Marinelife
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| FROM THE PRESIDENT... I would like to start this message by introducing myself. My name is Richard Oellers and my company name is New England Aquarium Services. Until last September I owned and operated a retail store, Aquatic Concepts in Westbrook, Maine. I have been in the aquarium service and sales business since 1983. I sold my store last year so that I could concentrate my time and energy to family and other projects, such as the AMDA. Today I continue to run my company as a service business only. In November of 1997, the Board of Directors elected me as President in order to comply with the requirements as a nonprofit corporation. Official elections will take place at MACNA 10 this year in Los Angeles. Until then, I will act as President of the AMDA and perform the duties to the best of my ability. On March 14th, I attended the Spring Trade Show in Tampa, Florida. Sea Critters donated part of their both so that AMDA could have a membership drive and answer any questions from AMDA members as well as prospective members. We had a very good time and I feel we recruited quite a few new members. One thing I had to deal with (not unexpectedly) was some unfavorable comments concerning AMDA’s performance. In this letter I would like to respond to some of those comments officially and clear the air. One of the first comments I received was that AMDA was a useless organization and that nothing has been accomplished. Other comments were that “someone” on the Internet has been bashing the AMDA, by saying that anyone with a sellers permit can join the AMDA, post their membership sign and continue to practice unethical marine retailing. Let me assure you that the AMDA is not an idle organization and all members should be proud of what we have accomplished over the last two years. I will also remind you that many AMDA members are self employed and that all of the board and committee members of AMDA are unpaid volunteers. By being self employed, I know just how little free time we all have. Quite a few of us have paid our own airfare, lodging and phone bills to work in an organization that we believe might stand in the way of a government legislating us right out of business. John Tullock started this organization with just a handful of us. Over the last two years we have struggled to put together the framework and infrastructure of a nationally recognized and environmentally sound organization representative of the marine aquarium industry. This process continued through last November when John stepped down as the CEO and we elected officers. So just what has the AMDA accomplished? Let’s start with our website (http://www.execpc.com/~jkos/amda). Jim Kostich of Aquatics Unlimited not only single-handedly set this up, but continues to update it on a regular basis. He has done a truly impressive job. When was the last time you took a look at it? Some members never have. Please, take the time to check it out, if you have access to a computer and modem. Our website contains the results of a lot of hard work. The Eco-Label project is on the web page as well. As far as I know, this is the most complete list of marine fishes and their husbandry levels in captivity in the world. Now a member or any other hobbyist can simply look up a fish and tell if it is suited for a beginner, intermediate, or advanced aquarist or should be best left in the wild. John’s survey of retail life support systems and water parameters are also on the web page as well as a list of all members businesses. I know that I have contacted wholesalers and propagators directly from the AMDA membership roster, and have never been cheated or disappointed. We are also an active member of the Marine Aquarium Fish Council that meets in Washington, D.C.. Tom White of Marine Scene is our representative there. Tom meets regularly with other respectable environmental organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund, Ocean Voice International and the International Marinelife Alliance. Tom will keep us informed of any legal issues coming up in Washington as well. There are many more projects in the works. In this newsletter you will notice some new committees being set up to deal with the major problems we face today. Finally I feel compelled to comment about unethical members of AMDA. When I first joined AMDA, I felt that we could police our membership. Hopefully, most unethical stores will not join AMDA because they think that they will have to abide by our standards of practice. But others may become members in name only, to benefit from our reputation while continuing to practice “business as usual”. After being on the board of directors for two years, I am saddened to tell you that we can not be the “Fish Police”. If we revoke membership because someone refuses to abide by our standards, we will be wide open to lawsuits. I am told that this is exactly what happened to a Florida-based freshwater fish organization. I honestly feel that 90% of unethical retailers practice the way they do out of ignorance. They simply don’t know any better. The major role of AMDA is to educate retail, wholesale and service companies regarding better and more environmentally