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Dear Coral-Listers,<br>
<br>
Please allow me to bring the Marine Aquarium Council to your attention.
<br>
MAC is a major new international effort to address sustainability and
quality in the harvesting and commerce of marine aquarium
organisms.<br>
<br>
Below is a brief description of the rationale, background and status of
this comprehensive program to develop standards, certification and
labeling for the marine ornamentals industry. <br>
<br>
The MAC website
(<a href="http://www.aquariumcouncil.org/" eudora="autourl">www.aquariumcouncil.org</a>)
contains more information as well as means to register your interest in
being a part of this growing global network.<br>
<br>
We look forward to the involvement of the coral reef science and
management community in these efforts.<br>
<br>
With regards,<br>
<br>
Paul Holthus<br>
<br>
Executive Director<br>
Marine Aquarium Council<br>
3035 Hibiscus Drive, Honolulu, Hawaii 96815<br>
Ph: +1 808 923-3254 Fax: +1 808 923 -6023 <br>
E-mail: paul.holthus@aquariumcouncil.org<br>
Website:
<a href="http://www.aquariumcouncil.org/" eudora="autourl">www.aquariumcouncil.org</a><br>
<br>
<br>
THE MARINE AQUARIUM COUNCIL: <br>
CERTIFYING QUALITY AND SUSTAINABILITY IN THE MARINE AQUARIUM
INDUSTRY<br>
<br>
Market forces are one of the most useful means to encourage and support
quality "products" and sustainable practices in the marine
ornamentals industry. The demand from informed consumers for such
products and practices will create incentives for industry to adopt and
adhere to standards to improve quality control and management of the
organisms, habitat, and industry practices and provide a quality-assured,
higher value-added product.<br>
<br>
The corollary is that marine aquarium organisms of poor quality and
unsustainable practices will face decreasing market acceptance. As
a result, destructive and substandard practices (e.g. use of sodium
cyanide, lack of water quality control, high levels of mortality) will
decrease as these operators either adjust their practices
"upward" to comply with the standards or lose the support of
the market and fall out of the industry.<br>
<br>
To put these market forces to work, a Certification System is needed to:
<br>
<font face="Symbol">·<x-tab> </x-tab></font>establish
standards for quality products and practices;<br>
<font face="Symbol">·<x-tab> </x-tab></font>provide
a system to document compliance with these standards;<br>
<font face="Symbol">·<x-tab> </x-tab></font>label
the results of certification for quality assurance; and <br>
<font face="Symbol">·<x-tab> </x-tab></font>create
consumer demand and confidence for certified and labeled organisms,
practices and industry participants.<br>
<br>
Due to the global nature of the trade in marine ornamentals, an
independent, multi-stakeholder, international institution is required to
work with all of the relevant parties, especially the entire industry
"Chain of Custody" - i.e. from collectors to exporters to
importers/wholesalers to retailers and the consumer. The Marine Aquarium
Council has been established for this purpose.<br>
<br>
The Marine Aquarium Council (MAC) is a non-profit organization that
brings together a rapidly growing cross section of representatives of the
ornamentals industry, conservation organizations, government agencies,
public aquariums, hobbyists and scientists - all with a shared interest
in the future of the marine ornamentals industry, the marine organisms it
is based on and the habitat that supports them. Stakeholder consultations
are underway to develop standards and test them in pilot areas, and begin
initial certification in 1999. Participation in MAC is open to
those ready to collaborate and contribute to a constructive dialogue and
the development of a Certification System for marine ornamentals.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
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