Saving Nemo Act Introduced in House
A bill that would ban the import or export of marine species that pose "a substantial risk of harm to the sustainability of such species or the coral reef ecosystem of such species," or of species that have poor survivorship in transport or captivity, was introduced by Reps. Ed Case, D-Hawaii, and Jared Huffman, D-Calif.
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The bill, whose text was published Dec. 6, requires the Interior Department secretary to consult with the Commerce Department on which species beyond those already covered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species should be banned for import or export so as to protect coral reefs globally.
The bill's name is Saving Natural Ecosystems and Marine Organisms Act, or Saving Nemo, the name of the animated clownfish in the Disney film of that same name.
Species can be removed from the list. Species that are taken for a cooperative breeding program, due to a management plan, for scientific or museum purposes, or that were bred in captivity, don't fall under the import and export ban.
Case said on the House floor last month, when the bill was introduced: "I ... urge my House colleagues to join in protecting our world’s fragile coral reef ecosystems by restricting international imports of protected ornamental reef fish and coral species collected by destructive and unsustainable practices."
Case said the U.S. is the largest importer of ornamental reef fish. "While it is possible to collect them at sustainable levels which do not harm the coral reef or broader marine ecosystem, high demand leads too often to unsustainable and destructive collection practices such as overcollection of species overall, overcollection of younger specimens, collection through reef-dredging, gill nets, explosives or poison, and harm to specimens leading to excessive deaths in transit," he said.
"Most of the collection occurs internationally where most of our world’s coral reefs are found, in countries, such as in Southeast Asia, which do not have strong regulation or enforcement regimens against unsustainable or destructive practices."