sound business practices. In our membership of over 80 companies, we have the best of the best marine professionals in the country. Let us tap in to this. I am calling on each and every one of you to contribute to our cause. We need writers of articles for this newsletter; if you have a method of fish husbandry or a retailing tip, please share it with us. Also, during the next few months, the AMDA will be setting up committees to deal with everything from airline problems to cyanide caught fish. If you would like to volunteer to help, please step forward; the AMDA is only as good as its membership. Finally I want to let you know that AMDA is here to serve you. If you have any questions or problems, your director is there to help you. If he or she does not have an answer, they probably know someone that does. In closing, I am looking forward to serving you as President and I wish you all a healthy and prosperous year. Rick Oellers RESPONSIBLE RETAILING by John H. Tullock My motivation for starting AMDA was the notion that the hobby of marine aquarium keeping and the industry that supports it cannot justify doing harm to irreplaceable natural resources. While most people appear to agree with this principle, issues remain regarding what constitutes "harm," who should be responsible for resource protection, and how such issues involve the day-to-day operation of a small business. While the space available for this article does not afford sufficient opportunity to explore every issue in depth, it is possible to provide some guidelines for successful, environmentally responsible marine aquarium retailing. First, consider three issues and the scientific discussion surrounding them: 1. Use of chemicals to collect fish. The literature is scanty, but evidence that exposure of corals to cyanide results in damage clearly exists. Corals exposed in the laboratory to doses of cyanide calculated to reasonably simulate the exposure that would result from cyanide fishing near the coral produced a reduction in respiration and loss of the zooxanthellae. Loss of zooxanthellae is known to lower the ability of the coral to grow and reproduce. It is also known that reestablishment of the symbiotic zooxanthellae can take up to a year. (Jones, 1997) Loss of symbionts has also been reported as an effect of exposure to quinaldine. (Japp and Wheaton, 1975) The survival, growth and reproduction of corals is obviously essential to the continued health of a reef. We need healthy reefs to produce an abundant supply of aquarium fish, as well as for other, perhaps more important reasons. The long term health of our industry - despite the advances in captive propagation - depends upon the long term health of the world's coral reefs. Businesses at every level must come to grips with the problem of cyanide fishing and take whatever steps are necessary to eliminate the practice. Of all the issues confronting us, this one is the most clear-cut. 2. Mortalities. Excessive mortalities in marine fish
have long been attributed to the chronic effects of cyanide exposure during capture.
Research indicates, however, that this may not be the case. Stress, abetted by starvation,
caused the highest mortality rate in a study designed specifically to address the question
of cyanide's long-term effect on fish (Hall and Bellwood, 1995). The experimental design
was also intended to mimic the stresses a fish might experience during two weeks between
capture and export from the country of origin. It is interesting to note, however, that 70
percent of the fish survived even the harshest experimental treatment. If one assumes
that, at this point in the supply chain, nearly three-quarters of the specimens will
survive, one must look to the other links in the chain for the possible causes of higher
mortalities. One obvious place to point is cargo mishandling by the airlines. However,
while it is easy to bash the airlines for their contribution to the problem, I am inclined
to suspect that our energies would be better spent implementing better methods for
packaging marine fish for shipment. Shipments are still packed as they were 20 years ago,
despite improvements in both materials and knowledge. Retailers can also look to
wholesalers to improve handling methods. Despite the short stay that most specimens have
in wholesaler's holding tanks, water quality in those tanks must be good, and husbandry
and handling techniques must be appropriate. The same goes for retailers. Once a specimen
reaches the United States, little excuse exists for increasing, rather than attempting to
reduce, its level of stress. To my knowledge, no scientific study of mortalities of
imported marine specimens exists. Anecdotal information available to me suggests that
providing a period of rest between the times that individual specimens are transferred
from one aquarium to another, during which appropriate food and shelter are provided and
any apparent health problems are dealt with. Marine organisms are amazingly resilient, but
they need to be given a chance. At the same time, we should acknowledge that a low level (<10%) of mortality between reef and retail is unavoidable and acceptable both economically and environmentally, as long as wild harvesting continues.
