MACNA Newletter

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MARINE AQUARIUM COUNCIL

 

                       International Certification for the Quality and Sustainability of Marine Aquarium Organisms & from Reef to Retail

 

             MAC News                                                  3rd Quarter 2002

 

Director's Note

 

Ten months ago, the MAC Certification system was launched during the Marine Ornamentals 2001 conference. Since

that time, we have concentrated our efforts on training collectors, facilitating the development of collection area

management plans and working with exporters, importers and retailers on MAC Certification. In-house, we set ourselves

the ambitious target of having MAC Certified organisms in the marketplace by midyear. We are a few months past the estimated time of arrival, but, as you will read below, the target has been reached.

 

Also in this issue, you will learn about information available on the main focus of MAC work, i.e., in the field with collectors and on the coral reefs that support the marine ornamentals trade and hobby. You will also read about MAC efforts in new geographical areas, results of a study on the benefits of MAC Certification to retailers, outreach efforts to inform marine aquarium enthusiasts about MAC Certification, our recent work with conservation and government organizations, upcoming training and more.

 

First MAC Certified Collection Area, Collectors Association, Exporters, Importer and Retailers

 

The worlds first to achieve MAC Certification were confirmed by the London-based MAC Accredited certification company IMS International in August. The Batasan Tropical Fish Collectors Association in the Province of Bohol, Philippines, and their collection area have been certified, as have the Manila-based exporters Aquarium Habitat, Aquascapes and HD Marineworld. IMS assessed the collection area and the organizations for their compliance with the appropriate MAC Standard in late June 2002. Collection areas are assessed to the Ecosystem and Fishery Management Standard; collectors to the Collection, Fishing and Holding Standard; and exporters to the Handling, Husbandry and Transport Standard.

 

This world first will be formalized in early October 2002 with the presentation of the MAC Certificate of Registration to the Batasan collectors. The Philippines Government support for MAC Certification and its commitment to backstop this with monitoring and enforcement will be evidenced by the participation in the ceremony by officials from the barangay (local community), municipality, province, and, possibly, national government.

 

Meanwhile, at the other end of the chain of custody, a Michigan import company and four Midwest retail facilities in the United States were assessed in mid September for their compliance with the MAC Handling, Husbandry and Transport Standard. The initial report by the Vancouver-based MAC  ccredited certification company Shizen Megumi sound very promising, and in early October it is likely that these companies will become the first import and retail facilities in the world to realize MAC Certified status.

 

MAC Certified Chain of Custody & from Reef to Retail Becomes Reality

 

With the expected confirmation of MAC Certification for a U.S. importer and several retailers, the first MAC Certified organisms will be available in the marketplace for purchase by marine ornamental enthusiasts. To be MAC Certified, marine aquarium organisms must be collected from a MAC Certified collection area by a MAC Certified collector and pass only through MAC Certified facilities (e.g., exporter, importer, retailer) from reef to retail. In this way, hobbyists can be sure that the fish they buy are net caught from a managed collection area and that the certified marine aquarium organisms have been handled only by trained staff at quality facilities. Hobbyists and industry operators will be able to log on to the MAC website at www.aquariumcouncil.org to locate the certified facilities. Within these facilities, the MAC Certified organisms will be found in the tanks with the Marine Aquarium Council Certified label.

 

Retailers Obtain Significant Benefits through MAC Certification

 

This summer, Aldwin Co, a business administration graduate student, conducted a cost and benefit analysis of MAC Certification for the US retail sector of the marine aquarium industry. The research showed that all of the companies involved in the study would attain significant savings and increased profitability by becoming MAC Certified and carrying MAC Certified marine aquarium organisms.

 

As part of the study, Co completed a detailed documentation and analysis of income and expenditures at four retail companies of varying sizes and types. A number of the companies that Co worked with found the research exercise useful in unexpected ways. For example, he helped them evaluate their true costs and what would be needed to ensure

that their desired profit margins were realistic and/or accurately used. He also helped them better understand what they would need to do to become MAC Certified.

 

In addition, Co assisted in the design of a manual for an inventory management and point-of-sale software program that can be used by the retailers to support their MAC Certification compliance efforts.  His work with the software package has filled a critical need for MAC and for the industry. MAC is pursuing the development of this software.

 

While the individual company reports are confidential, the general report MAC Certification and US Retailers: Costs and Benefits will be made available on the MAC website at www.aquariumcouncil.org. Co's internship was supported as a Packard Foundation Environment Fellow and organized by the MBA-Non-Profit Connection.

