Let's put a brown coral on eBay, and then let's put a bright pink version of the same species on eBay and let's see what happens shall we? Capitalism at it's very finest, and the consumers let their prioroties be known...
Anyhow, I really don't want to get in the mix of all this MAC gossip and speculation that runs rampant on these message boards. My only goal here is report what see, be it good or bad. I went into this internship with a very open mind, not necesarily for or against the organization that I am working for. My internship had a very specific goal, and it is one that I feel I can accomplish regardless of the leadership or organization above me. When it comes to coral aquaculture, I honestly believe that when done properly, it can be more economically viable (as compared to wild harvest) to the local people, as the product should in theory (when done right) be more desireable at the consumer level. This is much more cut and dry than when trying to wax on the economic benefits or negatives of trying to convince a collector to catch a $0.02 (literally) fish with a net or with cyanide... Anyway... I feel that it is important for me to share my thoughts and experiences while I am here in Bali. Let it be known that while I am "working" for MAC, I am receiving the equivalent of US$5.33 per day to cover my living expenses here. Believe it or not (I was highly skeptical at first), it is very much possible to do this, and thus it is not like I'm getting a huge salary to go out and paint a rosy picture for you all on this here internet. I s'pose I ought start a blog of some sort, so that those that are interested in where their livestock comes from can get a better glimpse than what they may or not believe is the truth....but in the meantime...
I have only been here a week, but already my eyes are wide, wide open to things that I just would not have believed as an aquarist/hobbysist, had I not seen it with my own eyes. To anyone that wants to go on and on about what is right and what is wrong about the fish/coral collection industry, you really need to come and witness it for yourself. I am not saying I am an expert; I only want to report what I have seen. I am working in Bali, so I can't yet comment as to the status of collecting elsewhere in the Pacific. Hopefully in the coming years I will get a chance to see other places, but for now I am just going to have to settle for Bali (terrible innit?)
I just spent the past 5 days in North West Bali with 7 contracted employees of MAC. Keep in mind that these are not a bunch of white skinned folks like myself, but actual, real live Indonesians that don't even speak English good (sic). They are not money-hungary grant eaters as you might imagine, but rather a mix of trained Indonesian marine biologists and current or former fish collectors themselves, and also very enthusiastic and great people. Many of them also work for Reef Check, another important NGO here and throughout the tropical oceanic world. For these fellows, their mission was to meet with 2 local groups of local fish collectors who underwent MAC training 2 years ago. These groups act like a co-op. They collect for themselves, but they are all friends with each other and can buy supplies in bulk to save money and distribute amongst each other. They are very poor, but not destitute. The Balinese people are always smiling, joking, and laughing. To put the fish collectors and MAC staff together, you would have a hard time telling them apart, as they all act like close friends. MAC is not viewed with any sort of suspicion or classism, at least not amongst these two dozen fishermen. The local fishing groups asked to meet with MAC to refresh and to learn new techniques for collecting (They are in fact very eager to learn new and more benign ways for collecting). For its part, MAC has trained a small group of 'Trainers': collectors that underwent MAC training that exemplified the ability to teach other collectors themselves. MAC flew one of these trainers, Ding Dong (really), from the Phillipines where he is a collector, to Indonesia for 2 weeks to demonstrate fishing techniques to fishermen in both Pulau Seribu (islands north of Java), and here on Bali. Again, keep in mind the effort MAC has gone to have a peer teach these fishermen. I observed this training, and it began by asking the fishermen what fish they were having the most difficulty in collecting. Some fish were difficult due to their sheer scaricity (due quite likely to overcollecting), and others were fish that they simply were having trouble collecting with their current net collecting methods. These fishermen are amazingly resourceful at utilizing just about anything they have to make due. Ding Dong went on to demonstrate how to construct push nets and dip nets, and also how to take a hollow piece of bamboo, wedge it into the rock hiding space and catch marine bettas (Comets), amongst other novel ideas for various species such as mandarin fish (Which are apparently almost exclusively collected with cyanide due to their cryptic nature, and which I conjecture might have something to do with their notorious reputation for rejecting food items in the aquarium) , and moray eels. It was hard for me to make out everything 100% of course, because being the pink-skinned fellow I am, I don't yet understand more than a few words of Indonesian. On the following day, Ding Dong, the MAC staff, and the fishermen groups went out to their collecting sites to actually put these methods to use. Unfortunately, no mandarins were seen (fished out), but push nets were put to use with success. Whether these fishermen are 100% cyanide free I can't be sure, but they are definately eager to learn alternative methods. Cyanide is definately still a problem here and readily available, and anyone that doubts it really should consider pulling their head out of the beach sand. I see this training as real progress, not beauracratic progress.
