legalities of collecting and shipping coral?

[jiggy]

i own a hefty chunk of land in cebu, philippines. as you may or may not know, this is where all of the reefs are in the philippines. i was thinking about starting an aquaculture center and then shipping the corals here to america. does anyone know the legalities of this?

what type of permits would i need to collect the corals? and what would i need to be able to import them to america?

[Blown 346]

I am not to sure on collecting and shipping, but I know you will need a special collecting permit as there are only certain areas you can collect from. I am sure it will be pretty difficult to get started.

[RicksReefs]

I'd start out by contacting the phillipine government, you may not be able to set up at all until you grease the right palm.

[Steven Pro]

I don't believe the Philippines permit any exportation of corals.

[GreshamH]

Originally posted by Steven Pro
I don't believe the Philippines permit any exportation of corals.

Your 10000% correct Steven. It'll take new laws to be passed and old ones to be over turned to PI to resume shipping coral (which has been banned for more then a decade, closer to two IIRC).

[Dactyl]

thats a dirty shame because that means those species will never get into cultivation so if they have a major bleaching evet theyre gone for good. hopefully frags will escape through thermos trading.

[GreshamH]

Thermos trading in this case is international smuggling

[wds21921]

My gf lives near Cebu and it was amazing to find out (through her) how much coral and aquatic life is over there. Take for example clownfish. They simply call them goldfish over there because they're so plentiful.
I'm hoping to be able to fly over there next year to see her and the reef firsthand.
I'm sure I'll be coming home with loads of pics and some great stories.
I thought you couldn't own land in the Phils Chuute? I thought it could only be leased unless you were a resident?