 

Certification Implementation Focuses on Collectors, Their Communities and Their Reefs

 

Two new MAC Information Sheets describe the major work that MAC is undertaking to ensure collectors are trained in responsible, environmentally sound fishing practices (e.g., net-collecting, post-harvest handling); the work with fishing communities to develop Collection Area Management Plans, including fish sanctuaries; and the conservation benefits of MAC Certified collection areas and fisheries.

 

These are most important areas of work that MAC is undertaking and where the majority of MAC time, effort and resources are directed. The Information Sheets"MAC Work with Fishers and Their Communities" and "Conservation Benefits of MAC Certification"will be posted on the MAC website in October 2002.

 

Australian Industry Seeks MAC Certification

 

 MAC was invited to join the Queensland Aquarium Supply Divers Association (QASDA) at their Annual General Meeting in Cairns in August. MAC's Peter Scott and Randall Owens, Fisheries Issues Group project manager of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, described MAC Certification and its relation to government management of the fishery. Following the presentation, all of the QASDA members present voted to work closely with MAC, and some members declared their intention to become MAC Certified in the near future. The presentation was captured on video and was replayed at the QASDA Annual General Meetings in Yeppoon and Brisbane.

 

Raising Hobbyist Awareness of the Responsible Marine Aquarium Trade: MAC Info Kit for Hobbyist Clubs Available :D

 

In mid-2002 MAC completed an initial one-year effort aimed at raising awareness among hobbyists of aquarium trade issues and the role of MAC Certification to ensure sustainability of marine aquarium stocks and their habitat. The project included development and dissemination of an information kit for marine aquarium hobbyist clubs, the publication of articles in aquarium magazines, postings on websites and the development of a MAC website area for consumers. The MAC Info Kit for Hobbyist Clubs contains a 12-minute narrated PowerPoint presentation (also available as a slide show) and an eight-page booklet specifically designed for marine aquarium enthusiasts, as well as several  nformational sheets, news clips, a colored map depicting the global trade in marine aquarium organisms and more.

 

The kit and extra copies of the booklet were mailed to about 40 marine aquarium societies in the United States and Canada and are available to interested groups. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation provided funding for the project. In the coming year, MACs hobbyist outreach effort will focus on partnerships with retailers in several key geographical areas. For more on these outreach efforts or to obtain a copy of the informational kit for your hobbyist club, please contact MAC Communications Coordinator Sylvia Spalding at info@aquariumcouncil.org.

 

WWFs Consumer Awareness Website features MAC

 

The World Wildlife Fund US launched an online Consumer Awareness project this summer, with MAC selected as the first organization to be featured. The site includes a profile of the Palauig collectors association in the Philippines, which is actively working to become MAC Certified; suggestions on how consumers can support MAC Certification; and background information on cyanide use, the need for a certified marine aquarium industry and the role of the Marine Aquarium Council. To view the site, click on   www.worldwildlife.org/sonsumer/index.htm.

 

MAC and the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development

 

Members of the MAC Board of Directors took advantage of several opportunities during the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa, in late August to let participants from around the world know that there is a sustainable, responsible marine aquarium trade that can now be certified. Frank Vorhies, a MAC Board vice chair and head of the IUCN (The World Conservation Union) Business and Biodiversity Initiative, organized MAC participation during the IUCN Business Day at WSSD. At this event, MAC Board Member Charles Barber provided a briefing on MAC Certification as a sustainable development tool and also participated on the Consumers Dialogue panel entitled "Do certification schemes benefit biodiversity?" Those who attended were supportive of MAC, and participants from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and industry representatives from South Africa expressed a strong interest in MAC Certification. Bruce Bunting, chair of the MAC Board and vice president at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)US, worked with Brooks Yeager, WWF-US Vice President for Global Threats and the senior WWF-US representative to WSSD, to include information on MAC in his presentations made at the WSSD coral reef events. MAC materials were made available to thousands of WSSD participants at the Reef Check booth, Ubunts Center.

 

MAC at the 7th South Pacific Nature Conservation and Protected Area Conference

 

MAC Pacific Region Coordinator Michelle Lam represented MAC at the 7th South Pacific Nature Conservation and Protected Area Conference in the Cook Islands in July. She gave two presentations. The first one was to a group of journalists selected to attend the conference by SeaWeb. This presentation was followed with a visit to a local company exporting marine ornamentals, to give journalists a firsthand experience of the trade. The second presentation, updated the conference participants, on the work of implementing MAC Certification in the Pacific.  

 

US Coral Reef Task Force Recognizes Partnership with MAC in Its Accomplishments Report

 

The US Coral Reef Task Forces report entitled 2001 Accomplishments and Future Activities notes that, as part of its efforts to reduce impacts from international trade, the Task Force worked with the Marine Aquarium Council to develop an international certification program to promote sustainable use of coral reef species in the aquarium industry. Among future needs, the report lists work with the marine aquarium industry and various stakeholders to eliminate destructive collection practices, reduce mortality during handling and transport, and promote industry-led certification schemes that are rigorous, environmentally sustainable and include equitable distribution of profits to local communities. The report will be presented to the Task Force when it meets Oct. 2 and 3, 2002, in Puerto Rico.

