Fall

Third Quarter 2003 ARTICLES Proposed Changes to Your AMDA To Net-Catch or Not to Net-Catch The C.A.R.E. Trap: An Introduction FEATURES Upcoming Events Get Active! Tips and Tricks _________________________ AMDA is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting environmentally responsible marine aquarium keeping as an entertaining, educational, and worthwhile leisure time activity.
	*Proposed Changes to Your AMDA Organization
	The board would like to have three classes of membership in the organization. There will be retailers, distributors, and manufacturers. Prospective retailers and aquarium maintenance businesses will be voted into the organization based upon their commitment to furthering the hobby at the grass roots level in their communities. They do this by their commitment to excellence and creating local interest in the hobby. There will be further discussion regarding the definition of this class of AMDA member later on in the newsletter. The second class of membership is for distributors and growers. These two types of businesses are the backbone of our live animal supply. It is universally accepted that the animals are the focus of our hobby and business. The distributor is the first line of defense that we have in insuring that the organisms we sell have been handled correctly from the time they arrive in this country until the time we place them in our establishments. The distributor also knows the collectors and shippers at the point of origin, and they should be responsible for helping us sort the good from the bad collectors and insure accountability at the source. We need to support the distributors that provide these services. The third level of membership into AMDA is the manufacturer. These businesses supply the industry with information and the products that are an integral part of the hard-goods supplied to the hobby. The manufacturer must be committed to the advancement of the local retailer. A manufacturer that merely patronizes our needs and uses us to provide a springboard to mass marketing is not welcome in AMDA. Past history tells us that many manufacturers have used our businesses to provide credibility for their products, only to take the few classic products that turn quickly to mass marketers. This is crippling the hobby and our business. A recent example is the action taken by Aquaria, Inc. with Instant Ocean Sea Salt and PetsMart. PetsMart provides no incentive to the public to provide a quality service to the marine hobby. In fact, they denigrate the marine hobby, but they are not too proud to sell the one item that every marine hobbyist needs, sea salt. The board of AMDA takes a dim view of our retailers being used in such a manner and we invite an open forum to discuss this area of the business and hobby. At this early stage, AMDA will be somewhat liberal in its view of what constitutes a good and valuable manufacturer and distributor to the industry. As our membership discusses these qualifications, they will grow more stringent.

Net-Caught vs. Non Net-Caught Fish:
A MANIFESTO

by Steve Robinson

I would like to illustrate a different angle on conventional thinking regarding net-caught fish. Net-caught fish do NOT cost more than non-net-caught fish. It is true that Marivi pays 10 to 15% more for her net-caught supply than other shippers do for cyanide caught fish. The positive side of this is that she experiences a lesser mortality rate. Poorly caught fish, through the process of long-term business exposure, have a built in safeguard to insure profit, but not the health of the fish. Put simply, more fish die as a result of cyanide catching mothods and shippers pay the fishermen less, but the real question is: Are you getting what you pay for? We must decide what constitutes acceptable losses and pay accordingly.

I do pay Marivi 10% more than conventional suppliers for net-caught fish do. I pay more but fewer die during shipment for both incoming and outgoing fish. I'm elated to lose fewer fish; the additional cost, therefore is nonexistent since it’s returned in sales I wouldn’t have earned had those fish perished. By developing a plan that creates lower DOAs and DAAs, we are initiating a new set of environmentally sound ground rules for marketing our wild caught fish.

Through cooperative efforts across the entire chain-of-command, using the best procedures for packing, selection and diver management, we attain the desired result of wisely sustaining a valuable natural resource. If we all make adjustments by swiftly adopting this purchasing model, we will immediately develop a superior product.

I never expected good market support for my concept, but I persevere because it is right for shippers, sellers and the environment. However, I am also a realist, and I know that the market resists change, no matter how amoral the practice.

We do have a few conscientious buyers, but they are still merely a small percentage of the total customer base. I am hoping that more core buyers, in the desire to be ethical in their treatment of the environment and the animals (that are also the basis for their business) will continue to realize the greater benefit of purchasing net-caught fish. Among our customers, net-caught doesn’t need to be a synonym for expensive fish. The majority of our customers do not know what AMDA represents or that I am president of the organization.

