Do You Ever Wonder...
- Thread starter Confuse
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From what I understand, nothing SPS comes out of Vietnam. They are supposedly very strict about SPS. What I DO know is that when exporting Coral fom wherever, there is no such thing as LE. It's all "Acropora SP". Meaning that it doesn't get all the crazy names (and pricetags) till it gets here..
That said, they have the internet in far off places like Indo, Fiji etc and see what the stuff is going for here, and subsequently charge more for super nice pieces.
I know when I was exporting, there wasn't LE anything. Just nice pieces, which I sent to my better customers.
That said, they have the internet in far off places like Indo, Fiji etc and see what the stuff is going for here, and subsequently charge more for super nice pieces.
I know when I was exporting, there wasn't LE anything. Just nice pieces, which I sent to my better customers.
I know Vietnam has tight restrictions on some stuff, which is what makes me wonder if some of the stuff we're getting is illegal. I just noticed a lot of these rainbow/dynamite/etc chalices and other stuff looks the same as other vendors are selling. Seems like the latest hot stuff (RR Asia/Two Guy Corals) is coming out of that region.
I was at 2 Guys just the other day. JW is gearing up to hand pick in Indo soon..
Not to say it isn't impossible, but even on this end, Fish and Game has to approve whatever enters the country. It might be harder than we all think to get "illegal" corals. I know they don't check every piece, every box, but... An Indo shipment comes from Indo... Wouldn't be very cost effective to ship from someplace like Vietnam to Indonesia to the US... Unless............... It was the latest, newest, most bada$$, LE super Coral. Which means........ Maybe........
Not to say it isn't impossible, but even on this end, Fish and Game has to approve whatever enters the country. It might be harder than we all think to get "illegal" corals. I know they don't check every piece, every box, but... An Indo shipment comes from Indo... Wouldn't be very cost effective to ship from someplace like Vietnam to Indonesia to the US... Unless............... It was the latest, newest, most bada$$, LE super Coral. Which means........ Maybe........
a few points from above posts...
the name game was and is created at the hobbyist level once its already here. collectors are concerned with volume not quality. The shippers are the ones that are learning and separating for the higher paying clients.
So much comes out of Vietnam and although its only supposed to be certain types of species, so much goes through under different names.
Collecting does not mean you get to cherry pick. collection is only allowed in the designated areas in specific years just like trees. Great for JW though. collecting my own pieces would be a dream.
The laws in vietnam are a joke and if you think that the US will catch it then you are in for a huge surprise. I've been working in air freight for 15 years and if theres one thing that hasn't changed over the years is the fact that US fish and wildlife show up only to sign the docs and rarely inspect the shipments. They sign the docs and send a bill for every box imported. USDA actually checks but they are only required to check 10% of the shipment. so if 30 boxes are imported then they are only looking at 3 boxes. When they do check, they do not know what they are looking at. Yes, they are doctors but they do not specialize in fish and corals. In reality they know more about dogs and cats and the experienced reefer knows so much more. I know the 4 doctors for USDA that inspect all shipments. one doesn't care and just signs, two are new and play by the book but dont know what they are looking at and only one actually confiscates shipments. in all that comes in daily, including freshwater and all types of animals that are imported through LAX. these 4 doctors can't possibly catch more that .05%
so yes, so much illegal stuff is imported and most reefers wouldn't even know it was.
the name game was and is created at the hobbyist level once its already here. collectors are concerned with volume not quality. The shippers are the ones that are learning and separating for the higher paying clients.
So much comes out of Vietnam and although its only supposed to be certain types of species, so much goes through under different names.
Collecting does not mean you get to cherry pick. collection is only allowed in the designated areas in specific years just like trees. Great for JW though. collecting my own pieces would be a dream.
The laws in vietnam are a joke and if you think that the US will catch it then you are in for a huge surprise. I've been working in air freight for 15 years and if theres one thing that hasn't changed over the years is the fact that US fish and wildlife show up only to sign the docs and rarely inspect the shipments. They sign the docs and send a bill for every box imported. USDA actually checks but they are only required to check 10% of the shipment. so if 30 boxes are imported then they are only looking at 3 boxes. When they do check, they do not know what they are looking at. Yes, they are doctors but they do not specialize in fish and corals. In reality they know more about dogs and cats and the experienced reefer knows so much more. I know the 4 doctors for USDA that inspect all shipments. one doesn't care and just signs, two are new and play by the book but dont know what they are looking at and only one actually confiscates shipments. in all that comes in daily, including freshwater and all types of animals that are imported through LAX. these 4 doctors can't possibly catch more that .05%
so yes, so much illegal stuff is imported and most reefers wouldn't even know it was.
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I take it you have never seen an export list from an exporter. Almost every sps coral is named by species and sometimes by their common name like "strawberry shortcake." Keep in mind that some of the deepwater species are now banned. Still those species are being imported from time to time by calling them by the name of a coral that resembles it. The down side is sometimes coral shipments get confiscated due to Fish & Game's mistaken identity of corals that look similar to banned species.
