[meteorite-list] More damage (than the Pellisons)... apologies

From: Martin Altmann <altmann_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2009 01:50:59 +0100
Message-ID: <007301c99875$75663d40$177f2a59_at_name86d88d87e2>

Good evening again,

I was informed that in the linked BBC-articles,
Ms Smith was misquoted and that her comments were reported out of context.

That possibility I should have considered,
therefore I have to apologise to her.



Nevertheless, the recent developments I see with great worry.

I'm not able to detect any vantages, if meteorite trade or searching will be
restricted.

That opposition private collecting/commercial trade versus research/museums,
which is tried to be established - doesn't meet the reality, neither history
and is highly artificial.

Cause what are and were the requirements, why in former times they tried to
protect meteorites:
Science and institutes want more meteorites, they want more significant
material and they don't want to pay much for it.

Well and exactly these requirements were fulfilled by the private sector
during the last ten years.
The number of finds exploded, rare types became available in quantities and
qualities like never before and the prices entrenched themselves under
sea-level.

Well and those countries bothering about meteorites could leave the country
- for them it's cheaper to buy their meteorites than to equip official
expeditions to find them and many, many more are found, as if they try it by
their own.

(Change the laws, let the Russian in, and you won't have less than 1 find,
but 100 new Australian finds per year.)

So I don't get it, where they see any problem.

And I hope that the experiences made with such restrictive laws from such
countries, where they do already exist, won't be ignored.


I'm sorry. I'm old-fashioned, my first meteorite I got as a boy almost 30
years ago.
It causes harm to me, to see that the great collections don't take part in
the Golden Age of meteorites, be it because of the complete reduction of
their budgets, be it of the misapprehension about the legal status of the
NWA-material.


One could get the impression, that it isn't a fantastic and welcome
circumstance that so many new finds were recovered in these few years, but
rather a huge displeasure?
Would everyone be more happy, curators, collectors, scientists, the
protectionism-group, the involved countries, if never any meteorite would
have been found in Sahara and Oman?

It almost seems so...

Martin
  
Received on Thu 26 Feb 2009 07:50:59 PM PST