- Joined
- Jan 22, 2004
- Messages
- 3,019
Venting is fine, accusatory writing is a little hard to take.
We are all working together. TONMO is a unique community where private hobbyists, public aquarists and research scientists regularly contribute. It is truly amazing that this continued participation has lasted and grown - it is something that is sorely missing is the rest of the marine hobby.
You mention seahorses, but most public aquariums are constrained by the same restrictions about sharing animals with non accredited entities. My reading of the seahorse forums is that public aquarists and researchers participate very rarely. The difference seems to be, IMO, that way more people are breeding seahorses than are breeding cephs, so it seems like things are more open because there are more animals available.
I am confused by your calling my good work (thanks!) secret when I have been posting about it here.
Institutions restrict who gets their surplus animals for many reasons, and I think we shouldn't dismiss them because they are inconvenient to us. For instance, my private breeding of cuttles meant that I had to send animals to people who I knew wouldn't be able to keep them, but I wanted their money and needed to unload the animals. A public institution is under no such pressure and sending animals to people who can't take care of them is an anathema. I used to think it would be easy to vet individuals to allow such institutions to send them animals, but seeing it from the other side, it is simply not that easy, and the resources may simply not be there. Sending animals only to institutions that have been 'pre vetted' is easier, and allows for easier tracking of the animals over time (sending to hobbyists and asking for feedback is often met with silence - from personal pre public aquarium experience). Also, finding the time to send 200 eggs is hard enough, finding the time to send 10 to 10 different people would be incredibly difficult. These are some of the reasons behind public institutions not sending animals to private individuals, but are no means all of them.
When I first started with cuttles I too was frustrated with not being able to get animals, but quickly understood and respected the reasoning behind it.
I hope that in the future, before getting upset, you ask about some of the whys. On TONMO at least, you'll be able to get both sides of the story.
We are all working together. TONMO is a unique community where private hobbyists, public aquarists and research scientists regularly contribute. It is truly amazing that this continued participation has lasted and grown - it is something that is sorely missing is the rest of the marine hobby.
You mention seahorses, but most public aquariums are constrained by the same restrictions about sharing animals with non accredited entities. My reading of the seahorse forums is that public aquarists and researchers participate very rarely. The difference seems to be, IMO, that way more people are breeding seahorses than are breeding cephs, so it seems like things are more open because there are more animals available.
I am confused by your calling my good work (thanks!) secret when I have been posting about it here.
Institutions restrict who gets their surplus animals for many reasons, and I think we shouldn't dismiss them because they are inconvenient to us. For instance, my private breeding of cuttles meant that I had to send animals to people who I knew wouldn't be able to keep them, but I wanted their money and needed to unload the animals. A public institution is under no such pressure and sending animals to people who can't take care of them is an anathema. I used to think it would be easy to vet individuals to allow such institutions to send them animals, but seeing it from the other side, it is simply not that easy, and the resources may simply not be there. Sending animals only to institutions that have been 'pre vetted' is easier, and allows for easier tracking of the animals over time (sending to hobbyists and asking for feedback is often met with silence - from personal pre public aquarium experience). Also, finding the time to send 200 eggs is hard enough, finding the time to send 10 to 10 different people would be incredibly difficult. These are some of the reasons behind public institutions not sending animals to private individuals, but are no means all of them.
When I first started with cuttles I too was frustrated with not being able to get animals, but quickly understood and respected the reasoning behind it.
I hope that in the future, before getting upset, you ask about some of the whys. On TONMO at least, you'll be able to get both sides of the story.