Ecolabelling

[Ret_Talbot]

Hi, All. I'm working on a story about how ecolabelling may impact the marine aquarium trade, and I'm interested in any anecdotes or observations any aquarist might have on the topic. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you can get an overview by quickly reading my blog post on ecolabels at Reefs.com.

Some questions to get the discussion going: Have you ever seen an ecolabel associated with a marine aquarium animal at your local fish store? Would an ecolabel on a marine aquarium animal potentially impact your purchasing decision? Do ecolabels in other industries (seafood, paper products, appliances, coffee, etc.) influence your purchasing decisions?

I look forward to the discussion.

Best,

Ret

 

[prattreef]

Hi Ret and welcome to MR. This is a very interesting and complicated topic. To answer your questions beyond the ill-fated MAC certified effort I have not seen any eco-labelling that I can recall beyond generic "captive raised or captive bred" claims. Personally, eco-labels do make a difference to me--I'm drinking Fair trade coffee as I type- and it would make a difference to me in relation to the hobby.

Given the backlash against marginally higher pricing for ORA and other sustainable stalwarts in the industry I am skeptical about the broader impact this might have.

 

[rkaragozler]

Hello Ret, I emailed you earlier in the week. I think you guys are doing a great thing by Ecolabelling. As of now their was one person that I dealt with that had tags on their coral, not sure if that would be considered Ecolabelling though. I would be the really interested in purchasing live stock that was in this program, just for the factor that everything is monitored, and not just pulled from the ocean in abundance for sale.

 

[Ret_Talbot]

Hi Ret and welcome to MR. This is a very interesting and complicated topic. To answer your questions beyond the ill-fated MAC certified effort I have not seen any eco-labelling that I can recall beyond generic "captive raised or captive bred" claims. Personally, eco-labels do make a difference to me--I'm drinking Fair trade coffee as I type- and it would make a difference to me in relation to the hobby.

Given the backlash against marginally higher pricing for ORA and other sustainable stalwarts in the industry I am skeptical about the broader impact this might have.

Thanks for the welcome! I may live in Southern California now, but I grew up in the tri-state area, so MR does feel more than a bit like home.

I've been doing a lot of background research into MAC over the past several years given my assignments having to do with sustainable wild collection for Coral Magazine. I think the original concept behind MAC is what the industry will either return to by choice or will be forced into from outside pressure, but that's an entirely different discussion.

Regarding ecolabels, as I travel the country speaking about sustainability and marine aquarium fisheries, aquarists consistently indicate a willingness to spend more for a sustainably-collected and, in many cases, healthier animal. As you point it out, it sure seems to work in the case of everything from coffee to seafood in the grocery store. Like you, however, I have not been overly impressed by aquarists at the point of sale. In part, I think it's lack of education, and so I hope more prevalent ecolabels will encourage a choice at the point of sale. Time will tell...

Thanks for having the discussion.

-Ret

 

[prattreef]

Just to be clear before there is any confusion, Ret is a journalist and author who writes about the hobby. He is not a livestock collector, importer, wholesaler or retailer.

And Ret, in case you don't know, Prattreef= Randy D.

 

[Ret_Talbot]

Hello Ret, I emailed you earlier in the week. I think you guys are doing a great thing by Ecolabelling. As of now their was one person that I dealt with that had tags on their coral, not sure if that would be considered Ecolabelling though. I would be the really interested in purchasing live stock that was in this program, just for the factor that everything is monitored, and not just pulled from the ocean in abundance for sale.

Hi there! You emailed me? Not sure I received it. Just to be clear, I'm just a journalist in all this with no affiliation with any one company about which I have been writing. I think you bring up a good point about transparency. Ecolabelling does suggest a level of transparency that is very badly needed in the trade. In the short term, these individually branded ecolabelling schemes will have to suffice, but ultimately, transparency will only be ensured through a third party program like MSC is for seafood.

Thanks for the comment!

 

[Ret_Talbot]

In case anyone can't find my reefs.com blog entry on ecolabelling, you can read it here:

http://www.reefs.com/blog/2011/12/27/ecolabelling-and-the-marine-aquarium-trade/

Ret

 

[Ret_Talbot]

Just to be clear before there is any confusion, Ret is a journalist and author who writes about the hobby. He is not a livestock collector, importer, wholesaler or retailer.

And Ret, in case you don't know, Prattreef= Randy D.

Got it!

Thanks, and you are correct on my role in all this!

 

[motortrendz]

how can we tell who is part of this and who is not?

 

[Ret_Talbot]

how can we tell who is part of this and who is not?

In my blog entry on Reefs.com, I mention three companies who either have launched or say they are soon to launch an ecolabelling program. The only one that is available to aquarists in North America right now is the Quality Marine QR code tag. QM announced their QR code tag in mid-December, and, among other things, it provides point-of-origin information on the animal. To be clear, Quality does not call their QR code tag an ecolabel. In my writing, I have identified it as such because point-of-origin is one of the very few ways a sustainably-minded aquarist can use his or her purchasing power to support a more sustainable trade.

