A lot of the problem is that environmental causes are "Hip" and lets face it, we fish geeks just aren't that "hip". We will have to do quite some lobbying to catch up with the wallets of the enviro-nuts who blindly think that killing off things like the reef aquarium trade are going to stop global warming, overfishing, shipping, pollution, and bring the world's reefs back to health overnight.
Much of the rest is very well said. We need to put our money where our mouths are and speak up!
Also, and this view may be unpopular but I feel that it is true enough to mention, whether we like it or not, a significant portion of hobbyists who call themselves reefers are tragically bad at husbandry and lack the knowhow to keep most critters that they temporarily own. As much as it pains me to say it, many people in this hobby are doing a disservice to wild reefs because they do not give adequate gravity to the task ahead of them and just buy, kill, replace. I know that none of us just started out as old-salt reefers, and I don't have an answer to this issue, but figured I'd bring it up for better or worse because you can be sure that the opponent will. Our hobby is not easy, but if we can SHOW and DOCUMENT real progress, that we can now keep and breed corals, that the average reefer these days is more skilled at coral husbandry than the most talented marine biologist was 15 years ago, then I think we have a chance.
I find that in cases like these, if we can find an alternative to their legislation we will be far more successful than just trying to kill it and be done. An initiative that says we will work to increase aqua and mariculture, that we will push captive bred beginner corals on beginners and seek to reduce wild caught or harvested specimens by 50% over the next 20 years, we may be much more effective at combating this legislature.
I am not sure what the answer is, but I would be more than happy to help find one and enact it.