3. Species adaptability. The contentious issue of species adaptability is directly
tied to the mortality issue. No one can deny that there are some species that simply do
not, or cannot, successfully adapt to captive conditions within the grasp of the typical
hobbyist. Despite the fact that numerous serious, capable amateur aquarists are making
contributions to scientific knowledge, we must be careful of subjecting species about
which we know little to a mass-market-driven harvest. The impact of aquarium collecting,
overall, may be a pinprick, when the vastness of the reef environment is taken into
account. I have estimated that we take only two or three fish per hectare per year, but I
nevertheless believe that we should not be taking them needlessly. On the other hand,
public aquariums, scientific institutions, universities, and even serious amateurs should
not be inhibited from pursuing research, either. Each of these issues, or more accurately your response to them, has an impact on your business. The choice to operate your business in a manner that will minimize or eliminate the problems of damage to reefs and achieve a reduction in avoidable specimen mortality is frequently a purely ethical choice. What most AMDA members seem to be asking is for help in translating that ethical choice into policies that make good business sense. Within that context, the remainder of this article will be devoted to providing what I hope will be some new ways of looking at your business. For starters, AMDA members should give themselves credit for their commitment to a sustainable industry. Every demographic chart I've seen and every poll I have read places concern about environmental degradation near the top of the list of issues on the minds of your customers, the American public. Irresponsible practices, if revealed, can have devastating consequences in the marketplace. The existence of an array of "green" products, from clothing to house paint, in the inventories of big retailers should tell you something. The target consumer for these products is your customer, too. You must make people aware of your commitment. I suggest that you create a written statement expressing your feelings as concisely as possible, and listing three to five specific policies that your company follows to avoid contributing to environmental damage. Post this statement in your store, and provide copies to your customers. Find ways to include the same message, in much briefer form, in each and every piece of advertising material you place before the public eye. If you do not talk about your own policies, who will? Resist the temptation to go negative. All too often, when several shops share a market, the relationship among them resembles sniper attacks across the razor wire in a Balkan States war zone. Is this really how you'd prefer to raise your blood pressure, or, for that matter, your kids? Calm down and look at who your competition really is. It is not Joe's Tropical Fish on the next block, nor is it Petsmart or the other discounters. Studies have shown that the existence of multiple outlets in the same market actually improves business, particularly when the product is a special-interest item. Your competitor is the photo shop, the gourmet shop, the antiques and collectibles mall out on the interstate. Each of these businesses competes for your customer's discretionary income. You must rise to the big challenge of getting someone to buy an aquarium rather than a set of skis, not the comparatively small challenge of offering your customers an alternative to Joe's Tropical Fish. Stop worrying about Joe and pay attention to making your business succeed - your way. Of course, you require some special skills to succeed in a specialized business. Many members have expressed the desire for AMDA to work toward providing continuing education programs for members. This is certainly a good idea. Nevertheless, a significant number of questions I receive from retailers (both AMDA members and non-members) reveal ignorance of information available in a wide variety of references. I am including a list of readings that I recommend for any marine aquarium dealer at the end of this article. I consider this material the best place to start filling in the gaps in your knowledge. Being a knowledgeable aquarist, however, is not the key to success as a marine aquarium retailer. A counselor with the Small Business Administration once told me that most business start-ups do not fail because the entrepreneur lacked sufficient knowledge of the product or service being sold. Lack of business-related knowledge was the most common management problem for failed ventures. Be realistic. How many aquarium shop owners do you know that live in a $1,000,000 house and drive a $100,000 car? If your goals are this lofty, find another venture. Most shop owners report working hard to make a decent living, rather than striking it rich. The satisfaction derived from being one's own boss and doing something you enjoy must be considered part of your compensation as a small business owner. You must be completely honest with yourself regarding how much income your shop must produce to sustain your lifestyle. You must carefully estimate the likelihood that sales will be sufficient, given your market, to produce that income. You must also be completely clear about your goal for the business. Are you seeking a good income now, or are you attempting to build wealth for the future? In a perfect world, the business will provide both, but that may not be the case. The aquarium business may be a good source of income, but a rather poor choice for equity-building. Understanding the economic limits of your business helps avoid disappointment. Improve your access to information. See if you can answer the following questions:
