Alert: Potamotrygonidae under consideration for CITES listing.

[spotfin]

CITES has NO IMPACT on captive breeding of these things.
It's focused on regulation of trade (mostly over borders). To bring the animals into the country, you'll need to be granted the proper permit. It's not really THAT big of a deal if you follow the regulations.

The up side is that it allows better control of the animals by people who actually know what they are doing when it comes to animals. (Not just some gov't emplyee in a suit at a desk.) In the long run, this is a good thing for FW rays. CITES has helped many high risk species make strong come backs.

True. But are fw rays considered high risk?

 

[ewurm]

True. But are fw rays considered high risk?

That is exactly what needs to be determined through more scientific study.

 

[nitrofish1]

That is exactly what needs to be determined through more scientific study.

thought that was why they enacted this lack of Brazilian rays trade in the first place, was to keep them from being wiped out of such a large country, and portion of the amazon river.

 

[abortedsoul]

I hate to say it, but there are reasons that I would be happy that something like this gets passed. My wallet wouldn't appreciate it, and I think that there are too many frivolous and stupid laws on the books that add too many layers of irritating, pointless and out-right destructive bureaucracy. Also, these things are killed as pests where they thrive in the wild.

That said, however, more detailed studies are needed to determine if the ornamental fish trade is a threat to any of these species. Of course, I really doubt it is even a minor threat to the healthy population of certain species, but a comprehensive study would be needed before making any firm judgments. If it does turn out that it is having a negative impact on certain species, I would be more than happy to accept trade controls to preserve these pinnacles of nature's beauty.

 

[TheRealMacDaddy]

Personally, I think that it's good to have them listed. It protects the animals. Isn't that what we all want - keeping the animals around instead of wiping them all off of the face of the Earth?

Well then why stop there w/ FW Rays? Why not ban all ornamental fish keeping? I mean the fish farms here in Florida do a great job of growing guppies, swordtails and platys, but most of all other fishes are wild caught and imports.

These animals are not being "wiped off the face of the earth" because of the aquarist hobby trade. The are being wiped off the face of the Earth by habitat destruction. And guess what...the people in those countries will continue to destroy that habitat because they could give two hoots about some fish in some river or creek. That even goes for us here in the U.S., look at the salmon fisheries, the famous Snail Darter and I could go on and on.

It may well be that 20 years from now the only F/W Stingrays in the world are the offspring of the currently captive population. The Amazon basin loses nearly 160,000 acres a day of rain forest. We all know what this does to that ecosystem.

I guess the Aquarist's next step is to initiate a "Breeding Book" so as to ensure DNA diversity.

 

[Nic]

Well then why stop there w/ FW Rays? Why not ban all ornamental fish keeping? I mean the fish farms here in Florida do a great job of growing guppies, swordtails and platys, but most of all other fishes are wild caught and imports.

These animals are not being "wiped off the face of the earth" because of the aquarist hobby trade. The are being wiped off the face of the Earth by habitat destruction. And guess what...the people in those countries will continue to destroy that habitat because they could give two hoots about some fish in some river or creek. That even goes for us here in the U.S., look at the salmon fisheries, the famous Snail Darter and I could go on and on.

It may well be that 20 years from now the only F/W Stingrays in the world are the offspring of the currently captive population. The Amazon basin loses nearly 160,000 acres a day of rain forest. We all know what this does to that ecosystem.

I guess the Aquarist's next step is to initiate a "Breeding Book" so as to ensure DNA diversity.

well most large scale ray breeders are chipping the animals and keeping track of the parents...

 

[Zoodiver]

Let's not get drastic. This is a simple step to make sure we really have a handle on how many are left. Heck, right now, we can't really determine the true species. Sure we slapped lables on them back in the late 1800's and early 1900's, but those are wrong (based on what we have learned).

This is a chance to make sure we are doing things correctly. We need to properly ID species, get accurate counts of them in the wild, and learn more about how they are doing in their native environment.

At least they aren't going Appendix I, then private owners wouldn't be able to have them at all. Do you want that to happen?

 

[gomezladdams]

Thanks for that answer Zoodiver,when I saw cites I was thinking a ban on the order of what we see with asian aros in this country.Thanks for clearing that up.As long as it doesnt interfere with the captive breeding programs I know some members have going,this new regulation is not a hugely bad thing.

 

[Zoodiver]

I bet loads of people on here keep Appendix II animals and aren't even aware of them being listed. I'd suggest taking a few minutes to read the CITES website and browse the actual animal lists just to see what the group is all about and what animals (and plants) they are protecting.

 

[FSM]

If wild populations of rays are potentially at risk, there is no reason why captive breeding would be banned, only importation of wild rays.