Establishment Of The Marine Aquarium Fish Council
Shawn Ramsey
I found this article at http://saltaquarium.miningco.com/ (a great web
site BTW).. thought it might be of interest here.
AN EXLUSIVE EXTRA FEATURE
04/15/98
For those of you who are wondering where the Marine
Aquarium Fish
Industry is heading, this will be of interest to
you.
As all of you are no doubt aware, there are a number
of organizations that
will do just about anything to keep you from
enjoying that aquarium and its
occupants in your living room that you have spent a
small fortune and so
many sleepless nights to make "just right". You
took great pains to cycle it
without loosing a single fish. You added each
occupant, doing all the
research to make sure that there would be no "turf
wars". Then, after great
deliberation you finally decide that the mated pair
of Coral Banded Shrimp
that you saw in the invert tank at your favorite pet
shop would be the "coup
de ta". You drive to the pet shop, park the car and
proceed with cash in
hand to the door, only to be confronted by a picket
line of well meaning, but
for the most part, ignorant demonstrators that
accuse you of being the
"Second Great Satan" because you want to tank a
couple of shrimp.
Granted, the Marine Aquarium Fish Industry is not
without greed, abuse and
ecological destruction. All you have to do to
confirm that is to watch the
documentary films on the destruction of the reefs in
the Indo-Pacific area.
A certain amount of the reef destruction is due to
"natural" causes (i.e.
Crown of Thorns infestations. hurricanes, etc.), but
a vast majority is due to
Cyanide Collecting or other destructive collection
practices. It started in the
Philippine Islands, but unfortunately it has spread
recently to other island
states in the Indo-Pacific.
The reasons for this type of collection are many
fold. The poverty of the
"collectors", the greed of the shippers they sell
to, foreign governments that
turn a blind eye to what is happening, or lack of
enforcement capabilities and
resources, the cheap price that they are finally
landed at their destination, the
availability of chemicals, the pet shop owners that
could "give a rip" if the
fish lives or dies, the aquarists who are convinced
that dead fish are just an
inevitable part of the hobby.
In spite of the fact that some environmentalists
have assailed all collectors,
suppliers, the Cyanide manufacturers, the pet shops
and the aquarists as
being "unfeeling rapers of the reef", the realistic
solutions to the problems are
finally coming from the strangest places: The
World Wildlife Fund, The
World Bank, the collectors, the pet shops, some US
Public Aquariums and
the aquarists. Hard to believe??? Take a seat,
before you fall over in a
dead faint. It's true!!!
Responsible people in the Marine Aquarium Industry
that have been taking
the heat and blame for ALL of the ills of the
industry have finally decided
"we're fed up and we ain't taking it anymore!"
A vast majority of the collectors, shippers,
suppliers, pet shop owners and
aquarists all around the world are very descent
people. For most their very
lives, to say the least, depend on the ocean and its
occupants in order to
make a living. As commercial collectors since 1989,
Deb and I have come
to love and respect the ocean, the reefs and its
occupants. It is one thing to
sit on the beach, point the finger of blame and
lobby for laws. It is another to
take the reins in hand and do something positive
about solving a problem.
Well folks, it's happening from the ground (sand)
level, up. The Marine
Aquarium Fish Council (MAFC) has been recently
formed. The MAFC is
an International cross section of organizations
representing the aquarium
trade, conservation organizations (World Wildlife
Fund, The U.S. Nature
Conservancy on the Mainland and World Resource
Institute), public
aquariums, hobbyists, export/import organizations
and scientists that will act
as an independent governing council. It will
establish standards, oversee
environmental certification and promote conservation
education
Internationally. During the last half of 1998 MAFC
plans to undertake
"pilot" certifications of appoximately 12
collection-to-retailer operations
including two captive propagation facilities in
order to set up and field test
proposed guidelines and protocols. Proposed pilot
certifications and
accompanying consultations are currently underway in
Hawaii and the
Philippines.
Last month (Mar. '98) I attended a meeting at the
University of Hawaii at
Manoa with a number (appox. 15) of collectors from
Oahu, The Big Island
and Moloka'i (me:), to particpate in the MAFC
"pilot" test certification
program proposed and to establish members in the
MAFC of Hawaii. The
meeting was conducted by John Parks, working on
behalf of the MAFC, a
funded consortium of World Wildlife Fund, The Nature
Conservancy and
backing the establishment of the MAFC. The meeting
was upbeat and very
informative. John relayed to us the number of
people in the Aquarium trade
who decidedly want to provide a quality product to
the consumer. Aquarium
shop owners want a higher quality product to sell to
their customers. Foreign
governments want to save their Natural resources,
while ensuring an income
for many of their citizens. I was personally
impressed with the number of
people who want to clean up their own industry. The
collectors at the
meeting were anxious to move forward with the
process.
The collectors in Hawaii are forming a list of
minimum standards that must
be adhered to in order to be a "Certified Collector"
and be able to sell
"Certified Fish". Here are just a few of the areas
that are being examined
for consideration for becoming "Certified":
* Collection Technique (use of nets, not poisons, no
damage to the reef,
decompression techniques, transport techniques used
from the collection site
to the holding facility).
* Holding facilities that are well maintained (water
pH, ammonia levels, no
overcrowding, etc.).
* Shipping Techniques (no overcrowding, ship only
cleaned out "perfect" fish,
by the fastest routes).
Collectors in Hawaii are currently being contacted,
requesting their input. It
is anticipated that the standards for certification
may be in place within the
next few months.
With the WWF as the lead organization coordinating
the MAFC Program I
am sure you are asking yourself "Why is WWF
interested in this initiative?
Aren't they one of those organization that is
totally against animal ownership
of any kind?" WWF believes that a certification of
a sustainable aquarium
trade can help achieve reef conservation and
increase education while
permitting important livelihoods for fishing
communitites who are the ultimate
stewards for Pacific reefs.
On the Cyanide front...it has been rumored, but as
to date unsubstantiated,
that scientists in the U.K. have developed an
instrument to measure small
quantities of Cyanide in water. Fish captured with
Cyanide exude Cyanide
in the packing water, when shipped. Wouldn't this
be great? Finally, a
testing procedure to protect against Cyanide
captured fish!!! Also, Sodium
Cyanide is no longer being manufactured. That's the
good news...the bad
news is that a railroad tanker car, full of Sodium
Cyanide was hijacked in
Mainland China and the contents are now on the black
market.
It is difficult to relay the volumes of information
that were presented at the
MAFC meeting on Oahu. If anyone has any questions
about this project,
please feel free to write us. We will forward any
information that we have
and keep you updated.
Happy Fish & Reef Keeping,
Stan Hauter
Your Saltwater Aquariums Guide for The Mining Co.
http://saltaquarium.miningco.com
mailto:saltaquar...@miningco.com