Yesterday Peter Rubec was reprimanded in an email by Chip Barber (VP of IMA) that was distributed to numerous people involved in the MAC process. Peter had sent out an earlier email exposing some of the problems with MAC that we have all been addressing. In response to Mr. Barber, I distributed my own email to all of the people that received his email (follow me!

) I emailed them the first response I posted to this thread (the really long one with all the links). This morning there was a response to my email- from someone I have never heard of -and I have received permission to distribute it to all of you. This letter was distributed to all of the same people who received the original- including Paul Holthus. An argument could be made (incorrectly) that Marivi has ulterior motives for complaining. What about this guy? What about Peter Rubec? What about Fenner, Borneman, Latin, Goreau- what are their ulterior motives??
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I agree 100% with Ms. Mary Middlebrook.
As an enthusiastic scuba diver, I'm fighting since many years against
illegal fishing with destructive methods. I was traveling already more than
40 times to Asia. I went diving together with ornamental fish collectors,
especially in Indonesia, the Philippines and in the
Red Sea. I could watch
trainings from IMA in Indonesia and the Philippines.
Since we want to establish a certification for net caught marinefish in
Switzerland, I traveled to the Philippines three weeks ago to look after the
progress of MAC certification there. What I could see there was shocking!
Peter Rubec is right, what is going on with MAC in the Philippines is a
fraud and greenwashing the industry, especially the association of the
exporters that 90% sells cyanide caught fish. To list only a few points:
- The total volume of net caught fish in the Philippines is not even enough
to feed 2-3 exporters. But as I heard, more than 10 are already certified.
(?)
- No random tests are made in the Philippines. Only low-end fish were
tested, most damsels, clownfish, chromis, etc.
- Sometime, the testers from Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources uses
only quick-tests, which are not sensitive enough to detect cyanide after one
or two days after catching.
- As I heard from collectors, net caught fish were mixed together with
cyanide fish in the aquariums of certain exporters.
A detailed report will follow within the next couple of days.
The idea of MAC itself is good and could help to fight against illegal
fishing. But what is going on in the Philippines cracks this idea down.
Therefore we decided to do our own certification with own cyanide tests in
Switzerland. The tests will be made from an independent organization,
preferably from Swiss Animal Protection. As for the moment, we can't trust
the tests from the Philippines.
Mr. Charles Barber is good advised, not to lean out of the windows too wide,
without to know what really happens. It could destroy also the name of IMA
as he make the inappropriate comments on things that he don't know or don't
want to know. Things have to be brought to the table. To put the dust under
the carpet will worsen the situation.
Josef Steiger
KFI GmbH
Switzerland
Tel. +41-61-903 12 12 / +41-76-377 12 12
[email protected]
[email protected]
www.asia-adventures.ch
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In addition, Mr. Steiger said I could distribute a letter he wrote to Paul way back in 1999- when MAC was first getting noticed.
Dear Mr. Holthus,
Thank you for your e-mail with „MAC NEWS“.
I was surprised to receive this mail and my first thought was that there’s another group or export association of ornamental fish, that only has in mind to improve the battered image of this industry. I had so many talks with exporters in Asia and the Pacific area, as well with importers in Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore and USA: At the beginning, all of them stated that they sell only clean fish and no poison have been used to catch it. After insisting, that I know the scene from the base and that --beside a “handful” fishermen in the Philippines and Indonesia - all use cyanide to catch the fish, they started to defend that “they use only small doses” or that the “supplier assured that all the fish are clean”! Campaigns for clean fish are only an alibi to document an intact business and put all the rubbish under the carpet! Therefore I put your e-mail into the wastepaper basket. Sorry! Only after Mr. Ferdinand Cruz informed me about your activities and that you really want to safe the environment, I was looking to the MAC NEWS.
About my activities: I’m in the ornamental fish business since 1974 and owner of the KFI GmbH company (former KFI KORALLENFISCH-IMPORT AG). More than 10 years I’m active engaged in reef protection.
