From Walt Smith:
Dear All,
It is a sorry fact that the import of all CITES related items from Tonga have been banned by the US Fish and Wildlife Services effective immediately. I was in Tonga on the morning I got a call from my customer and told me the news.
Essentially what has happened is that USFWS has been communicating with the Tongan government for the last two years trying to get them to comply with some simple regulations. When the Tongan authorities received these request they put them into the “too hard basket” and basically ignored them. There were several extensions to the deadlines and all went ignored. Unfortunately the Industry was unaware of these request or we could have gotten involved and helped steer it to avoid the consequences we are experiencing now.
The Tongan government has been through a lot of changes since the riots of November 2006 and this could be the reason no one has paid attention. They have had three or four different ministers and a lot of issues other than our export to deal with. In my opinion, this does not get them off the hook but does help to explain the dilemma.
Our industry is the largest export out of Tonga bringing in the much need import dollars since the disaster of 2006 (the entire town burned to the ground) and you would think that the fisheries would do what they could to support it. However, the reason I was in Tonga last week was to meet with the various government heads to establish a reef management plan that they need. There is already a threat to ban the industry from the Tongan side because they are unaware of what we actually do and it is my persistence with the rest of the industry that we become more transparent and establish correct reef management in order for our survival. Now we will have a real battle that the US has taken the first move.
The fact is that I have been there for 19 years and the reefS are in the same condition as when I arrived and this is why I am pushing for a proper scientific study to prove our point. If any of you saw the immense size of the resource compared to what we harvest I am sure you would all agree. It is definitely renewable and sustainable with almost zero impact considering how selective we are and how fast the coral grows that we select for our hobby.
As far as the comments regarding a move to increase prices ….. Get real! We have struggled in Tonga for many years to keep our business alive due to inexperienced competition selling too low and airline prices going through the roof. Most of the money for your products goes to Air New Zealand (over 65%) and then we have overhead and payroll to deal with.
I am now forced to lay off about 80% of my loyal staff who are like family to me and ship only fish. I doubt that I will last long in Tonga shipping only fish.
Sorry to dump on you all but I thought you did deserve the truth in this hobby we all love.
Walt Smith