If you do not have this kind of information, and much more, at your immediate disposal, you are handicapping your ability to operate your business successfully. I can be even more specific: if you are not using computer technology and the Internet to operate, manage and improve your business, you are making the same mistake as the fellow who went into competition with FedEx using a horse and buggy to make deliveries. I am fully aware that computerizing your business entails a lot of learning on your part, and a not-insignificant investment. So does having a successful marine aquarium. Your livelihood depends the quality of information you have when you make a decision for your business. I cannot conceive how a retail business can survive in today's marketplace without the operating efficiency and access to information afforded by a relatively simple computer system. In summary, no magic formula for operating a successful, responsible marine aquarium business exists. I believe sustainably harvested, properly handled marine specimens can be successfully marketed at a sufficient profit margin. Overcoming consumer price-resistance is not enough, however. Being responsible, by itself, is not enough. In order for your business to succeed you must:
Recommended Readings (Revised )
PROMOTING CAPTIVE RAISED FISH By Tom Neal Hi Gang - My name is Tom Neal and our President, Rick, asked me to help out with the captive breeding program. He also insisted that I write something - so here goes. We all know how important it is to produce good quality captive raised fishes for the hobby. The reefs will be shut down sooner or later. In order for us to survive both financially and morally we must put great effort into captive bred animals. The assortment of captive bred fishes is quite astounding considering we only had a very few species to choose from a couple of years ago. Right now I can think of quite a few species - Amphiprion clarki, A. frenatus, A. melanopus, A. akallopisis, A. perideraion, A. percula, A. ephippium, Premnas biaculeatus, Gobiosoma oceanops, G. prochilus, G. genie, Coryphopterus personatus, Pseudochromis aldabrensis, P. fridmani, P. olivaceous, P. sankeyi, P. fuscus, P. flavivertex, P. springeri, Gramma lareto, Calloplesiops altivellis, Bangai Cardinalfish, Jawfishes and Yellow Gobies are all being bred commercially. This doesn’t even include the home hobbyist, such as myself. I’m breeding Seahorses and Pipefish. Hobbyists out there are making major contributions to captive propagation. Even though we have the fish available, it is very hard to sell them because they are higher priced. We all know that they are certainly better fish. But I have found out, through my job contacting fish stores, that most people don’t care. They want the cheapest fish possible. We, my friends, are a very small minority in the trade. I pat all of you on the back for caring. Somehow we must convince others to buy captive bred. One way to do this is to approach an owner of another store. Talk to them on a friendly basis - try to convince them that captive raised fish not only are likely to live a more normal life span, but will be more economical in the long run because they won’t have to replace dead ones. The other way to combat this problem is to teach all of our customers the truth about how many fish die that are wild caught. Most people would be appalled to find out that by some estimates only 1 out of every 10 to 15 wild caught fish make it to our tanks. And that doesn’t include the fish that don’t live long in their aquarium. Most people will at least try the captive bred. I’d like to clear up a couple of myths about two species of tank raised. First, the true Percula Clown (A. percula). Young fish never have their last body stripe and full coloration until they are approaching a year old. We are used to the mature coloration - so when we see very young Perculas - they look defective because the stripes are “not normal”. The stripes will grow in. Just because a fish is brought in from the wild and it is very small but has adult coloration, doesn’t mean that it is mature. There are many factors that stunt fish in the wild. The other myth surrounds the Gold Striped Maroon Clown (Premnas biaculeatus). These fish also don’t obtain adult coloration until they mature at about 1 year. This means that their gold striping is nearly white and the maroon coloration is very dull when young. The only way that we are going to win the battle for captive raised fishes is for us to set an example. If you can obtain a captive raised species - then don’t carry the wild counterpart. If the public is allowed a choice, sad as it it to say, most people will purchase the cheap wild caught. One way to lower the prices on tank raised it to not mark them up as high at the retail end. We all know that mark ups are to compensate for the major losses of wild caught fish. These losses would be nearly eliminated in tank raised. Lowering the mark up will still keep your profit margin intact, but should also build more sales. Well I hope that we all have learned something. I would love to hear about what other captive bred species there are - on both commercial and hobbyist levels. You can e-mail me at: TNeal40469@COMPUSERVE.COM. NEW ARRIVAL ACCLIMATION One Dealer’s Method for Greater Profits Having been marinelife dealers for many years now, we at Rainbow Seascapes have developed a method for receiving new fish shipments. The procedures outlined in this article have been very instrumental in allowing us greater survivability of fish purchased and ultimately greater profitability of fish sold. Proper acclimation procedures lead to higher quality of livestock which lead to happier customers, not to mention a reduction of losses to our pocket books as well as our fragile environment. First and foremost we must establish baseline information and essential components. It all begins with our quarantine section, which contains several aquariums of various sizes, independently filtered. We will typically maintain them at about 8.3 pH, 76 degrees F, and 1.013 specific gravity. A water exchange of approximately 100% is performed between each and every load of fish. We practice an "all in, all out" technique, which allows us to isolate problems and break the disease chain. We keep a barrel of salt water handy, which becomes very important, as soon we shall see. OK, so now then….we will outline our procedure for acclimation.
