It seems that the sign ups that was gathered during World Oceans Day was able to reach Shell Horizons. Below is a copy of their email response to those who signed our online petition which sent messages from many individuals to Shell Horizon's email.
Dear concerned.I appreciate your concern for the environment and “all of the planets natural resources” and would like you to know that some of the pictures we had on our website were from the 1970’s and it looked as though we were still importing from the Philippines, ,we took down most of the pictures and leave only the ones from the country we import from now(legally just as it was in the 70”s from the Philippines), “legally at that time also”.(Some of the pictures taken down were not Philippino's,This Mrs. Oposa should have called us or written to us and did her homework before being radical so fast,she justs surfs the internet all day and flips out on anything she sees and tweets all nite.Talk to the people you are charging before charging.O.K. here we go !! Taking coral from the sea is terrible and not good for any reason in our opinion(However) the country we are importing from is making a Channel for shipping lanes and are letting the people sell what they would have destroyed anyway, so we imported some or bought it from others who sold it to us, already imported by them into USA. It’s being shipped to other company's also and to other country's as well until the lane is cleared(Imported All with Cites permits) this will stop sometime next year, and we do not even want all offered to us as people are aware that it is bad to even have it in there homes because of the environment issues unless they are shown proof that the coral is legal, “which are a concern for us also”,If we kill all the shells(impossible) "we want the sea to be clean”(no deforestation,no fertilizers) and have resources that do not become endangered.( We funded the "re seeding of Giant clams back on the Great Barrier reef" in Australia,now there are plenty of clams(Actually not endangered any longer, and will be taken off the endangered species list like the U.S. bald Eagle),we were allowed to import the dead clams and left over live ones which there was to many to put on the reef all from Australia!!! The most Eco country in the world for helping the university out to re seed the reef was really nice. We support Aquaculture and buy shells from many farms such as Giant clams from Australia’s new farms and Abalone along with many other shells,the rest are left over from food that has been eaten and not taken from the sea just for the shell but for food purposes" first.Shells are quite cheap because they are plentiful and reproduce fast,we could not buy all the shells offered to us from so many country's(England, Thailand, Philippines,Viet nam, China,Papua New Guinea, Australia, Here in USA, India, Iraq, and so many other country's that have by products left over from the meat of the shell being eaten(The rest are thrown back to the sea or used by governments for road base material Etc. We here in Florida use the oysters already eaten, for road base material, and filling holes in the road before asphalting over them to smooth the streets. “I know you will never be satisfied with anything I say” but we Havevery strong laws in the USA and are checked by “Homeland Security, Customs, Fish and wild life, Agriculture,then scanned by machines.(Why would we smuggle anything like coral or shells only to go to jail for doing it??) Try to get some relief by this letter?? and remember we are not doing anything wrong and would never do it(smuggle,peddle,sell any ocean products that are not legal to do so.) “We have not sold corals by the way for 20 years” Only now(one year) since the channel is opening up and the corals offered to us is why we bought it,we even sell some of it to Doctors using some for surgery and schools for science projects(All the schools request copy's of our permits and we supply them with U.S Fish and wildlife documents so they can be assured of it being o.k. to buy from us.We sent the BFAR office in Philippines all documents so as to show them nothing came from Philippines,no corals , no clams, no black coral. We talked to Fisheries in Philippines and provided documents, we are cleared, so call them or if you want or keep up the circle of lies which is not fare do so. The story on Black Coral is not true coming from Philippines to USA,”The Black sea fan is not Black Coral”,it is not stony coral which Black Coral is,Most real Black Coral is from Hawaii and Cayman Islands,Midway Island, found in real deep waters,even submarines are used to extract it,we do not sell Black Coral only Sea Fans weeds sometimes, legal to sell and from Haiti.Thank you for your concern.Money is not more important than saving our resources!!!!Im sure some have smuggled from Philippines and thats bad and should be stopped if it's happening, but I think the officials are good in Philippines and condemming them also is not fare unless you are positive they are doing wrong.Those that think making shellcraft is bad and seeing christmas ornaments,windchimes, or jewelry used with commercial shells are truly wrong,why throw the shells away after eating the mussell inside??? Thousands of people will loose there jobs and if you want them unemployed you are doing a huge mistake to honest people,I know there are other countrys wanting this to happen to Philippines so they can take so many jobs and artists away.Thank you again for your concern.Shell Horizons.
Does this mean that we should be satisfied with their answer?
We say we shouldn't be in fact this lays the ground for all those working on this issue to check if indeed the statements on this email response are indeed true. This challenges us to do more and to keep on putting the pressure for those who are in positions of power to protect our marine resources and to hold accountable those who plunder our precious resources.
Keep up the fight and continue to pursue the truth.
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