Eric Borneman coral controversy

[Anonymous]

The court of public opinion can be damning really quickly.

Generally without all the evidence and the necessary expertise or jurisdiction. Also often quick to come to judgement and slow to change that judgement if challenged. Which is exactly why I don't find the following curious at all.

I find it curious why Eric has not responded.

 

[Anonymous]

Also, could anyone answer me this, if this is such a big deal, why is Eric listed as doing two current projects at the flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary?

http://www.flowergarden.nos.noaa.gov/sc ... jects.html

Anyone want to take a crack at this?

How many times does someone have to take a crack at it?

I think the story is that federally protected corals were taken from a government facility, corals that were designated to be relocated, under federal law, to meet the Navy's requirements, and no one wants to talk about it.
Eric is just collateral damage.

 

[StevenPro]

If what you allege is true, why would he still be working with NOAA?

 

[Anonymous]

It appears that the NOAA and the Sanctuary did as much as they could to not report it and give Eric every chance to make it right.

Email from Billy to Eric:
This is not an enforcement action and we are not treating is as such. Once my letter requestion all corals, those in your possession and those in the possession of Reef Savers, is complied with there will be no need for an enforcement action.

There is a rumor that Eric's parents have threatened to sue any one that talks about it.

The Sanctuary would have to explain why this was not reported, why the Navy was not advised, and the Sanctuary would have to explain how they dropped the ball.

 

[trido]

I have followed this thread from the start. From what I can see, Alot of people involved in this have made mistakes. EVERYONE makes mistakes including yourselves. From what I have read, no one is going to court, no one is being fined and the media hasnt made a stink about it either. What is the point in discussing it any further. If you think that you have a case against Eric or anyone mentioned above why dont you take it upon yourselves to press charges and do something about it. Otherwise I dont even see why you want to drag this out any further other than to fan some flames just for the sake of doing and talking about something controversial. Get over it. JMO

 

[Anonymous]

No newspaper is going to stop the presses to report a story on Eric Borneman.

Eric is not the story anyway.

This is the story that will stop the presses and it seems to be the story the Sanctuary did not want out:

Cracker2 wrote:
I think the story is that federally protected corals were taken from a government facility, corals that were designated to be relocated, under federal law, to meet the Navy's requirements, and no one wants to talk about it.
Eric is just collateral damage.

 

[sihaya]

Well, that would explain a lot...

 

[sihaya]

WOW... I was just told that there's some kind of press lock on this whole issue... not about Borneman, but about the whole Trumen Annex fiasco.

Cracker2- I think you must be on to something here. I was told by a reputable source that my concern over what happened with this particular incident only hits the "tip of the iceburge." This really is a much bigger issue than I thought. Facing the wrath of Eric's fans is one thing... but the underlying fire storm appears to be of a magnitude even I find a bit intimidating.

 

[andybeats]

i think eric is a main target here, because discussing this might help some people question his "science". which would help the hobby greatly if people would stop and think for themselves, and not just listen to people without reading a little (not just eric either, anyone!)

 

[shred5]

All I got say is be careful what you read on the internet because we know everthing posted on the net is true and do not be so fast to judge. The stuff posted seems to have been very carefully selected. I used to know Eric and this does not seem like something he would do. I have seen him speak about the condition of the Caribbean reefs and practically break down crying. I am not saying there was no wrong doing going on because I was not there but I believe if there was it was done with all good intentions in mind and not intentional. More information is needed to draw any conclusion..

Dave

 

[sihaya]

Dave- if the material was "selected" then it was selected by NOAA and FKNMS. I have posted everything sent to me.

That said, I'm coming to understand why the documents may have been "selected"... not by me, but perhaps by other parties who may not wish to turn over everything available. I'm just as disturbed by this possibility as anyone else and will be actively looking into it.

 

[Anonymous]

but I believe if there was it was done with all good intentions in mind and not intentional. More information is needed to draw any conclusion..

Dave

From the permit application:

Culture site:
Corals will be placed into large culture facilities at Reef Savers, Inc., Houston, Texas. This facility if the site of the CDHC culture program to establish model systems and species for research. Corals will be separated by species and put into location specific systems according to their physiological preferences to ensure optimum health.