That, in a nutshell, is how we handle our newly arrived fish and their gentle acclimation to life in an aquarium. It is of the greatest benefit when fish are held in the bags for very long periods of time, as with transshipments, although it is beneficial for all shipments irrespective how long they've been in transit. Please understand here that the longer fish have been in a bag, the lower the oxygen level, the higher the carbon dioxide level, therefore the lower the pH may drop. Consequently, the toxicity of ammonia produced by the fish (being proportional to pH) is low. For these reasons, we discard all shipping water ASAP, or ammonia poisoning becomes a real threat to our fish once pH begins to rise. We use sodium bisulfate to lower our pH. It has no obvious toxic properties at the low concentration we use and the pH tends to raise back to normal levels within 24 hours in a well-oxygenated system. On a closing note, we would like to offer for an option a concept in fish health management. We have been employing a system of remedies manufactured by Sano Products. These products (our testimonial by observation) build the fish's immune response and bolster their resistance to specific and non-specific diseases and conditions. We believe these non-toxic, non-medication, non-antagonistic, all-natural remedies have been very instrumental in our success where fish health and stress management are concerned. Sano Products will be more than happy to give a full explanation to any that are interested. They can be reached at (203)634-7502, and their address is: PO Box 45 The complaints of the poor condition of marine fish upon arrival are fairly commonplace among marinelife dealers. "Transport" has been blamed repeatedly. Who knows?! These procedures just may start to make a big difference in a store's success with marine fish, customers and profit margin…..not to mention less stress for the dealer as well. We would like to stress the concept of responsible fish care to all marinelife dealers. In the face of an ever increasing threat of legislation against our industry, we must elect to be responsible fish care specialists. The guidelines and concepts set forth by AMDA should be looked upon as our goal for operating our businesses. In as much as we are not attempting to tell anyone how to run his or her business we are saying that it is entirely up to us and the time for change is now. |
In this issue:
AMDA TREASURER'S REPORT We are pleased to announce that The American Marinelife Dealers Assn. Inc. did on March 12, 1998 receive the Articles of Incorporation and has been certified by the Nevada Secretary of State. At this writing (03/26/98), the new checking account has not yet been opened. The bank requires ID from all officers and the President, Rick Oellers is in Maine and has ID on the way to me and we have received ID from Teresa Herndon, Secretary. Providing we face no further glitches, the account should be open and working by 4/02/98. To all those who have recently joined AMDA and those who have recently renewed their dues: Please notice that your checks have not been cashed and will not be until the checking account is open. Please do not VOID them! Members can expect "Time to renew your dues" notices in the future. We thank you for your patience during these times of reorganization. The progress is much slower than we expected, but progress is being made nonetheless. We'd like to take this opportunity to personally thank John Tullock for the extra effort that has been needed from him to get all of the paperwork to me and transferred to the State of Nevada. CERTIFICATION TEST UPDATE There was a lot of discussion at MACNA lX about the need for a certification test for AMDA members and their staff. Once an individual passed such a test, they would receive a framed certificate stating they passed an AMDA exam. A patch could also be issued showing what level test each employee had passed. Such a test would give AMDA retailers a valuable tool in the education of their employees, and increase the confidence of their customers. We received a lot of different feedback from members in Chicago. Some people were very anxious to have this underway, while others were more concerned about other matters. After much debate, the board has decided to go through with such an exam. However, such a test can not be hammered out overnight. To have a credible skill test we must not only research the content and accuracy of the questions and answers, but also provide a format that is professional as well. SKILLS TEST VOLUNTEERS WANTED The AMDA board of directors is seeking members to work on the skills test project. We need a chairperson as well as knowledgeable people to create a structured skills test. This test will be used to educate and train store and service personnel in responsible marine retail husbandry techniques. Once this test has been passed by an AMDA member or staff, AMDA will issue a framed certificate and a patch for the person’s uniform or shirt. Members of AMDA have voiced their opinions that this test is crucial to the credibility of AMDA. If you or your staff would like to help, please contact Rick Oellers for more information at 207-838-9321 or E-mail him at 102664.276@compuserve.com. GREEN LABEL PROJECT On March 14 at the Spring Trade Show in Tampa, Fla., there was some discussion of setting up a program that would benefit the mariculture members of the AMDA. With competition from wild caught live stock out-pricing the captive propagated species, some members of AMDA came up with