[Al G Blenny]

Sorry to tell you buddy but the wholesalers are the importers. The companies that ship to them are the exporters. There is no middle man of importer to wholesaler. The only middle man is from collections to exporter and that doesn't always exist. The wholesalers get the corals direct from the exporters. That's why the majority of the wholesalers/importers are in LA/SF areas. Major airports that are closest to indo pacific. LAX and SFO. In case you didn't know most of the LEs came from wholesalers either in LA or in the Bay Area. Maybe from a store that got it there or a reefer that got it from that store but nonetheless. Lets see. Who are the big names in wholesale/import? Walt Smith? He collects corals himself and sells them at PAF. Sea Dwelling Creatures? The import eveything themselves. Where do you think all of the Dendros came from? Here in the bay. Pan, ASAP, Deep Sea? All import corals themselves and some have their own collecting stations in Tonga, Fiji, Solomon, etc...

As far as exporters in LA. What corals are they sending and where? I didn't know they collected corals on this coast. I havn't seen a coral collection close to this side of the US for some time now. The closest would be Mexico and last I heard they were shut down for a long time.