAW : AB 1334 proposes to ban the sale or
possession, under any terms and conditions, of nine species
of the genus Caulerpa and makes violations of the ban
subject to civil penalties.

BACKGROUND : The author, supported by the administration,
states that the species of Caulerpa which is the subject of
the bill is an exotic, invasive species, posing
considerable risk to the marine ecosystem of southern
California. The algae are apparently spread by materials
discarded from aquaria. These algae are currently available
for sale in many commercial establishments.

The species of greatest concern is Caulerpa taxifolia.
Other species are included in the bill because of the
difficulty even trained scientists have in distinguishing
among the included species.


Australia and some Mediterranean nations have experienced
major problems with Caulerpa. It can spread by
fragmentation, and can form a dense smothering blanket on
any surface, including rock, sand, and mud. It is capable
of extremely rapid growth of approximately one inch per
day.


Ninong

[Bamm Bamm]

Ok thats it Iam sick of California Iam moving??? Any other place where I can make a lot of money nad meet lots of girls...And most importnatly..A place where I can buy my damned reef supplies for the tanks in peace and not have to worry about the government trying to ban it??

[SPasse]

Hi All,

I sent an e-mail to Rob Toonen (Soon to be Dr. Rob) asking for his perspective on the caulerpa ban issue because addition to him being a good resource, he is acquainted with some of the people who are the scientific advisors to the sponsors of the bill.

Here is his response:

“Yes, I am familiar with the bill, and although I haven't had a chance to discuss it with Susan (she is the new director out at Bodega Marine Labs and is rarely available to chat), I have discussed this at length with Ted Grosholz (another Invasion Biologist faculty here who is one of the advisors to the bill).

There is certainly no conspiracy or agenda to ban live rock importation, and as far as I can tell, the advisors didn't realize the potential impact their suggestion would have. Beyond that, Ted tells me that both he & Susan stand by their recommendation to ban the genus because of the management issue. They feel that Fish & Game has a hard enough time identifying most "pest" species that there is essentially no chance that a ban on only the invasive species will have any effect, and a complete ban on the genus is a simple management strategy that is necessary for it to be effective.

I think that if prevention of introduction is really their goal, the ban is too little too late, as Caulerpa is already established in one of the few habitats in California that will support these tropical and semi-tropical species. Their primary arguments are: 1) C. taxifolia is already illegal under the noxious weeds act, and is still found in many petshops for sale (whether due to misidentification or malicious intent is open to debate), 2) contrary to the aquarium literature put out there are several other species (esp. C. racemosa) that are invasive and potential problems that are commonly available in the hobby.

I tried to explain that they were over-reacting by banning the entire genus and that such a bill could effectively outlaw the importation of live rock, which would essentially destroy the reef aquarium hobby. They felt that such "predictions of doom & gloom" was an over-reaction as well. They claimed that the same predictions were made by a number of commercial fisheries when pending legislation was proposed, but years later the only change has been the development of a holding facility in which the imports are quarantined to prevent exotic introductions. They felt that the same solution would work just fine for the importation of live rock -- although this seems to be a moot point after the proposed changes to the bill....

Rob”

Regards,

Scott Passe

[SPasse]

Hi All,

I merged the "Political Hidden Agenda on Caulerpa Ban?" and the "Caulerpa Ban Update" threads.

I did this because of the related subject matter and because I want to keep the number of stickies down to a minimum.

Regards,

Scott Passe

[Brazil]

Well... Never thought this hobby would succumb to politics. Its ashame how the vocal lobbies of this country have been able to manipulate the system for any agenda no matter how trite or insipid. I understand the need to have certain controls in our society, but most legislation is always based on factless opinion and pure emotion. Calfornia and New York seem to have come upon just another scenario where a few wackos put together bills that have no real justification. The bills read easy to politicians that don't really understand what they are reading at all, and they vote for them believing that they are champions of the environment and saving a few lives to boot. This is just another small part of the greater slippery slope that this nation is going quickly down. The need to protect our environment and the people in it is surely a great cause, and the need to protect our freedom is also a great cause. Balancing the two is tricky, and should be handled with great care and respect. I fear that most lobbyists and politicians do not do this.

Benjamin Franklin: "Those who choose security over freedom deserve neither."

Have a nice day.

[SPasse]

Hi All,

I am un-sticking this thread as the CA legislation was amended to ban only the species that I listed above.

However…

It looks like, according to Mary “San Diego City Council is planning on banning the entire genus in their city.”

I guess that now it is a question of who will get tired first, the legislators or the hobbyists.

Regards,

Scott Passe