Hope that helps.

Ret

 

[prattreef]

I think the QM point of origin program is a great start, but it also must rely on the hobby at large ( and those of us who choose to take on an educational role) to clearly identify what the various points of orgin imply in regards to sustainability and health of the animals.

My sense is that most of the other "ecolabelled" industries are far more regulated than the aquarium industry and that makes it easier keep things in order, mandate compliance and root out fraud. I think some of the major issues that MAC ran into was the seemingly cumbersome nature of certification and program maintenance and the real ease of fraud by those looking to cash in.

 

[Ret_Talbot]

I think the QM point of origin program is a great start, but it also must rely on the hobby at large ( and those of us who choose to take on an educational role) to clearly identify what the various points of orgin imply in regards to sustainability and health of the animals.

My sense is that most of the other "ecolabelled" industries are far more regulated than the aquarium industry and that makes it easier keep things in order, mandate compliance and root out fraud. I think some of the major issues that MAC ran into was the seemingly cumbersome nature of certification and program maintenance and the real ease of fraud by those looking to cash in.

Absolutely on the point regarding the need for more education! This is actually a central fixture of my most popular talk "Sustainable Marine Aquarium Fisheries", and it is the motivating force behind my multi-year series of articles in Coral Magazine on various fisheries throughout the Pacific. In the absence of first-hand information, it is hard to know what point-of-origin means in terms of sustainability and animal health.

There is also no doubt that other industries and ecolabelling schemes are far better regulated. One thing I really fear, and I alluded to this in my Reefs.com blog post, is the explosion of privately branded ecolabels we may begin to see in the marine aquarium trade as long as the labels are not regulated by a third party. In other industries, this has also happened, and it usually leads to consumer confusion and, ultimately, fatigue. Heck, with the seafood industry, it took a decade to BEGIN to get it right. I hope we can learn from some of that industries successes and failures.

Ret

 

[RARECLOWNSNJ]

Ret,

No one i can think of is doing anything near what dan is doing. In my case and i told dan. For me knowing where my anemonefish and anemones are from is very helpful. There are so many different variations in each of the complexs based on location.

Dans program isnt a gimmick its straight from the collector. Its creating a system to track and keep reefs sustainable.

I would pay more money for sustainably caught livestock.

 

[Ret_Talbot]

Ret,

No one i can think of is doing anything near what dan is doing. In my case and i told dan. For me knowing where my anemonefish and anemones are from is very helpful. There are so many different variations in each of the complexs based on location.

Dans program isnt a gimmick its straight from the collector. Its creating a system to track and keep reefs sustainable.

I would pay more money for sustainably caught livestock.

Thanks for the post, Barry. For those of you who don't know who Dan is, Dan Navin--the director of EcoAquariums Papua New Guinea, Ltd. (if you want, you can link to their website through my Reefs.com blog entry on ecolabelling).

As Barry knows, I have been following the PNG story for a couple years, and I have written quite a bit about Dan's efforts to offer an ecolabel that promotes sustainability and adds value to the aquarist at the point of sale and beyond. Dan has only done two shipments to date, and none have been to North America, but as I wrote in CORAL a couple weeks ago, the first North American shipment should arrive in late winter or early spring.

Barry, you're talking especially about the value of accurate point-of-origin information to a clownfish breeder, correct?

 

[RARECLOWNSNJ]

Yes sir

Clarki clowns are found in so many different areas and most have different marking from region to region.

The only other thing i wish for but know i wont get is what kind of anemone the fish were in.

 

[rkaragozler]

I spoke to Dan, and he said the first shipment will be arriving in late January to the east coast.

 

[Ret_Talbot]

I spoke to Dan, and he said the first shipment will be arriving in late January to the east coast.

Yep. He told me in the CORAL Magazine interview "late January or early February", but I like to hedge my bets a bit when it comes to PNG.

Apparently AquaTech Imports, Inc. is lined up for the first North American shipment.

Ret

 

[rkaragozler]

That is what I heard also, I'm keeping my fingers crossed, that when it does arrive here that all the local stores keep all the info intact, the way it is suppose to be. I think this is a great way of keeping tract of what is put into our tanks. I might even just dedicate a tank just from that region.

 

[Ret_Talbot]

That is what I heard also, I'm keeping my fingers crossed, that when it does arrive here that all the local stores keep all the info intact, the way it is suppose to be. I think this is a great way of keeping tract of what is put into our tanks. I might even just dedicate a tank just from that region.

I love region-specific aquaria. These labels with point-of-origin information from EcoAquariums and Quality Marine will make keeping such a tank a reality. More value added for the aquarist!

 

[rkaragozler]

I love region-specific aquaria. These labels with point-of-origin information from EcoAquariums and Quality Marine will make keeping such a tank a reality. More value added for the aquarist!

I agree 110%