Realistically, we can’t promote net-caught fish as a major step toward the future. The small groups of people that buy net-caught fish buy them for their OWN REASONS and not that of their customers.

Personally, I would never allow the marketplace to determine my own personal principals and ethics. Most retailers tell me that they buy fish using the customers’ incorrigible demand for cheaper fish. By not promoting the ethical treatment of the environment and the animals that are so important to the hobby, we become supporters of an indefensible status quo that is perpetuated by distance and ignorance.

For 25 years, I never relied on the retailer or even the retail customer to demand a higher standard for the ethical use of the animals in our hobby. Upon reflection, retailers and their customers may be where the greatest need for a movement toward more ethical use of the resources lies. I relish being challenged on higher standards and values by my customers. It rarely happens save for some public aquariums seeking permanent exhibits of higher quality livestock.

I hope that my published price list will reveal the truth regarding the comparison of pricing for cyanide vs. net-caught fish. The perpetuation of the “cyanide is cheaper” postulate damages the efforts of the reformers promoting better catch and handling procedures. The misconception in pricing scares away potential customers while the vast majority of retailers shop lower prices and patronize their customers by paying lip service to the environment and their “ethical” business practices.

Even if net-caught fish were worth more per unit, the value of a business relationship with reformers and net-caught-only promotors is possibly weaker than it could be due to the lesser variety of fish shipping from the Philippine and Indo areas using net-caught only suppliers. Lately, blue-face angels and clown triggers are rarities. I view this as a small price to pay for integrity. The example should be established; forcing the industry to follow. In time, who is to say that we won't be able to expand the availability of these fish?

The possibility that variety could expand in a few years as the use of cyanide decreases is very real. As net fishing becomes a more common practice, expect greatly diminished damage to the population of targeted animals. Additionally, more training will produce better variety as net-catchers and the businesses that promote their fish compete on a more level playing field. It is a sad circumstance that the training movements by the Haribon Foundation [1991-1993], the IMA [1994-2002] and possibly MAC [2001-present] have all been abandoned. MAC currently only has two sites certified in the Philippines and they are in the same place!

This foot-dragging, political interference and bureaucratization of the certification procedures for fishermen and shippers has kept the right variety of fish from flowing into the trade. The bureaucracy has forced people to re-embrace the cyanide trade. The incompetent, environmentally correct trainers only insured the regression of divers to again use poisons to collect the fish we buy. The result might have done as much or more damage than doing nothing at all! To date, the political process has merely created a false understanding of legitimate action. This is exactly the cause of my supreme disenchantment with "pet shop environmentalists" and the reason I undertook the joint AMDA/CORL missions to do something about it.

The marine aquarium hobby is my livelihood. I have but one voice and I if I don't follow my beliefs, I would be selling out to the least common denominator.

I saw firsthand the IMA grant looting spree of the late 90's. After earning millions of dollars in funding from Packard, McArthur, The Nature Conservancy, WWF and US AID, only a few dozen fishermen were actually trained. What a waste. We can do better... and we have.

A new arrangement is needed...and has begun to take shape.

...and AMDA has a big role.

AN INTRODUCTION TO C.A.R.E

Production and Commercialisation of Marine Fish Reared from Icthyoplankton, Collected for the Ornamental Marine Market

LECAILLON Gilles and LOURIE Sven Michel, ECOCEAN INC, France (www.ecocean.fr)

1. Introduction
One of the main problems facing the ornamental marine aquarium trade today is obtaining fish that are hardy, and are economically, as well as environmentally viable. Conventional methods of collecting aquarium fish, however, have not yet achieved these attributes. Plankton and crest net trapping, for example, have many disadvantages including damage to the fish and non-selectivity. Collecting adult fish from the wild is also environmentally damaging to reef ecosystems. Breeding fish has been successful in some cases, but the techniques have not yet been developed for every species and the work is very expensive. We at ECOMAY/ECOCEAN have come up with a new type of collection design that works with a fish’s life cycle in order to maximise the catch of viable fish, while minimising damage to the fish, and the environment.

