A very interesting point. When Anton Lamboj spoke at the BIG FISH DEAL presented by CCA he had just returned from a trip to Colombia. He described in detail that the Gorilla forces were not ever going to allow Americans to enter their lands and if they were to enter they would be captured and held at ransom or killed. They walk around with AK47's and are deathly serious about protecting their lands. They are nice enough to other foreign citizens but not to Americans. I can only imagine the horror of being found in a place where you were not supposed to be collecting fish. Good luck getting out alive.
I think that if you actually go to these dangerous countries collect fish, bring them back, breed them, distribute them throughout the hobby for everyone to appreciate. .. you should be praised not trashed. So long as what your doing is legal I see no issues with it at all. I appreciate it when a vendor has collected the fish him/herself. Especially if the individual put themselves in harms way in an effort to collect a rare specimen. Heck I appreciate it even when they aren't in harms way. Why is it that when someone does something new or different they are chastised for it instead of sitting back and listening to the person the consensus is to attack them publicly.
On the flip side of this I understand the frustration of true hobbyist having to hear misinformation from uninformed and downright untruthful individuals who spread lies for the sake of popularity. In this case I think any questions could be answered through pm. Not on the forum. And if the answer to your question isn't what you wanted to hear then move on and formulate you own opinion of the person and what they are doing. If all of the hostility is because people don't like secrets when they buy fish I would love to see this same passion and take this same attitude and direct it at the people in office in Washington DC and all of the secrets and lies they tell.
\RANT COMPLETE/ now stepping away from soapbox.
Drew
I think that if you actually go to these dangerous countries collect fish, bring them back, breed them, distribute them throughout the hobby for everyone to appreciate. .. you should be praised not trashed. So long as what your doing is legal I see no issues with it at all. I appreciate it when a vendor has collected the fish him/herself. Especially if the individual put themselves in harms way in an effort to collect a rare specimen. Heck I appreciate it even when they aren't in harms way. Why is it that when someone does something new or different they are chastised for it instead of sitting back and listening to the person the consensus is to attack them publicly.
On the flip side of this I understand the frustration of true hobbyist having to hear misinformation from uninformed and downright untruthful individuals who spread lies for the sake of popularity. In this case I think any questions could be answered through pm. Not on the forum. And if the answer to your question isn't what you wanted to hear then move on and formulate you own opinion of the person and what they are doing. If all of the hostility is because people don't like secrets when they buy fish I would love to see this same passion and take this same attitude and direct it at the people in office in Washington DC and all of the secrets and lies they tell.
\RANT COMPLETE/ now stepping away from soapbox.
Drew
