The
Marine Ornamentals Conference 2004 (MOC 2004), with its themes
of Collection, Culture and Conservation was held in Honolulu
from March 1 to March 4. It was held jointly with the much
larger meeting of the World Aquaculture Society (WAS). Registration
was shared so that it was possible for registrants to attend
sessions of either meeting, and there were also a number of
speakers who participated in both conferences. This made for
an Ornamentals Conference that focused more on the economics
and technical aspects of the trade than on the particular
concerns of "end-user" hobbyist, in what came to be called
the "chain of custody" that marine ornamental organisms go
through from the time of their capture. The attendees were
predominantly made up of collectors and aquaculturists, wholesalers
and other middlemen, and retailers, giving the conference
a "reef to retail" perspective. The attendance of hobbyists
with no involvement in the trade other than acquiring and
maintaining organisms in their aquaria was minimal. This made
for discussions and presentations that were often quite different
from those at the Marine Aquarium Conference of North America
meetings that I attend annually, and very interesting in their
difference.
The
conference opened on Monday with panel titled "Identifying
Needs for a Sustainable Marine Aquarium Trade," followed by
a lively discussion. The panel reviewed the almost 20 years
of effort of the Marine Aquarium Council (MAC) and others
to eliminate the use of cyanide and other destructive collection
techniques. The publicity over these deadly techniques may
have stopped, but the practice remains.
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Reports
from workers in Indonesia and the Philippines indicated that
net capture has been successfully introduced in a number of
coastal communities where the collection of marine ornamentals
presents an important alternative to poverty. Unfortunately
the program has not been completely successful. In areas where
prices per fish remain low and where local wholesalers - as
well as U.S. importers (the vast majority of these fishes
are destined for the U.S. market) and hobbyists - are reluctant
to pay some level of premium for guaranteed net-caught fish,
local fishers have reverted to collection by cyanide. If hobbyists
want to be sure that their new acquisitions are not doomed
because they were collected with cyanide they must be willing
to pay a little more for net-caught fish so that the collector
communities can earn subsistence levels of income.
Further
reports on fish mortality in the "chain of custody" from collector
to importer to retailer and hobbyist were even more chilling.
Peter Rubec of the International Marinelife Alliance Fish
mortality estimated mortality to be 50% in the process of
removing fish from the reef to on-shore holding facilities
of uncertain quality, then at 30% at each additional step
in the chain, culminating in what may be an over 90% mortality
before retail purchase. Experimental evidence indicated that
the combination of the collection-induced stress of capture
associated with removal from shelter, bagging, crowding etc.
and from starvation for 3 days of "purging," in addition to
high ammonia levels in the holding bags, produced more than
66% mortality within 13 days from capture. An additional indication
that stress from these procedures is lethal is that reports
from retailers of deaths on arrival or within 4 days after
arrival is 30% on the west coast, 40% in the mid west and
60% on the east coast, as the fish are moved from west to
east in space and time.
My
informal discussions with a number of wholesalers and retailers
at the conference more or less substantiated these figures.
Whatever the exact average mortality figures may be, even
if they turn out to be somewhat lower, they are clearly unacceptable.
MAC's solution is to work to establish "standards and procedures"
for each link in the chain to reduce mortality and to use
a certification process to encourage participation. Ultimately
choices will have to be made by hobbyists to support these
efforts by insisting on livestock captured and moved by acceptable
standards and by willingness to pay premiums for fishes more
likely to survive in their care.
Tuesday's
opening plenary focused on the three main conference themes;
collection, culture and conservation and on the difficulty
of "melding them into a single vision."
Discussion
of collection issues followed a presentation of From Ocean
to Aquarium: The global trade in marine ornamental species,
prepared by The World Conservation Monitoring Center of the
United Nations Environmental Program, and reviewed here in
theNovember 2003 issue. It is accessible at http://www.unep-wcmc.org/resources/publications/WCMC_Aquarium.pdf
The
report's section on collection indicates that collection techniques
have resulted in unacceptable captive mortality and degradation
of reef environments. As referred to earlier, goals for the
future suggested by MAC are the ambitious project to first
define and establish "best practices" for fisheries management,
collection, handling, transport and husbandry and then to
establish certification procedures for facilities that comply
along with a labeling program to identify certified organisms.
Of course such a program is based on the assumption that practices
which increase survivability can be specified. Many in attendance
would be happy to see substantial resources made available
for serious efforts to identify the variables that are involved
in survivability.
Click
images for a larger view
Peter Rubec discusses his presentation with conference
attendees.
A
beautiful sunset in Hawaii - a perfect location for
the Marine Ornamentals 2004 conference.
Steve
Robinson during his presentation - demonstrating the
various nets and netting material.
Sherry
Larkin and Craig Watson with John Brandt of MASNA
posing for a photo after their session.
The
impact of collection on populations of "targeted" organisms
has also brought with it substantial negative publicity about
the industry, and a response from regulatory agencies. William
Walsh of the Hawai'i Division of Aquatic Resources demonstrated
the effects of local overfishing and discussed the effectiveness
of the creation of Fish Replenishment Areas and Sea Grant's
Sara Peck presented the community-based West Hawaii Fisheries
Council as a model for local involvement in fisheries management
decision-making.
The second and related conference priority, the culture of
ornamental organisms, which led to this first joint meeting
with the WAS, points to increasing emphasis on aquaculture
in our field. Actually, increased emphasis on aquaculture
and mariculture comes close to fulfilling the goal of "melding"
collection, culture and conservation "into a single vision."
