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clarionreef

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More cracks in the dam;
This renunciation of the MAC experience was taken from the website of the company Marine Fauna...based in Cebu, Philippines:

Why did MarineFauna not seek recertification with MAC?



Some visitors of the MAC website may have noticed that MarineFauna (MF) is not listed as certified exporter since August 2005. MF was approached by MAC for recertification but we feel that in the current situation MAC has to work out substantial aspects of its program in order to raise the certification status to an attractive level.
In the following we share a short summary of the reasons why the management of MF decided not to seek recertification at this point of time:

MAC certified fish supply is limited to the following species: Mandarin, Banded sharks and their eggs, Tomato, Maroon, Percula, Chelmon and every two to three months a single blue face angel. According to our export data, the amount of MAC certified fish is by number 2 to 4 % of our total animal sale, despite the fact that we try to satisfy our orders with exclusively MAC certified fish.

We were promised by MAC that the situation will change in favor of higher and more diverse supply by the middle of 2004 which did not.

Currently, we can't comply with the minimum traceability requirement of MAC to identify any supplied MAC certified fish by an individual collector. So far we received from our supplier in Batasan only the number of individuals of a single species, the different collectors' IDs and the entire batch together in a bag (Mandarin), or in individual plastic bags (Chelmon) but without individual identification number of the respective collector.

We do not feel that the individual collectors' identity must be with each fish. We consider it as sufficient enough, to be able to trace any batch of fishes back to a group of collectors at a definite to trace back any problems through the entire chain of custody. However, it's a core requirement and we can't be certified unless this is changed (core requirements have to be met for certification according to the MAC Standards). It is surprising to us that Batasan passed recertification without satisfying this minimum traceability requirement.

Our DOA and DAA reports from importers as well as our own DOA and DAA in the facility reduce the number of MAC certified fish saleable as such to 0.2 to 0.4% of our entire animal sales because of exceeding the cumulative and added DOA mortality allowance for MAC certified fish. Unfortunately, the availability of data from other certified exporters have not been accessible yet, despite several announcements by MAC in the past, so we can't compare our actual standing regarding DOA and DAA with other exporters.

MAC does not differentiate DOA and DAA between species that ship easily (e.g. Mandarin) and species that ship usually with higher DOA (e.g. Wrasses).

The feedback of certified importers does not allow us to record data as required. Feedback is sometimes a single sentence such as "good shipment" or "very few DOA only".

We have experienced, that the transport starting from the moment the shipment is turned over to the cargo section of the airline until such time that the client receives the cargo from the customs in the importing country, must have a major impact on the DOA and DAA of the shipment. We had shipments ranging from 0 DOA up to 40% DOA. The suppliers and our handling and packing standards have been both the same for extremely different shipments. This fact is not considered in the MAC mortality allowance.

In the past we have been asked frequently about the sustainability in the trade mandated by MAC. So far we couldn't answer the questions and we believe that MAC needs urgently to come up with data to prove sustainability of the collection areas. So far all fish ordered will be caught.

In the certification assessment the exporter is asked about how he is ensuring that the MAC label packs are not used by unauthorized users. This is ridiculous because the MAC label packs have been promised for 2 years now, but were never received.

The paper work required for documentation is far too much and we feel it's overdone, particularly considering the lacking availability of MAC certified fish.
We strongly propose to trim down the documentation to minimum core documentation and probably a very limited set of docs. Documentation of staff training records, equipment maintenance plans, calibration of measuring devices etc. is in the foremost interest of the exporter and shouldn't need MAC control.

Communication of MAC with certified exporters is unsatisfactory. No direct written information is provided to certified parties about new certifications (except biannual webpage corrections), updates, events etc. The newsletter from the email MAC subscription is more for public information and can't replace the direct communication with certified parties. For instance, MarineFauna learned from the webpage of MAC that it is not listed under the certified exporters anymore.

The number of MAC certified importers is far below the predicted goals of MAC.
Feedback from companies who turned down the certification can be grouped into the following criticism:
impractical documentation,
MAC fish is not healthier than other fish from good exporters,
DOA and DAA values are arbitrary figures without scientific basis,
few MAC fish available only,
expensive certification and no visible market advantage with MAC fish.