About 12 years ago I started to visit exporting countries like Philippines and Indonesia. I not only met the exporters in there office, but I think I was the first foreigner at all that went out to remote places to meet the fishermen, dive together with them, advise them for new species and taught people to collect invertebrates for aquarium cultivation. This was the time when I learned that fishermen started to use cyanide to catch more fish.
The technique to use cyanide was brought by Americans first to the Philippines and a few years later to Indonesia! That time I found that more and more fish died in the aquariums after a few weeks or months, without any visible reason. Fish got easier sick and couldn’t be treated with medicine.
The mean time I could observe how destructive the use of cyanide affected the reefs. I decided to start a campaign against cyanide fishing. Most of the involved persons such as exporters, wholesalers and transshippers were laughing at me as a dreamer.
In the beginning of the 90th, I stopped all importation of ornamental fish from Indonesia, because it was impossible to get clean fish. I concentrated on fish from clean areas, at that time from Sri Lanka, Red Sea, Caribbean Sea and Pacific Islands. In an Austrian TV movie about destructive fishing I heard about Reg and Rix in the Philippines. Immediately I rushed to the next travel office and booked a flight to the Philippines. This was the time when I met Mr. Ferdinand Cruz, now a director in IMA Philippines and founder of IMA Indonesia in Manado.
Since that time I traveled for and back to Indonesia and the Philippines, helping to build holding facilities for fish (in remote places), train and advice people in fish behavior and maintenance, teaching them about fish diseases and treatment. All together I spent more than US$ 100,000.00 for the project, without to get a single cent back until today. We are still at the beginning. Until now, no exporter is able to serve a wide variety of clean fish. At the moment, only Sta. Cruz, Davao can export clean fish in small shpts. From all other places, there are still bad fish (poisoned) mixed together with the clean.
Last year we had also a few good shpts from Manado, Indonesia. But after nobody want to finance a holding system and education of some leaders for the export, the export volume was too small and the fishermen went back to cyanide! Only to catch some expensive key fish for the exporters in Bali, Surabaya and Jakarta. Please see the statement below.
I want to support your effort for certifying quality and sustainability in the Marine Ornamental Industry. But what do you want to certify right now? There’s nothing to certify at the moment, except that little volume of fish that AMRI is able to export!
Don’t start building the house from the roof. A good foundation has to be placed first. Please believe me that I know the problems from the base. I met several people, even any from the board of MAC, during my trips to Indonesia and the Philippines. I never
saw them carry any dive equipment and diving together with fishermen. Most of them concentrated to deal with the exporters in Jakarta and Manila. Not any of them know the real problems in the fishing areas, most in remote places.
A few years ago, I had a talk with Phil Shane over the burning problem. He didn’t believe me that we can realize a project in developing countries. Phil is going for High Tech! So far so good. His facilities in LA is probably the best that you can find. Hands away from High Tech in developing countries. We don’t need it, we have to use the materials that are there. Look at the holding system in Davao, it works! Look at High Tech systems in Jakarta: after a few months they removed the very expensive schemers from Germany, because nobody could maintain it well.
Go to the beginning of the marine aquariums: no technique, biological filters with synthetic wool and an air pump. Fish such as Powder Blue, Blue Tang, Emperor and Blue-Girdled Angel, survived more than 20 years in my aquarium! Look at the poisoned fish now: The survival rate is poor, in average less than one year - in High Tech Aquariums!
Start from the base! The following problems are not yet solved (starting from the sea):
Fishermen who use only nets can catch only about 20-25% of the volume that they get by using cyanide. Therefore they have to be paid double or three times the price of the poisoned fish. Otherwise they will go back to cyanide immediately.
The mortality from the fishing area to the export stations is still very high!