Most coral reef organisms, and more than 90% of marine fish, exhibit an oceanic larval stage at some time during their life cycle. After reproduction, which occurs near or around the reef, the fertilized eggs are washed over the reefs and through wave and current action, are dispersed in the open ocean. The eggs then hatch into small pelagic icthyoplankton, which are further dispersed in the ocean, during which time they experience much metamorphosis.

After a certain time (between 10 and 100 days), depending on the species, this post-larval zooplankton then come back near the shore to settle and metamorphose into their final stage. During this phase, the post larvae actively search to find an appropriate habitat to settle. It is at this stage in their life cycle, just before recruitment, that post-larval fish display the amazing phenomenon of being attracted to light.

Many scientists have studied this “post larval venture” and tried to catch the post larvae using many varied techniques, such as SMURF (California), plankton-net (Florida, Australia.), crest-net (French Polynesia) and scientific light traps (Australia, Florida Keys, Caribbean). However, as mentioned, there are problems associated with each of these designs. Our company, Ecomay has developed a new design of tool : the C.A.R-E (Collect by Artificial Reef ECO-friendly). The CARE trap has many advantages over many other techniques (as will be explained) and is much lighter and easier to use than other light traps, and works to ensure minimum damage to collected fish.

This new design of light trap has been tested and compared over a year in the Indian Ocean where we started a pilot farm based on post larval collections. The C.A.R-E trap has also been tested in French Polynesia, New Caledonia and in USA.

2. C.A.R-E Advantages
They are now designed and optimised for production:

1- The post larvae are caught alive and intact, with no surface abrasions. This is novel as most traditional collecting tools harm the animals and therefore increase the likelihood of disease or death. Animals caught in plankton-nets and crest-nets, for example, are often damaged due to the constant whipping from algae and currents. In these traps, predator intrusion and strong sunlight can also lead to stress. In our case, the post larval fishes are attracted to the light and come naturally without force into the traps from the water column.

2- Algae does not enter and get trapped inside the receptacle, making it easier and faster to sort samples and clean (unlike plankton-nets and crest-nets).

3- Larger, non-target fish (such as Clupeidae “sardines” and Engraulidae) can not be collected in the C.A.R-E trap. Most other light traps catch these pelagic fish, which then die rapidly inside the attractor, as they need to be constantly moving.

4- Collections of fish can be maximised by stringing a line of C.A.R-E traps to a small boat (up to 10 according the upper current speed). Moreover, if the traps need to be fixed with an anchor, only a small anchor is required.

5- The traps are very light (less than 7 kg (14 lbs)) making them ergonomic for the user, and also minimizing airfreight cost.

6- It is important to specify that C.A.R-E systems catch only post larvae. In fact, just after their recruitment, juveniles are no longer attracted to light. Therefore, collection always takes place before natural predation leads to high mortality.

7- This type of trap limits environmental impact. For example, in Moorea, French Polynesia, the traps collected on average 1000 post larvae per night. Compared to the 2 million that arrive on the reef each night (average recruitment for Moorea Island, French Polynesia), this proportion is very insignificant (<0.05%). (our C.A.R-E traps caught all the families of priority fish, some crabs, shrimps, squids and octopus if they settled on the environment).

3. Final quality and partnership
The careful and specific steps involved with the CARE system (collecting, sorting, weaning, growing and packing) provide healthy animals, with a mortality rate of less than 3% after 3 days at the retailer.

The use of CARE in the collection of post larval fish proves to be a less damaging and more economically viable system than conventional light traps as well as other collection methods, such as plankton and crest netting. It is also a good alternative method to collecting from the wild as the environment is preserved and mortality is decreased, and it also provides an alternative method to cyanide fishing. As mentioned, breeding fish has the downside of being very expensive as well as lacking the knowledge required for all species. Breeding fish however, coupled with the CARE system can potentially increase stock collections and become rapidly profitable.

