Reading the chatter swirling around the reef aquarium hobby, it seems like many aquarists are upset that the first popular home aquarium fish, the Banggai cardinalfish, has been listed as threatened via the Endangered Special Act (ESA). Even though the National Marine Fisheries Service has yet to recommend any restrictions on keeping or trading the species, many aquarists have cited outdated data as the culprit behind the listing. They remind everyone that for years now Banggai cardinals have been captive bred, and collected from areas where they are considered invasive. While this is true, various experts claim the fish is still often collected from its native waters. NMFS cited the fish’s limited geographic range and isolation as a factor in their decision to list the species under the ESA. Just what is the ESA? We hear about it all the time, each time any animal that is “endangered” is discussed. What does an ESA listing really mean, how did it start and does this listing really mean the world’s population of Banggai cardinalfish are under threat of going entirely extinct? The ESA?
The ESA is one of a few dozen environmental laws in the United States, which passed in the 1970s. It is the enacting legislation meant to carry out provisions set forward in The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES). While some aquarists have commented that the ESA is a liberal agenda, it was actually signed into law by Republican president Richard Nixon in 1973, and was designed to protect imperiled species from total extinction due to the activities of economic growth and development ignoring the needs of conservation. The U.S. Supreme Court has stated that the intent of Congress in enacting the ESA was to halt and reverse the trend toward species extinction, whatever the cost. Both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have administration authority over the ESA. It was the near extinction of the Bison, along with the disappearance of the passenger pigeon, that helped drive a strong push towards conservation legislation in the 1900s. In fact, it was the Lacy Act of 1900 that stands as the first federal legislation regulating commercial animal markets. 1929 saw the landmark Migratory Bird Act, and 1940 gave rise to the Bald Eagle Protection Act. It was president Richard Nixon (a staunch Republican) that declared existing legislation wasn’t enough to protect diminishing species.… More:
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