Project Summary:
Collections of corals from the FKNMS, will be put into permanent culture at the designated facility (Reef Savers, Inc.) and used to establish clonal lines of corals for disease and bleaching research in the scientific community as part of the Coral Disease and Health Consortium.

 

[andybeats]

but I believe if there was it was done with all good intentions in mind and not intentional. More information is needed to draw any conclusion..

Dave

From the permit application:

Culture site:
Corals will be placed into large culture facilities at Reef Savers, Inc., Houston, Texas. This facility if the site of the CDHC culture program to establish model systems and species for research. Corals will be separated by species and put into location specific systems according to their physiological preferences to ensure optimum health.

Project Summary:
Collections of corals from the FKNMS, will be put into permanent culture at the designated facility (Reef Savers, Inc.) and used to establish clonal lines of corals for disease and bleaching research in the scientific community as part of the Coral Disease and Health Consortium.

its not really about what was done at reef savers, the whole misunderstanding aside, he should not have taken the corals from the lab that were designated for relocation. he could collect all he wanted from the canal, but to even know the corals were in the lab, must mean that he knew the corals were there to be relocated. he shouldnt have taken them. doing so ruined any chance of them being relocated into the wild. which goes against everything he speaks about saving the reefs.

 

[RandyO]

I think the person that put that website together has too much time on their hands, and obviously wants to hurt Eric. It took me 10 seconds of looking at it to decide not to proceed, guessing it was most likely Bomber, or whoever he was.


In my opinion, if guys like Eric want to take corals off a protected reef for research, they should be allowed to. These are the guys that are trying to help. Give them full access to what ever they need.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm trying to help...do I get full access too?

 

[StevenPro]

I think the person that put that website together has too much time on their hands, and obviously wants to hurt Eric. It took me 10 seconds of looking at it to decide not to proceed, guessing it was most likely Bomber, or whoever he was.

That is too funny. :lol: The person that put together the opportunitylost website is the same person that went after Bomber about a year and a half ago.

 

[andybeats]

I think the person that put that website together has too much time on their hands, and obviously wants to hurt Eric. It took me 10 seconds of looking at it to decide not to proceed, guessing it was most likely Bomber, or whoever he was.


In my opinion, if guys like Eric want to take corals off a protected reef for research, they should be allowed to. These are the guys that are trying to help. Give them full access to what ever they need.

the person that is running that site has admitted it quite a few times in this thread, its not really hard to figure it out... :roll:

and i think people should be able to help the reefs and do research, but what part of that is what eric did? he should know better then to contaminate the corals with pacific species, it kinda ruins the experiment about coral disease when your looking into all the diseases in the world and not just the florida species.

 

[StevenPro]

and i think people should be able to help the reefs and do research, but what part of that is what eric did? he should know better then to contaminate the corals with pacific species, it kinda ruins the experiment about coral disease when your looking into all the diseases in the world and not just the florida species.

There is absolutely no proof that Eric did that.

 

[Anonymous]

In my opinion, if guys like Eric want to take corals off a protected reef for research, they should be allowed to. These are the guys that are trying to help. Give them full access to what ever they need.

Those corals are protected public property. Federally protected public property.

If someone takes their family to the Keys on vacation, the kids pick up the wrong souvenier to take home. Just one thing.
If they have a boat, they will take their boat away, the trailer used to haul it, and the car they used to pull it, and put Dad in jail.
If someone goes out on a boat, gets lost, and runs over a coral. They have to pay to hire an assessment team, surveyors, and pay to have that reef restored.

They gave a permit to someone they should have never given a permit to. They did not check out his story before they gave that permit.
After they found out, they did nothing about it.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars in corals, publically owned corals, were removed from the Scanctuary. Taken to Texas. Put into a pet tropical fish wholesalers warehouse. Under the pretention of doing coral disease research.

 

[StevenPro]

If they have a boat, they will take their boat away, the trailer used to haul it, and the car they used to pull it, and put Dad in jail.
If someone goes out on a boat, gets lost, and runs over a coral. They have to pay to hire an assessment team, surveyors, and pay to have that reef restored.

Doesn't knowing this undercut your allegations? If Eric did the things you suggest, won't he have been prosecuted?