4. Conclusion and effort
It is easy for governments to say “stop over fishing” or “stop cyanide fishing” but what people need is an alternative to wild collections that is easy and economically viable. This new CARE light trapping system can provide the answer to many of the problems of traditional collecting. However, it can only be a viable solution if all people concerned (collectors, wholesalers, retailers and customers) make a financial effort. Obviously, the fish caught in these tools cannot have the same sale price as fish collected from the wild due to the amount of effort required along the way, in terms of attention, time and the number of qualified people needed. However, you will be guaranteed of a much higher quality fish with a long life span. Moreover, and perhaps more importantly, you will also be helping to conserve coral reef environments.

- UPCOMING EVENTS -

IMAC is being organized by Dennis Gallagher, and other hobbyists who have previously been associated with MASNA and MACNA. Dennis was the Conference Coordinator for MACNA IX and was heavily involved in planning for MACNA XII and XIII. He also spent several years as a full time conference planner for a commercial association. IMAC is a non-profit venture by hobbyists... for hobbyists, to insure the tradition of an annual educational marine aquarium conference. Go to the IMAC website (http://www.theimac.org/) or click the logo above for more information.

AMDA Member Pledge

As a member of the

American Marinelife Dealers Association

I promise to:

Promote, through both words and actions, environmentally responsible marine aquarium keeping as an enjoyable and educational hobby;
Represent honestly the condition of the live animals that I provide;
Endeavor to supply accurate information about the care of the animals I provide;
Support captive propagation of marine aquarium animals;
Engage myself and my employees in continuing education, to sharpen our skills as professional marine aquarists, enabling us to better serve our customers;
Post the AMDA Standards of Practice in a prominent public location and abide by those standards.

GET ACTIVE!

AMDA is your organization
Here's what you can do for AMDA
and what AMDA can do for you

Support other AMDA members! Refer to the AMDA Membership Directory on our website
Join us on the AMDA email message board -- If you have questions about the message board, or would like to be added, please contact Liz Harris, AMDA Treasurer at: liztmap@shareinet.net.
Stay up to date on AMDA issues and activities -- check the Board Meeting Archives on the AMDA website
Help AMDA grow! Invite your suppliers to become AMDA members by directing them to membership information on the AMDA website
Submit an article or item of interest for our quarterly newsletter! See the AMDA web editor contact info on the first page of this newsletter.
Questions? Issues? Need assistance? AMDA Board Members are there to serve you -- find your Regional Director representative on the Board of Directors page of our website.

|Tips & Tricks
for the Marine Retail Storeowner: Encore Presentation

Adding Live Brine Shrimp to your Food Items

Have you ever considered selling live brine shrimp to your customers? Many have and many did try doing so for a while and gave up. Others were warned not to do so due to problems in keeping the stock, problems in finding a source for the item, expenses incurred, disease issues, or low nutritional value. Sounds like an endorsement not to carry live brine shrimp. And yet, if you can locate a quality source for this product and do not mind the initial expenses necessary in setting up a holding system for such a product, the
benefits of carrying such a product far outweigh the problems. Lets look at the issues.

1) Why offer live foods

Many of the marine fishes and invertebrates will most readily begin to eat live foods. Although it is true that most can be weaned onto frozen, flake or pellet foods, some such as sea horses, jawfishes and anthias can be notoriously difficult to get to wean off a live diet. A varied diet is another good reason to offer live foods, for no one type of frozen or flake food is going to cover all of an animal's nutritional intake needs, especially over time. And finally, the offer of live foods may allow you to offer other types of marine animals for sale that had previously not done well with just frozen or flake foods.

2) Nutritional Quality

Although it is true that live brine shrimp are rather poor in nutritional quality, there are very simple remedies for this. Live brine shrimp will not only eat such nutritional diets as powdered spirulina but they can be soaked in supplements such as a good liquid vitamin (Vitachem, etc) and omega 3 oils (selcon, etc) to beef up their nutritional value. The best way to get them to take up these nutrients is to put them in fresh water with the nutrients. Yes, live brine can easily adapt to just about any salinity and when placed in spring water or dechlorinated tap water, they will osmolitically soak up any nutrients also placed in these waters. You can do this right before the brine shrimp are going to be fed to a tank (give then say, 20 minutes in the dip before feeding them). Or you can instruct your customer to do so.