Despite the issues above we are still supportive of the initial MAC certification program. Currently, there is a striking mismatch between the required commitment to the MAC certification and the actual advantages of MAC.
MF management has decided to wait with the application for recertification until the issues mentioned above are solved.
 

clarionreef

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This just in after the Marine Fauna letter;

Steve,
This is very similar to the problem we had with getting MAC certified.
This is why in the end we decided to pass. Obviously our fish are of the quality, if not better, than others who have been certified. “the proof is in the pudding”.
There is simply too much corporate type paperwork involved in becoming MAC certified. The fact that I have 4 times as many customers than I can service is a clear indication that our fish are of superior quality. It’s certainly not price since I am not cheap. They need me more than I need them. I’ve never been turned down by a customer because I wasn’t certified.
MAC spent a lot of time here. But they would not budge on their criteria. Traceability was a big problem. It was too time consuming (and wouldn’t have been accurate anyway) to trace our fish to a single diver. Even a single boat would have been tough. Collecting practices should be enough in my mind. The irony is that once someone decides to jump through all the hoops there is no follow up.

And how in the world does a transhipper like Amblard [ a transhipper ] get certified. I’d like to know how his fish can be traced back to the individual diver. Can anyone answer that question for me? Unlike MarineFauna we did seek certification and even had the MAC people here several times.

But we came to the same conclusion. The paperwork was simply too much and not practical for an export facility in a country like Vanuatu.

MAC needs to go back to the drawing board and rethink its criteria for export facilities on Pacific Islands.
Actually I think they really blundered in their selection of the first MAC certified facilities. They should have worked backwards and selected the highest quality fish on the market and then earmarked those operators for certification.

There are many many examples of how MAC certified fish are not superior to non certified fish. Segrest is another example of a MAC certified facility that carries some of the worst fish on the market. They buy from us. But the bulk of their fish come from their own Philippine facility (BREM). And these are among the worst in the trade. This doesn’t look very good for MAC. I don’t delve deeply into the various MAC certified outfits. But after Amblard got certified it was too much to bear. He’s even blacklisted from Vanuatu by the Dept of Fisheries for unsavory collecting practices in the past.

Before any facility was ever certified I approached Paul Holthus at a seminar in Fiji when I found out that they would be certifying exporters in the Philippines first. I told him then this was a big mistake and that these small handcaught Pacific island facilities should be among the first MAC certified fish to “roll off the assembly line”. Mainly because they were supplying among the best fish on the market already and at least this would give the illusion that MAC fish were superior. Of course it fell on deaf ears. I’m not even clear on the fact that there are actual fish that are more MAC certified than others. This seems a bit ridiculous. Identical species of fish from various locations and exporters are different. I worked in Bali for a while and some fish from there simply did not live. I cite as a couple of examples Canary Wrasse (H. Chrysus) and Sleeper Gobies (V. strigata). They always died from Bali. But these same species are excellent from Vanuatu.
Perhaps I’m reading it wrong. I suppose it doesn’t really matter at this point.
We can be added to the list of of companies that turned down MAC certification for the exact reasons MF states on the bottom paragraph.

companies who turned down the certification can be grouped into the following criticism:
*MAC fish is not healthier than other fish from good exporters,
*DOA and DAA values are arbitrary figures without scientific basis,
*few MAC fish available only,
*expensive certification and no visible market advantage with MAC fish.

Despite the issues above we are still supportive of the initial MAC certification program. Currently, there is a striking mismatch between the required commitment to the MAC certification and the actual advantages of MAC
It’s nice to know we’re not alone in our thinking.

Larry Sharron, Livestock Manager, SRS Vanuatu Ltd.
 

clarionreef

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And still another letter from an exporter today;

"I also decided not to be MAC certified...we are almost finished [ the process ] , but i dont want to work excessively on record keeping and implementation....and personally i have experienced first hand from their staff that they are not so knowledgeable about whole thing.."
Another exporter in Cebu
 

Rikko

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I recall opening up a MF fish and invert shipment (about 5 boxes) one time when they were MAC certified. The MAC-flagged (well, the invoice said [MAC], for whatever that's worth) specimens (I think there were the copperband butterflies, percula clowns, and another species) looked awful. They were ratty, showed obvious signs of bodily injury (inconsistent with a stress reaction), and many of them died.

The rest of the shipment was either the same quality or slightly better. MAC, indeed.

I'm not sure exactly what the MAC certification did for those animals, but it sure didn't make them any nicer or stronger.

Good for MF. The red tape showed little more than good intentions, as is pretty indicative of the exporters' comments and my own small experience.
 

clarionreef

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I think a real issue is the revelation of how naive people were who thought that this group could actually perform as well in the field as they could in the office.

For some the need to believe put hope over reason and now that a few years have passed they relize there is no fix so quick, painless and simple that even MAC could do it.
People with 20 plus years experience cannot be so easily be beat by city people with a manual in hand. That hardly works anywhere...much less in live fish protocols.
We had to think slower to even keep pace with MACs inventors and it was exhausting to explain simple things over and over again to them.

Pointing out the gulf between commercial fish folk and eco-office people was never an insult...but a socialogical observation.
Steve
 

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