It serves as one of the most important and fundamental ways
to overcome some of the issues of mortality associated with
collecting from the wild, while producing specimens with greater
ability to adapt to handling and to home aquarium conditions.
At the same time it makes important strides toward the conference's
third priority, conserving reefs and wild populations.
In
line with this concern, the theme of Wednesday's plenary was
the status of marine ornamental aquaculture. The opening statement
by David Vaughan discussed the critical interplay of biological
research funding with commercial ventures and encouraged the
industry to sharpen its grant writing skills to obtain funds
to enhance culture techniques and solve disease and nutrition
problems.
The
movement of science and technology into the realm of aquaculture
of ornamentals was demonstrated by the almost eerie science-fictional
next talk, "The Potential of Biotechnology in the Marine Ornamental
Fish Industry," by Singapore biologist T.J.Lam. He reviewed
recent advances in the production of novel varieties, especially
the work of laboratory in creating the genetically modified
fluorescent zebrafish and recent findings on the genetic control
of gender, which enables specified production of males or
females. He also presented material on a strain of genetically
modified yeast which includes genetic material from tilapia
and which is therefore nutritionally superior to ordinary
yeast for the feeding of rotifers and Artemia nauplii.
He discussed the availability of advanced diagnostic tools
for diseases and for the use of advanced bioengineered controls
and immunization procedures for viral diseases. This brings
about a brave new fishy world of unexpected consequences,
with organisms genetically patented by large firms driving
small aquaculturists from the market?
Not
only fish are being aquacultured. The conference provided
information about the culture of a number of ornamental crustaceans.
Many Lysmata shrimp species are coming into production,
in spite of problems associated with long larval periods,
complex molting series and lack of knowledge of natural feeding
patterns. L. seticaudata, the Monaco shrimp, is a superior
controller of Aiptasia, often consuming 70% of the
anemones within 48 hours, which they completely consume, leaving
no remnant to regenerate.
Reef
lobsters are also being cultured now that aggression control
techniques for introducing potential spawners have been developed
and techniques for enriching Artemia for larval survival
have been developed.
Mithraculus
sculptus, both the "emerald" and the "ruby" crabs that
aid in the control of the sometimes troublesome bubble algae,
have also been successfully spawned and raised.
More
and improved food organisms for aquaculture have also been
developed. Cultures of marine copepods, especially the paracalanid
copepods that have been found useful in the rearing of Centropyge
species are becoming available and techniques for more efficient
rearing and enrichment of rotifers have been developed. Nematodes
are also being studied as foods for early stage larvae.
Wednesday's
program also offered presentations on attempts to further
systematize the categorization and diagnosis of diseases of
corals in order to work toward more disease-specific and effective
treatment techniques. The day concluded with presentations
by experts in the "biosecurity" of aquaculture facilities.
This was the buzzword for much of the WAS's concern. It refers
to the attempt to prevent the introduction of disease, its
spreading and proliferation within a facility and its release
from the facility. This was an area where the availability
of specialists from the World Aquaculture Society made it
possible to share information with the Ornamentals Conference
Thursday's
meeting was devoted to the role of the hobbyist. Much attention
was given to the question of hobbyist involvement in the release
of organisms that are exotic to the region of release, and
have the potential to become invasive - that is, to establish
reproducing populations that have the potential to negatively
impact the ecosystem, local species or human health and welfare.
Reports, both accurate and inaccurate, of releases by hobbyists
have added further fuel for those who would regulate us to
death.
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Until
recently the focus on hobbyist involvement in the spread of
invasive species has been directed at the release of aquatic
plants. Among marine organisms, Caulerpa taxifollia
has been the most discussed. The discussion now includes fishes,
thanks primarily to the documented discovery of apparently
breeding populations of the Indo-Pacific lionfish, Pterios
volitans, as far north as North Carolina, and even to
the waters of New York's Long Island. Many informal reports
of tropical Pacific fishes in the waters around Florida exist
but no formal studies have been undertaken. Hobbyists, even
if some of these releases came from other sources, must understand
that any organism they invite into their tanks must never
be released to the environment.
There
were many other important findings presented in this conference.
These ranged from the Sexual Coral Reproduction (SECORE) project's
discussions of the use of sexual reproduction rather than
fragmentation for coral culture as part of the panel led by
the Waikiki Aquarium's Charles Delbeek to many studies of
feeding early larval stages of marine ornamentals. The conference
was a great success, providing those in the "chain of custody"
from reef to retail with much valuable information for increasing
the survivability of wild-caught organisms and for the aquaculture
of an increasing number of species. Try to get to the Marine
Ornamentals Conference 2006. You'll learn about the realities
that underpin your beautiful tank.
As
a final note, at this stage in the history of marine aquarium
keeping it is imperative that hobbyists demand healthy organisms
that have a chance to live for a substantial period in their
tanks and to put their money where their mouths are by being
willing to pay a premium for such specimens. We must support
our best providers - the conscientious collectors and risk-taking
mariculturists. To do this aquarists must be informed. James
Wiseman of www.reefs.org
gave an important talk on the use of the internet as an information
provider as part of a panel on the "Role of Media" with Timothy
Hovanek and myself. Make sure you keep up by using the internet,
publications like SeaScope, and by the authors of worthwhile
books.
