Marine Aquarium fish

We purchased this web site so that we can expose those people in the industry that claim to support conservation but in reality do nothing at all. Reefsuk.Com is one of those organisation who over the years allowed the forum to run down and become vigilante taking the law into their own hands. Using people who hid behind animosity can get away with any thing The genuine hobbyist left the forum to escape the petty games being played by Mr Jennings.

The marinecentre.co.uk based in surrey have developed a filtration system which requires minimum maintenance,creates a natural environment with higher stocking levels and created an environment which resulted in 2 species of sharks breeding successfully over a period of 12 months. There is no limit to the potential of this system and can easily be adapted for a holding system for marine fish.
The company manufacture a range of aquarium systems in real wood nationwide with sizes up to 4m

Cyanide fishing

Bad News From Ferdinand Cruz

This is very disheartening. This trade has a LONG way to go.
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The following is part of an email Dr. Peter Rubec recently received from Ferdinand Cruz after he visited the village of Les in northern Island of Bali.

taken from the Livestock Supplier List Thread

Peter Rubec

From Ferdinand Cruz:
Although the pumping of water into the system of the facility in LES that has shut down for two months was no problem. It is things happening here that really makes me almost feel that maybe it is hopeless to do what is right. Sometimes I feel it better to give up and forget the whole crusade. I am seeing again what happened in the Philippines unfolding here in a bigger and more terrible way. Indonesia has more collectors and more exporters than Philippines ten times over.

Everybody even the government in Bali is caught up and riding the band wagon of certifying the collectors and middlemen. GREAT IF IT IS A TRUE CERTIFICATION THAT BRING REAL CHANGE! GREAT IF IT STOPS THE USE OF CYANIDE! GREAT IF FISH ARE HANDLED PROPERLY! BUT IT IS NOT!!! NOW THEY WANT TO DO THE BEST PRACTICES IN CORALS??!!! THE BIGGEST GREENWASHING EVER IS HAPPENING HERE!!!!

It is like the spoke of a wheel that is centered in Bali trying to extend outwards. Although they stop short of certifying exporters and claim them to be 100% clean it would come soon and in the very near future. The ground for the "great SCAM" is being prepared. When before collectors using illegal methods had to be very careful now under the card of certification they can do almost anything. While before collectors had to be very careful now they are covered as if with immunity. The destruction before was huge that is why it takes the Balinese collectors more than 3 to 5 days to reach a good collecting site at big expense. Now they can destroy these sites under the banner of certification. Another two years and it will take 10 to 15 days of travel to good collecting sites if this is not stopped.

Here when a fisherman is certified they can fish wherever that want and would not be bothered. I recently witnessed what is happening here and it is pathetic. So much money to spend and spent yet nothing really right is coming out of it. It has only driven the use of cyanide in this trade deeper underground.

I started suspecting something was wrong when the fishes that were coming into the facility of LES from outside at the start were dying like flies. It also included fish I know are not caught by cyanide. Even the beautiful Banggai Cardinals were literally dropping one after another in front of my eyes. So I requested the head of the facility to drive me over to the area where these fishes are landed and process by middlemen. Arriving there I chose the fishes I wanted to bring back including 60 Banggai Cardinals and befriended the middleman. Winning his trust we talked about some species that are hard to catch by net. He admitted that his collectors can never catch some certain species with the use of nets and yet they bring them in I started probing him on his fishing trips. I was told it takes his boat an average of 20 days for one fishing trip. 5 days to go to the site and 5 days in sailing back. During the whole trip the fishes do not eat. He jokingly said that it was like the Muslims "Pu asa" or fasting. Mostly he sends his boat to Sulawesi to fish so that he does not lose on his investments or capital outlay for a trip. I asked him how he can guarantee the return of his operational capital and earn a decent profit from it. The amount he puts out for his boat and 18 collectors for one trip is usually $3, 800.00 and here that is a princely sum. He admitted that his collectors have to bring a "little" (note he emphasize a little) poison or cyanide. A kilo of cyanide in Rupiah is 60,000.00 or $ 6.70 a bit higher than the price in the Philippines but that is his insurance for the money he puts out on a collecting trip. I asked if he was certified and he said yes and all his 18 collectors which make it easier for his boat to go wherever they want to fish. It also gives him the space in avoiding being hassled in Bali. They were trained haphazardly in collecting and handling fish in a very impractical manner that even to follow and stick with this kind of training is according to him hard. In short the nets of his collectors are for "display only" and for easy to catch fish if they do not feel lazy in using it. Common sense will dictate that it is natural for a collector to squeeze a squeeze bottle than spread the net and chase the fish into it. Without out rightly saying it he finds the certification card a convenient vehicle and means to achieve what he wants under the noses of the authorities. Flag waving the certification card is an "in thing" here. So who is fooling who? It would be dumb if the certification body does not know what is going on. It must be deliberate in their part in turning their heads the other way with what is really happening as long as the numbers are there for them to claim as certified

The Marine Aquarium Council have lost all credibility within the industry, whose purpose in life seams to be to convince the hobbist and more seriously governments that the problem doesn't exist.

Reefs are being totally destroyed. In the Philippines this involves thousands of miles of reefs followed by a similar situation in Indonesia. Cyanide testing has been established in the Philippines for many years and the use of Cyanide is illegal.

Fish are shipped to Singapore to avoid detection

This is a problem which is generated by greed with out any concern of the consequence

What are governments doing about the situation. The EEC does nothing. The British Government does nothing. Its a problem now spread to 19 countries with huge devastation world wide.

What can be done.

The retailer is the end product of this process. He sells fish to the public. He has no idea where the fish come from or how they are caught. In the UK not one single organisation supported MAC and only TMC are certified as importers.

The Solution.

Lets expose the people who are trying to convince every one there's no problem. Only when people say No to Cyanide will it stop.

Reefsuk.com is managed by people who claim to support sustainable fishing. Mr Jennings of ifocas.org and owns other web site such as calypso.org.uk supports the effort of MAC but uses Hacking into computers to monitor the industry, deciding who he believes should be involved. The fact that what he does is illegal punishable with Prison ceases to be ignored by this idiot.

Mr Gerald Jennings lives at 2 Gatcombe Rd London NI94PT where he controls his empire and claims to support Conservation.

The marine aquarium council no longer trains collectors in the use of nets. Millions of pounds invested in this program have been lost because of mis management. corruption and because the problem far exceeds the capability of the organisation.

The training of collectors is now left to local organisations to raise funds and organise training. Certification is pointless unless there is some guarantee the fish are net caught.

We believe that a much greater effort needs to be made to eliminate this practice. That Governments need to be involved and testing taking place at Border posts to detect Cyanide which remains in the fish until they die.

Our Campaign STOP CYANIDE FISHING calls upon people organisations governments to stop this practice. Realistically the way forward is top seek alternatives to Cyanide which do not have the destructive influence of the poison.

Live grouper caught with cyanide poison customers in restaurants and hotels in Hong Kong and other countries.The Cyanide remains in the fish eventual killing them off.

Collectors have to travel for 5/6 days from the village to find reefs that haven't been destroyed. 18/20 collectors per boat create a massive amount of devastation.

In these days of technology im sure there must be an alternative to Cyanide, which will temporarily stun fish and not cause the massive amount of damage currently being carried out.

This is where investment must be. To seek a solution to the problem.

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