SEASMART

This is a really amazing project they had going out of Papa New Guinea but unfortunately things are not looking so good currently.  Article on ReefBuilders.

 

That lightning maroon is amazing!

 

Wow, that's really bad news for everyone. Hopefully it gets worked out because they were supposed to be a big part of our MACNA event.

-JB

 

Sure hope they can get it back on track.

 

I'm going to keep the faith that this turns around quickly ;-0) Thanks for sharing the article Gered!!

 

Hi, Guys. I thought I'd chime in here. As some of you know, I have committed large chunks of the last year to researching and visiting marine aquarium fisheries around the world with one primary question: What should a sustainable marine aquarium fishery look like? Toward that end, I traveled to Papua New Guinea last March for CORAL Magazine to report on SEASMART and the emerging marine aquarium trade in that developing island nation. Since that time, what I observed in PNG has been central to the presentations on worldwide AQ fishery sustainability I have delivered around the country. As such, I have stayed in very close contact with people in PNG, and, like you, I was saddened to see SEASMART release this information. 
Those of us close to the story have known something was up for quite some time. We knew, for example, something was amiss when all imports ceased in September 2010 and maricultured corals promised for December 2010 never hit the market. Now we know that the withholding of gov't funding was responsible for shutting down SEASMART's operations in PNG, but we don't have a clear picture of why those funds were withdrawn. I would encourage folks to keep an open mind and not speculate too much until more information becomes available. As someone who is in near daily contact with PNG, I can assure you that this is a complex situation with a lot of grey areas. I think we all hope that the PNG marine AQ fishery that emerges from this crisis is one of which we can be proud--to wit: sustainable and equitable.
In the interim, this situation does present an excellent opportunity for us to really rethink what a we expect a sustainable marine AQ fishery in a developing island nation to look like? I am recently back from Hawaii, where I was researching the most important marine AQ fishery in the United States, and I have to wonder, based on my experience there, if we have different expectations for a fishery in the developing world (like PNG) and one in the developed world (like Hawaii). In short, how sustainable is sustainable enough? Food for thought.
If you are interested, my off-the-cuff response (an opinion piece!) to SEASMART's press release is now posted on CORAL's website: http://www.coralmagazine-us.com/con...ainability. Be on the lookout for a comprehensive article looking in depth at this crisis in the not to distant future.
All the best,
Ret Talbot

 

Well, dang. Another sensible thing destroyed by paper pushers.

 

Thanks for the additional info Ret!

 

Yeah thanks Ret.  Great artical.