 

MAC's Sylvia Spalding and David Vosseler will be in Puerto Rico to attend the Task Force meeting and the Caribbean Regional Workshop on Coral Reef Fisheries Management. The Task Force will also be presented with a report entitled NGO Contributions to Conserve Coral Reefs, which was prepared by the Task Forces Outreach and Education Working Group, of which MAC is a member. In the report, MAC is one of the nine representative organizations that are highlighted.

 

MAC Team Meeting in the Philippines

 

Given that the major focus of MAC efforts is on the collectors and collection areas, it was fitting that the MAC 2002 Team Meeting was held in the Philippines in mid-year. MAC field staff from throughout the Philippines attended to provide perspective on their work with collectors and other stakeholders. For several days, MAC staff worked toward finalizing documents to support MAC Certification, including implementation manuals for the MAC Standards, the MAC Certified label regulations and guidelines and collection area site selection parameters, among others. Gregor Hodgson and Domingo Ochavillo of Reef Check reported on progress of the MAC reef assessment methodology (MAQTRAC) and discussed development of a rapid assessment methodology to help select candidate collection areas to become MAC Certified. Inclement weather kept the MAC staff from visiting the  alauig collection area in Zambales, but they did visit the Batasan collection area in Bohol, met with the mayor of Tubigon, dove with collectors and attended a meeting between the collectors and local government authorities.

 

Upcoming Events

 

MAQTRAQ Training (Cebu, Philippines, November 2002)

 

Reef Check has worked with MAC to develop the "Marine Aquarium Trade Coral Reef Monitoring Protocol" (MAQTRAC). It was field tested in the Philippines, Indonesia, Fiji, Hawaii and the Maldives from mid-2001 through mid-2002 and peer reviewed in two international workshops. MAQTRAC enables reef areas to be assessed and monitored on a consistent basis within the framework of the MAC Certification.  

 

Reef Check will conduct training in the use of MAQTRAC on Dec. 2-3, 2002, in Cebu, Philippines. The MAQTRAC training will take place following the International Tropical Marine Ecosystem Management Symposium (Manila, Nov. 25-28) and training in Reef Check's overall reef monitoring methodology (Cebu, Nov. 29-30). Registration can be sent to Training Workshop, c/o Reef Check, Institute of the Environment, 1362 Hershey Hall, Box 95-1496, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1496. For more information, contact Reef Check's Lean Maun at  maun@ucla.edu, phone +1 310 794-4985 or fax +1 310 825-0758.

 

Marine Aquarium Hobbyist Day at the Aquarium of the Pacific (Long Beach, January, 2003)

 

MAC has a new exciting event to highlight the responsible marine ornamental hobby and the role of MAC Certification in

supporting this. On Jan. 26, 2003, MAC will host the Marine Aquarium Hobbyist Day at the Aquarium of the Pacific in

Long Beach, Calif. Marine aquarium hobbyists will have free admission to the aquarium with a coupon being distributed

through aquarium society newsletters, trade magazines, etc. Aquarium visitors will be treated to a special series of talks

and an assortment of informational booths featuring local marine aquarium importers and retailers and other relevant

organizations. Plans are underway for similar events in one or two other venues in 2003 as part of the launch of MAC

Certified marine aquarium organisms in the US market.

 

MAC in the News

 

Tropical Catch of the Day; The search for exotic fish for aquariums can be destructive. An L.A. firm is part of efforts to

clean up the industry, by Jerry Hirsch, Los Angeles Times, 28 Sept. 2002.

 

Consumer Awareness, http://www.worldlife.org/consumer/index.html

 

Overfishing and Aquarium Collecting, http://www.coralreefalliance.org/professorpolyp/2002/august.html  

 

A Seal of Approval for Fish? Guidelines could mean healthier aquariums and seas, by Denise Flam, Newsday, 2 July

2002. Available online at http://www.newsday.com/mynews/ny-21spetcol2770007jul02.story  

 

The Live Reef Fish Trade, broadcast on Earthbeat, Radio National (Australia), 8 March 2002. Available online at

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/earth/stories/s643464.htm

 

Marine Aquarium Council News, Electronic Resources, The International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade

newsletter, 2002, No. 1.

[ReefMon]

The kit and extra copies of the booklet were mailed to about 40 marine aquarium societies in the United States and Canada and are available to interested groups.

 

We are one of the 40 societies that received this kit and we hope to present it at the next meeting!