[Coral-List] banning wild collection when mariculture sources exist

[Peterrubec at cs.com]

In a message dated 2/28/2008 11:51:01 PM Eastern Standard Time, lesk at bu.edu 
writes: 
> coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov


  It should be noted that marine aquarium fish are collected with nets in 
many countries. But, the use of cyanide for fishing continues in the Philippines, 
Indonesia, Vietnam, and Malaysia. The International Marinelife Alliance-IMA 
(which I helped to found) has conducted net-training as an alternative and also 
developed the Destructive Fishing Reform Program (DFRP). This occurred prior 
to the formation of the Marine Aquarium Council, which IMA supported.  More 
recently, I have been collaborating with Telapak (an  Indonesian NGO) and the 
East Asian Seas and Terrestrial Initiatives (EASTI). Both EASTI and Telapak are 
actively involved with working with aquariuim fish collectors and conducting 
village-based programs that are promoting sustainability. The village of Les 
(in northern Bali) has a holding facility and the village cooperative has been 
exporting net-caught marines. Over the past year they reduced the mortality of 
fish coming by boat  from net-collectors collectors situated in didstant 
villages in Bali, Sulawesi, and Java. The village of Serangan is another site where 
EASTI and Telapak have assisted the village association with the creation of 
a coral farm. They has been conducting coral reef restoration programs using 
corals grown from frags. They also created an artificial "live rock" out of 
cement and volcanic tufa. The artificial rock is set out in the ocean for about 
three months, then harvested and exported. Both communities have been exporting 
to buyers in Europe, Canada, and the USA. These villages are examples of a 
sustainable aquarium trade.

I have organized sessions titled A Sustainable Marine Aquarium Trade at the 
last two Marine Ornamentals Conferences held in Las Vegas in 2006 and more 
recently in Lake Bueno Vista Florida (February 9-11, 2008).  The presentations 
given showed that it is possible to have sustainable wild harvest, to create 
coral farms for live rock, fragged corals, and giant clams, and to tie these 
programs to management measures that foster sustainable use without damaging coral 
reefs or other coastal habitats.  We are domonstrating that such programs can 
be economically competetive though the chain of custody.

Sincerely,
Peter J. Rubec, Ph.D.
Tel. 727-896-8626
Email: peterrubec at cs.com