Dateline: 04/01/99
MARINE AQUARIUM COUNCIL
Certifying Quality and Sustainability in the Marine Ornamentals Industry
MAC News - 1st Quarter 1999 Report
Welcome
Welcome to MAC News. With the Marine Aquarium Council (MAC) beginning
its first full year, I am happy to begin providing a regular update on
the many exciting developments, activities and progress at MAC. As many
of you know, MAC moved into high gear during 1998 - the International Year
of the Ocean - by hiring an Executive Director, setting up its main office
in Hawaii, and being incorporated as a non-profit organization - all in
the 3rd quarter of 1998 alone.
With the creation of a full-time MAC presence, we have had a major increase in MAC activities and in the amount of interest in MAC from around the world. The response of the marine aquarium hobby and industry in particular has made it clear that certification and labeling for marine ornamentals is an idea whose time has come. There is no doubt that, by working together, we can ensure that the future of the marine aquarium industry will be one of quality and sustainability.
To make this happen, MAC is moving forward on three fronts:
- rapidly developing the MAC Network;
- actively undertaking Outreach and Communications; and
- steadily bringing Certification to reality.
MAC is a Network that brings together those with an interest in the future of the marine ornamentals industry, the marine organisms it is based on and the habitat that supports them. The MAC Network is growing rapidly, with companies, hobbyists, government agencies, environment organizations, public aquariums, research institutions, international bodies, and others contacting us daily. If you received this copy of MAC News directly from us, you are on the MAC mailing list and a part of the Network. Otherwise, to join the Network, visit the MAC website (www.aquariumcouncil.org) and fill out the simple form.
We are proactively building the Network through a variety of efforts. This includes ongoing consultations with key aquarium industry constituents in important export and import areas, such as those begun in 1997 and 1998 in the Philippines, the continental U.S. and Hawaii. More recently, consultations were undertaken in Fiji with most of the aquarium industry operators, and relevant government agencies, international organizations, non-government groups, and research institutions. At the end of March, we will begin a similar set of discussions in Indonesia.
To consolidate the Network and facilitate interaction among the diverse groups concerned about the future of the marine aquarium industry, major workshops are held. For example, in the Philippines in December 1998 we brought together more than 60 representatives of a full range of stakeholders in a workshop that endorsed a MAC workplan for our efforts in this important country. Following the workshop, two MAC Board members (Dennis Gallagher, MASNA; Tom White, AMDA) toured Manila export facilities and the cyanide detection test center, as well as spending time in the water with Philippines' collectors. On the way back to the US mainland, they visited collectors, exporters, and wholesalers in Hawaii.
We look forward to helping you interact with other aquarium industry stakeholders through the workshops and other less formal Network activities. To harness the considerable expertise that exists in MAC Network, we are forming national MAC Working Groups in each major export and import area. These are already being formed in the Philippines, Hawaii and the continental US. Check the MAC website over the next months for more information on this.
MAC Outreach and Communications: Getting the
Word Out
Even with the many people that are contacting MAC, there are still
a lot more out there that we need to reach to inform about the issues in
the marine aquarium industry and get involved in the MAC Network and certification
development. In January we made a big step in this direction with the launch
of our website at www.aquariumcouncil.org.
Another major opportunity to spread the word has been through conferences. MAC is increasingly being recognized as the global voice for sustainability in the marine aquarium industry and being asked to inform important meetings about certification. In late 1998 and early 1999 alone, MAC was invited to make presentations at several key gatherings, including:
- the Annual Conference of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association;
- the Regional Technical Fisheries Meeting of the South Pacific Commission;
- the 10th Annual Marine Aquarium Conference of North America - MACNA X;
- the South Pacific Forum Seminar on Trade and Environment;
- the US Coral Reef Task Force Meeting; and
- the Indonesia Workshop on Marine Products Certification.
At all of these events I have received very positive response to what we are doing and a huge amount of interest in helping MAC achieve its goals. The follow up discussions and informal briefings at these events all provide excellent opportunities to raise awareness and expand the MAC Network. Even when we can't get to a meeting, we are often asked to provide materials, such as we did for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministerial Meeting on Oceans in 1998 and the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) Meeting this year.
Hobbyists who understand the issues and demand certification as a way to identify quality and sustainability are one of the most critical components to the future of marine ornamentals. MAC is looking for innovative ways to reach this singularly important target audience. For example, in February, Dennis Gallagher (MAC Board Member from MASNA) set up an Internet 'Town Meeting' about certification. We assembled a panel of industry, environment group and World Bank representatives that fielded questions from hobbyists and retailers. One of the meeting highlights for me was when a retailer asked a hobbyist if he would pay 15% more for a fish if he was assured that the additional cost supported reef conservation and the industry's sustainability. The hobbyist's response? "I would pay double for top-quality fish and a conserved reef."
Certification: Getting in on the Ground Floor
Certification is at the core of our collective efforts to improve quality
and sustainability in the marine ornamentals trade and must be based on
solid credible standards, documentation, and labeling with global recognition.
We are moving rapidly to elicit wide participation in developing and testing
certification and get a working version of the system up and running as
soon as possible.
To do this, we are forming task teams from the MAC Network to develop draft standards for each part of the Chain of Custody, i.e. collection, export, import, and retail, and for 'cross cutting' aspects such as documentation. Progress is already being made, e.g. draft collection standards have been produced in Hawaii and begun in the Philippines and a high caliber MAC 'Experts Group' on cyanide detection testing is reviewing the methods used for this in the Philippines.
Certification testing will be undertaken by MAC Network members willing to contribute time and effort to performing trial runs along "strands" of the chain of custody. The test strands will include collection-to-export in the Philippines, Australia, Hawaii, and one Pacific Island country. The outputs from these trial runs would be linked to test strands of import-to-retail-to-purchase in North America and Europe.
Your participation is critical to developing certification and bringing it to reality. Contact MAC if you are interested in being part of a standards' task team or a test strand.
Until Next Time
There is so much exciting activity surrounding MAC, that I am hard
pressed to keep this news sheet to a self-imposed two page limit. The next
three quarters of 1999 are looking to be extremely busy and rewarding as
we work together to create market forces that transform the marine aquarium
industry into one based on quality and sustainability.
Paul Holthus, Executive Director
Marine Aquarium Council
3035 Hibiscus Dr.
Honolulu, Hawaii USA 96815
Phone: (808) 923-3254 Fax: (808) 923-6023
Email: paul.holthus@aquariumcouncil.org
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Paul Holthus, Executive Director
Marine Aquarium Council
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