3) Disease issues

Yes, live brine shrimp can be vectors for diseases. Especially if you use the same nets as used to move your fishes about. Protozoan parasites or their larvae (nauplii, etc) can hitch a ride into the brine shrimp batch and then onto the brine shrimp themselves. This is easily solved by both dedicating nets just for the brine shrimp and by using the above mentioned
freshwater dip right before feeding time (marine protozoans can not survive these freshwaters).

4) Equipment

Yes, this can be the expensive part of stocking this food item. But think of it as an investment in expanding your foodstock diversity...sort of a loss leader item. Some stores do make a profit on their brine shrimp sales and some just break even. Some even claim to loose a little money. But all in my area that do sell this item claim that the benefits far outweigh the problems, even when considering the profit margins. You can purchase
equipment meant specifically for housing brine shrimp for sale from such aquaculture equipment outfits like Aquanetics in San Diego (858-348-2040) or Aquatic Ecosystems out of Apopka, FL (877-347-4788) or you can custom build your own holding system. The latter will necessitate you getting ahold of a small chiller, for these animals do best in lower temps (50 to 60 degrees F). The chiller is probably the one expensive part of they equipment you will need, but with the cost of small chillers coming down, this is no longer such a big expenditure. The above companies also do sell small chillers, as do Fritz Industries in Dallas TX (800-633-6451) and Custom SeaLife in California (760-727-8746). For more information on how to set up a simple holding system for live brine shrimp, e-mail me at aquadolph@aol.com.

5) Source

If you are interested in carrying this product, there are a number of good sources for it, and they will usually be able to ship you weekly batches. Some have minimum order sizes, but many will allow you to custom size your shipments. As aquaculture companies do increase in numbers and types of products they offer every year, they are good places to start
looking at. Chances are there are some such companies in your state, so get out the yellow pages or go online and see what you can find. Florida has a number of outfits that sell live brine shrimp and many other states now have companies selling the same. And federal express will usually be able to give you door to door delivery on this live item.

So if you have been thinking about adding this item to your food stocks, give it some serious thought. It will benefit not only your live animals that you house but also your customers. If you would like to know more on this issue, feel free to contact me.

Randy Goodlett, Aquatic Systems Consultants, aquadolph@aol.com

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN FROZEN FOOD

Hobbyists and retailers may not realize that your frozen food items will degrade over time...i.e., certain vitamins such as thiamine will break down over time in these foods. Some companies that sell the packaged frozen foods will not give you a date when the product was made (we will not name any names here). So how can you ensure that you are selling your customers the best items? Why not make your own gel diets. Gel diets are easy to make, they can be stored in refrigerated or frozen mode and they are also a great way for you to feed your own live stock. And finally, you have control over your quality of foods.

If you have a blender and can make it to a supermarket and have a spare hour or so at night, this is a great way to make your own product line and sell a much fresher product for the same price as the pricy commercial product. If you buy some inexpensive glad plastic containers, some Knox Gel powder, some shrimp, scallops, squid, broccoli, zucchini, and other healthy items, you can make some pretty impressive gel diets in no time. The broccoli should be blanched (or steamed) for about 6 minutes before using it (to break down the alkaloids) but everything else should just be washed in tap water and you are ready to go

Blend up all of your items and put in a bowl. Then take some hot tap water and put about 200 mils of hot tap water in a bowl. Add about four of the Knox gel packets and stir till dissolved. Now add about two ladlefuls of your blended ingredients and stir till it all is evenly mixed in the gel solution. Pour some of this into one of the glad plastic bins (sandwich size bins), put the lid on it and put it in the freezer or refrigerator. Make as many bins of the product as you have supplies for. Next morning you have some very fresh gel diets to use at your store or to sell. I typically but about $70.00 worth of ingredients and sell the finished product for about $280.00 retail. Not a bad profit and one you can be proud of. And yes, the fish do eat it. So try coming up with your own recipe and you will be surprised at how easy it is to make it yourself.

Randy Goodlett, Aquatic Systems Consultants, aquadolph@aol.com