It appears to me that there are several issues intertwined here.

1. E-bay policies.  What may or may not be sold on e-bay is partially
independent of wildlife laws.  E-bay policies prevent selling many items
which are legal to buy and sell, such as pet animals.

2. CITES.  Doesn't this only apply to international trade?  Since the shells
in question originated in Hawaii and were sold in Florida, the only
violations occur when the seller sells to buyers outside of the USA.  Sales
to other collectors within the USA has nothing to do with CITES.

3. Endangered Species Act.  Generally, possession of endangered species
collected before enactment of the law is legal.  Supposedly, large numbers
of Achatinella were taken before collection was banned.  The seller stated
that these shells came from an old collection.  Hopefully he has
documentation.

4. Some of the Achatinella species that were sold on e-bay are listed as
extinct by the IUCN.  According to the Bishop Museum's web site, many of the
extinct Achatinella species went extinct before the ESA was enacted in 1973.
These should be legal to sell and possess regardless of other documentation.


It appears to me that the accusations of illegality of the seller may be
overstated.  It would appear to me that only the sale of non-extinct species
to overseas buyers might be in violation of CITES, and then only if they do
not have an exemption for specimens collected before the treaty was enacted.


Regarding Environmental activists:  They are irrational.  Nothing less than
a total ban on all collection and possession of anything found in the
natural environment will satisfy them.  Don't try to appease them, just
oppose them!

Rich Pierce




-----Original Message-----
From: Conchologists List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Chris Takahashi
Sent: Saturday, September 18, 2010 2:34 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [CONCH-L] Endangered Species Act-SELLING OF CITES SP ON EBAY

Martin,
Of course it's legal to own Achatinella. What's illegal is engaging in
open online sell/trade. Achatinella is on CITES list of endangered species
for a reason. To openly offer a federally protected species online on
Ebay, with prior sales showing in the seller's feedback column, isn't very
smart.

Ebay can suspend your account for trafficking of illegal items and Fish
and Wildlife can fine and/or incarcerate if items were sent abroad. In
this case the seller's feedbacks shows prior sales of said items and
checking the buyers location shows what state or countries the items were
shipped too. We shell collectors get hit by ecologists as "reef rapers"
because of one dimensional thinking. So when a sheller breaks the law it
really makes all us shellers look bad.

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