a novel idea. It is proposed that we assemble a committee of mariculture members to set up the criteria for a “Green Label”. In the form of a window sticker, as well as a certificate showing that a species of fish, invertebrate or live rock is AMDA approved captive propagated. Not only will this promote the propagators, but the organization of the AMDA as well. Over the next few months, regional directors will be in touch with the propagators to get feedback on such a project. For more information, please contact Rick Oellers at 207-838-9321 or E-mail him at 102664.276@compuserve.com YOUR INPUT SOUGHT FOR PROJECT SEAHORSE Here is an opportunity for AMDA members with experience with seahorses to participate in important scientific research. Overfishing and habitat destruction have led to the currently threatened status of most seahorse species. Keeping seahorses in aquaria is relatively unsuccessful. The importance of improving techniques for keeping seahorses is twofold: 1) opportunities to view seahorses in aquaria stimulates support for conserving them in the wild, 2) captive propagation could replace wild harvest as the source of seahorses. Dr. Heather Hall, Curator, London Zoo Aquarium, and Kristin Lunn of McGill University (a student of Dr. Amanda Vincent), are developing a protocol for keeping and breeding seahorses. They are creating a database of seahorse management techniques, and a comprehensive seahorse reference database. Captive management plans that are developed as a result of this study will be made available to everyone who participates in the study. In an effort to collect as much information as possible about the captive care of seahorses, your response to a questionnaire developed by Dr. Hall is being sought. If you have any experience with seahorses, I urge you to participate in this important study. Precise knowledge about how to keep this popular aquarium subject successfully would be of enormous benefit to our industry. You can learn more about Project Seahorse by visiting their web site at: http://www.anyware.co.uk/seahorses/project.html. To obtain a copy of the questionnaire, write to Kristin
Lunn, c/o AMDA WEB PAGE The number of “hits’ to our web pages has been growing steadily since its inception. We would like to thank those of you who have provided links to our pages from your own, and those who have referred to it in published articles. In particular, the AMDA membership directory page has increased to nearly 500 hits per month. To take full advantage of this free (to AMDA members) advertising opportunity, please keep your business information up to date. In addition to statistics like address, phone, fax and email, AMDA members are allowed to include a brief (200 words or less) description of their business. Information updates can be sent to the business office. ARTICLES AND PICTURES NEEDED In addition to official business and association news, we are attempting to provide practical articles on husbandry or business techniques in both the AMDA newsletter and web page. Likewise, both the newsletter and web page could use more photos, line art and drawings to add interest and better illustrate articles. Articles may be ideally submitted via email (either as an attached Rich Text File or Text File, or simply as part of the message), or by fax or mail if necessary. Artwork can also be emailed or mailed, depending on its format. Please include the author/artist’s name, so we can properly acknowledge your contribution. All submissions will be copyrighted by the AMDA, unless other arrangements are made. To submit articles and artwork or make any comments regarding the newsletter, please contact: Jim Kostich Rick Oellers AMDA AND CERTIFICATION By Tom White By now many of you have read about the Marine Aquarium Fish Council (MAFC) and or certification processes of marine aquarium fish. John Tullock has written several articles for the hobby magazines and has touched upon the issue in this publication. Recently, I attended the MAFC meeting in Washington, D.C. as the official AMDA representative. I would like to present to you a brief overview of the meeting that was held and also present to the membership my ideas about how AMDA can assist in the process and certainly benefit from it. In short the MAFC is a working group of organizations from the environmental community, the aquarium trade, public aquariums, hobbyists and scientists that wish to establish a governing council to establish standards, promote conservation, and to certify the process. The goals of the MAFC, for the near future, are to hire an administrator/director position that will oversee and coordinate the activities and processes of the group, in particular to facilitate the "certification process". Secondly, to incorporate and create a board that will direct the activities of the director and provide an avenue of information dissemination to the involved organizations. At the meeting a presentation was made by John Parks (on behalf of WWF) that highlighted some activities in Hawaii being conducted by some of the more responsible collectors and distributors. The efforts are being made so that their livelihood will not suffer at the expense of legislation proposed by the dive industry to ban the collection of marine aquarium fish on the Big Island and furthermore to set the precedent for the industry. The MAFC purpose is to create a "certification process" that will certify fish or corals in several aspects. These will include specific responsibilities from collector through the retail level. The