Ø Fish should not stay too long in remote areas. Floating cages are still the best to store fish for a short time in the sea. Many times I saw how fish were stored in plastic bags or steel drums (old petrol drums!) for several days or weeks! The mortality is very high this way what lowers the income (or makes the prize for the fish even higher).
Ø People have to be advised to build holding systems and trained to maintain the fish. Education in fish diseases and treatment has to start at the sea, not only in the centralized export stations. All this has to be founded!
Ø Especially young fish can’t survive long if they are not feed for several days. Many times we received small (tiny) Blue Tangs, Mandarin Fish, Gobies, etc. that were very slim, already half starved and with no chance to survive! Plenty! On the other hand, feeding has to be stopped at least two days before transportation, otherwise fish **** in the bags and die.
Many key fish are already extinct or very rare in the areas near the export stations because over-fishing and using cyanide. This fish - and only this! - are now ordered from remote places, like Manado or the Molukkan Islands in Indonesia. This has two very negative aspects:
First, this fish (Emperor, Blue Face and Blue Girdled Angel, Blue Tang, Apogon cauderni, only to mention a few), will be over-fished soon. I can document it in Manado.
Second: the fish becomes too expensive because the domestic transportation and the mortality up to the export stations. Therefore the exporters will pay less to the fishermen and they go back to cyanide! What can be proofed!!
To make it profitable for everybody, the fishermen and the exporters, one has to concentrate the ornamental fish business around the international gateways. This are Manila, Cebu and Davao in the Philippines and Jakarta, Surabaya, Denpasar, Lombok, Manado, Ujung Pandang and Medan in Indonesia. If the costs for domestic transportation and mortality can be lowered or saved, more money will left to the fishermen.
Intermediate trade between the fishermen and the exporters has to be minimized, to save costs. E.g. North Sulawesi: the fishermen sell the fish to a middleman in Manado and he sells the fish to the exporters in Jakarta or Bali. Direct export from Manado is the solution.
Holding facilities for Export have to be built in the Export areas. Peoples have to be educated in fish behavior and diseases, as already mentioned above.
Fisherman have to be supported with boats, nets, compressors, regul
ators, etc. At the moment, nobody wants to found it for net caught fish. This should be with a loan that has to be paid back from the income of the fish later. That means better (higher!) payment for the fish. (see above!)
The big exporters finances only the cyaniders that brings them the volume for the export!
Conclusion:
At the moment It’s impossible to get more than one or two small shpt a week clean fish from Indonesia or the Philippines!
Fishermen that were trained from IMA for catching fish by net turned back to cyanide after a while (after the income with clean fish was not enough!)
It’s useless to found only the net training, without any support for the export.
There’s another thing that has to be discussed and solved soonest: What was still left intact from using cyanide and dynamite, is done well with hammer and chisel in Indonesia: Big reef areas are damaged - better than cyanide or dynamite can do - by collecting corals (hard and softcorals!) for the aquariums. I can show plenty of such areas, if somebody want to see.
So many species on hard and softcorals could be monitored and cultivated, what could give another income for so many people. The demand on invertebrates is especially in Europe big, but we should concentrate on species that easy and fast grow. A project for coral farming would not be very expensive, I already have my ideas.
If there’s an interest, I would like to bring a group of about 8 - 10 people together with me when I visit Indonesia and the Philippines next time. I would like to show and document what I stated above on site.
I’m willing to attend the Certification Workshop in Hawaii from 18-20 Nov. 1999, if you agree.
I would also try to find time for a speech at the briefing in Louisville from 10-12 Sept. 1999, but we had to find a way to get my expenses paid.
Waiting for your answer soon,
Very truly, yours
Josef Steiger
So it's nice to see that I wasn't the only one raising these questions to MAC years ago. Who knows how many other people out there did the same thing? It just goes to prove that they knew about these problems going in and have done
nothing to address them for the past 3+ years. And now here we are at the doorstep of certification and the problems still exist with no solution in sight.
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