As for my own mission I went to see some coral aquaculture sites in North Bali. I have already seen one densely used site here in South East Bali (Sarangan) and was for the most part very impressed. The Sarangan site is located in a bay that previously was just a coral rubble wasteland (The corals had been heavily mined for cement and road construction in decades past). Really a perfect location. Shallow, clean water, good flow, and as I mentioned otherwise a wasteland. Now that the coral tables have been put into the bay, fish are beginning to return and coral frags from the tables themselves are seeding into proper colonies on the rubble bottom. The only disappointing thing to see is that the coral tables are quite covered with macro algae, and that seems to be the #1 biggest maintenace issue, having to clean all the algae off the plugs and tables. It would make sense that a healthy population of tangs, rabbitfish, or other herbivores would settle in and do the hard work for the farmers. But it seems that other fish collectors are coming in and working the bay, which would eliminate any population before it ever had a chance to build up. Sigh...
Anyway, as for the sites that I saw in North Bali, I was a bit dissappointed, although some minor technical glitches resulted in not being able to see 2 other sites that sounded promising. The first site was located in a muddy-ish bay with less wave action than South Bali site. Therefore, the water was considerably more turbid. The farmers, by their own admission, don't know very much about coral farming (perhaps heard the basics through the grapevine), and it showed here. The tables were made of wood with nylon netting streched in between. The result of this was that when the concrete plugs (ugly and oversized) were placed on top, they tended to make it sag, and since they were not fastened by anything other than gravity, they had a tendancy to tip over. Even worse, these tables had no support legs, rather they were placed ontop of other larger coral colonies! Despite all this, the corals (many were Acropora believe it or not), seemed to be relatively healthy (although not nearly as coloful as South Bali), even the corals that were on their sides. The fishermen tell me that it only takes 3 months for them to grow the corals. This, along with the lack of observable broodstock, suggests that these frags are simply taken off wild colonies and attached down until they've grown onto the plugs and then sold (not sure if these farmers have tried to sell them yet). The other site was located about 75 m off of a volcanic (black sand) beach with heavy wave action. They apparantly have 4 other sites located further offshore (by boat), which they say are the best ones. We weren't able to see these other sites because the fishermen had apparently had some sort of boat 'accident' the day before which prevented us from using it. However, I did look at their 15 near-shore tables, and although I was more impressed by them than the other North Bali site, I wasn't overly impressed. They were at least using properly constructed steel-welded tables, attached securely to the sea floor. However, the water was quite turbid due to the strong waves, and a fine black silt covered a lot of the pieces (especially the Sarcophytons that had "waxed" over). Furthermore, they were using dark grey cement with lightweight volcanic pebbles for the plugs which I didn't find too aesthetically pleasing. White cement is apparently more expensive...
So as you can see the status of the coral aquaculture in Bali is still in it's infancy. Many of the fishermen/farmers are ill-informed and need guidance (that's where I come in...with your input hopefully), but I feel that a big difference can be made with not a lot of effort (when compared to the fish collecting problem).
Another very eye opening thing that I learned from both Ding Dong (representing the Filipino market) and the local MAC staff, was just how ridiculously miniscule an amount that these fishermen are making, and just how disconnected the retail prices that we end up paying. For instance, a fisherman makes 500 Rp (About $0.05) per damselfish (And in the Phillipines $0.02...). From what I recall in Miami, that same damsel sells for about $5. Now the collector is also paid 500 Rp for a Mesolucas Angel (Chaetodontoplus mesoleucas)...$0.05 for a fish that if I recall commands upwards of $50 retail (correct me if I'm wrong, it's been a couple years since I worked retail). Obviously, damsels are much smaller and are packed together reducing the overall fish mass to water volume ratio as compared to a singly packed angelfish. It is possible that the angelfish have a higher in-transit mortality, but I doubt it as they are likely packed with greater care than the damsels. But still, I can't fathom that simple basic economic factors are at hand in determining what a retail price will be. As I started this post off, it is the consumer that ultimately places a much greater value on the beautiful angelfish rather than the "starter" damselfish used for cycling ones aquarium. You should have seen the looks on the collectors faces when I tell them that certain fish that they get paid only $0.50 can go for over $100 in the US. They really have no concept of our hobby market.
Ok, all for now, I wrote this fast, probably quite ugly,
Cheers,
Colin
ps. In this litigous society we live in, I suppose I ought to post script this saying that these thoughts and opinions are my own, and are not necessarilty shared by MAC, my current employer. Chow.