process will require that certain conditions be met along the entire chain of custody. This chain of custody will provide a system whereby each step of an animal's journey can be verified and legitimized. Each participant will be mandated to practice proper husbandry as part of the certification requirement. Currently, there are two pilot projects commencing for wild caught specimens, one in the Philippines, and one in Hawaii. The goal is to begin the process on a small scale, which will allow the progress to be monitored and adjusted to gain full benefit. Once the pilot program begins producing positive results and the kinks are worked out, the program will be enlarged to include other areas of the world and other links in the chain. Retailers are not in the current pilot program. The process will focus on certifying the fish or coral. In order to sell a "certified fish" the collector or facility will have to meet certain guidelines of husbandry. The guidelines created by MAFC are strict and rightly so. If each link of the chain meets their respective critera, we may very well have a successful program. As all of you are by now aware AMDA is an organization of concerned business people with activities relating to the marine aquarium trade. AMDA strives as an entity to be responsible, ethical and certainly the leader for the future of this business. What we have currently is a link amongst a few that have one goal in mind. Sustainability, both in our business and in the environment from which our business derives its goods, is directly related. Without responsible actions on our part, I for one believe, the future of our business will be grim. The trade off is a difficult one. What can we do as a group that can make a difference? As we perform our day to day tasks we often forget the issues before us or fail to realize the impact we could make with a little more effort. AMDA, as John Tullock believed and desired, would be a venue of change. A group of people would form that cared enough to be responsible and would in time change the very nature of the business. I believe we should all be very proud to be part of an organization formed in such a manner by a man that cares so much. I also believe we should be disappointed in ourselves, that we stand around waiting for AMDA to save us and our business and put up signs saying "AMDA member" and expecting customers to only buy from us because of that sign. John did everything he could, including enlisting a qualified board to assist in the goals, publishing articles, placing adds, attending meetings, etc., etc.. My question is "What have the rest of us done?". I am sure most of us live by the AMDA credo and represent to the public a positive image and I bet our stores or facilities are a bit cleaner and our efforts at keeping animals healthy are better than average. The problem seems to be compiling all these individual efforts into an integrated whole, thereby strengthening our position. Like a team! I may not be popular for saying this but without support from the membership, AMDA will never succeed. The last meeting I attended a large number of members and prospective members were saying, "what is AMDA going to do for me?" I have thought about that for months and come to this conclusion: "Nothing". AMDA is not yet a large powerful entity with a bountiful budget that creates and provides on its own for a small donation or dues from us. Our purpose is to build a support network amongst the membership that will create a flow of information, ideas, and assistance for its participants. This requires members to donate time and money, particularly if we want this organization to become what we imagine it to be. A few dedicated individuals are not enough. For each small effort made, combined with other small efforts, we create a synergetic process ultimately molding OUR organization into a unified whole. Then and only then will that AMDA logo, displayed in our facilities, really become meaningful, because WE made it that way. We owe it to John Tullock. Suppose each of us made our operation acceptable to the MAFC guidelines now, before the process even really begins. Suppose we made a list of those guidelines with a big check mark beside each one and placed this list on a big poster for our customers to see. Suppose we really bought into the process and touted our actions to our customer. Now imagine that our customers begin to notice our efforts, especially in comparison to the guy down the street selling cheap fish. We all know what cheap fish are. Wouldn't that customer start to demand and expect a better product? Would not he or she also place pressure on us to continue to do better? And certainly we would have to demand better from our supplier or collector or ourselves. I believe the retailer to be the single most important link in the chain. We are at the front lines with the customer. If we raise our level, then we should expect others to do so. Credibility with the consumer is the ultimate test of this process. If their expectations rise, then we are in a perfect position to accommodate them. We have the guidelines, we have demonstrated our desire, and with cooperation amongst ourselves, we have the ammunition to fulfill the need. It is no secret among many that without AMDA the certification process will be mute. Let us not disappoint our audience. I propose we, AMDA, prepare our facilities to meet the MAFC guidelines on a voluntary basis now. I propose that we create a list of these guidelines and adhere strongly to them. Our staff and facility must be the best of the best. I propose that AMDA create a training video that can be made available at a low cost to members for the purpose of teaching adherence to the guidelines. I believe we should post and tout our efforts to our customer and be able to prove our adherence. For example, place a log of water tests, staff exams, maintenance procedures, water change log, acclimation processes, quarantine policy, etc. in plain view of the consumer and explain the importance to them. I cannot believe that any sensible customer would not choose to support those efforts. Work with suppliers to encourage (force is a better term) them to buy responsibly. Certification will provide the "legal" framework, but I am confident we as AMDA can attain these levels of quality assurance now and be ready when certification is available to us. I have the distinct pleasure of having been to the Philippines. I went under contract with World Wildlife Fund to work on a project with PMP. PMP is a cooperative of fishermen that want to be responsible. They have been trained in the use of nets and are under continual training programs to further their contribution to an environmentally sustainable livelihood. I spent two days with the local fishermen on San Salvador Island in the province of Zambales. A large number of marine aquarium fish come from this region. I visited their island holding facilities (huts with bags of fish on the sand). I spoke at length with the fishermen and heard their plight. I dove with them as they collected fish and witnessed first hand how easy it is to catch a fish with a net. I slept in their homes and ate meals cooked on their fires under the stars. To me, it was the most incredible trip I have ever taken. I then took the five-hour trip to Manila in 95-degree heat where they sold their fish. It is alarming how little money they actually receive for their fish. I visited the holding facility of one of the largest exporters in Manila. I also visited the holding facility of the PMP. I cannot fairly judge their facilities, except to say that adherence to the MAFC guidelines would benefit all of us. The efforts we make at illustrating the realities to our customers should ultimately create that backward demand encouraging all to maintain tighter standards of husbandry thereby validating the efforts of the certification process. All members of the chain should buy into the process. As AMDA members we should encourage dialogue with our customers and educate them on the certification process ensuring its credibility in the long run. We should also pledge to spend at least one hour of every week dedicated to improving our facilities and processes to meet the MAFC guidelines. When the process becomes "real" we as AMDA members will stand out even more. Remember AMDA is WE, first, last, and always. I have an order arriving from PMP in the next few weeks. As part of my commitment to supporting responsible efforts of the local fishermen I visited, I have established a system to expedite the importation of these animals from the PMP and once the kinks are worked out, I will provide the avenue to other interested parties. In a future issue I will provide a complete report on the PMP project and illustrate the results of this shipment. A "NEW" CAPTIVE
BRED AQUARIUM SPECIES The Caribbean Queen Conch is the beautiful pink-lipped shellfish known as the Queen Conch (Strombus gigas). It is found only in the shallow, clean saltwater that surrounds the islands of the Caribbean, Bahamas and Florida waters. Over the years it has been heavily harvested, so that now it is protected by the CITES treaty, listed as an endangered commercial species. Sea Critters was introduced to a supplier of farm raised Caribbean Queen Conchs three years ago, and was asked to introduce this species as a potential new reef aquarium specimen. The small juvenile conchs were introduced to the marine aquarium hobby by displaying them at both the PIDA Tampa Pet Trade Show, and at MACNA in Kansas City, as well as through direct advertising by Sea Critters. The conchs are excellent sand stirring, algae grazers. This species is an herbivore and will not harm other animals or corals in a tank. There are several other small conchs from Florida waters which have been offered for sale which are not strict herbivores, and could harm other mollusks. The Queen conch graze the sand with their proboscis searching for algae, occasionally climbing up the walls of the aquarium or the live rock a few inches. After a good meal they can become inactive, sometimes for nearly 24 hours! These small conchs have been observed by a number of knowledgeable reef aquarium experts and writers and have received very favorable comments. It was reported on CompuServe’s Fishnet forum by Dr. Ron Shimek that he observed a conch eating "red slime algae" (Cyanobacteria?) in his tank, and Bob Stark reported to us that a conch was observed eating hair algae. These conchs were recently featured in a "product" review in Aquarium Frontiers on-line magazine by Greg Sheimer. The conchs do not have any specific living requirements different than the typical reef tank, with the exception that they can be preyed upon by other carnivorous inhabitants of the tank. Although they seem to do best in a tank with live sand, they can live in a gravel bottom or bare bottom tank also. You can obtain additional information about the conchs from Sea Critters at 813-986-6521, or email at seacritters@cis.compuserve.com.
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