Cali Kid Corals

BAR meeting featuring Richard Ross December 12th 1:00

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It's time once again for the BAR holiday potluck extravaganza. This year we feature a very special speaker, Richard Ross, a founding member of our wonderful club and talented aquatic biologist. The meeting will be held at Chabot College in Hayward http://tinyurl.com/b3j8nk, make sure to use parking lot B and don't forget to get a parking stub at one of the many machines in the parking lot.

The presentation is titled:

Coral Farming, Fish Collecting and the Chain of Custody.

Before a coral or fish makes it to our tanks, it goes through a complex chain of custody. What happens of that chain has a large impact on the overall short and long term health of the animals. Several years ago I had the opportunity to consult on a fish collecting station/coral farm in Tonga. The experience was amazing, and although the project didn't work out, I am pleased to share some the realities most hobbyists never get to see. The talk will cover the nuts and bolts of fish and coral collecting, coral mariculture, the chain of custody, and some worries and hopes for the future.


Richards presentation is of particular interest to our club as it is inline with our mission statement and will be a real eye opener for people who are not aware of what goes into collecting farming and importing animals.


Potluck info to follow......
 
Gomer said:
Awesome topic. This is something I have been (at the very least) semi ignorant on.
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to quote South park :)
that's ignorant
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It's a great talk and I look forward to hearing what changes he's made to it :)
 
Nope, it's a global term and one that has been used for well over 30 years in the industry before CSI was even ever thought up ;) Your lucky is wasn't written as CoC as that is usually how we refer to it :)
 
I highly doubt it given BAR's track record and the fact most speakers prefer not to be filmed.
 
I'll film it if someone he'll allow us to. I just need to know ahead of time.

EDIT: After posting the above, someone pointed me to a thread discussion about pros/cons of filming speakers. I had not seen it. (Here it is: http://www.bareefers.org/home/node/8902) Having read it, it seems like we're back to where we started: I'll be the guy who "steps up and films it" IF the presenter allows it. I certainly won't do it surreptitiously, but IF the speaker's ok with it (and only if), I'll do it for those that want to hear it but can't. ...I just need to know ahead of time. :)

If I missed someone's point, please clarify it for me via PM. Thanks.
 
Hmm... trying to figure out when I can make my way out to the meetings. If there is going to be a Bar swap, this looks like the last regular meeting before the swap?
 
I believe the Feb swap is another Regional swap, therefore, there shouldn't be a meeting requirement. Maybe others can chime in to verify this. If need be, you could also go to the Jan BOD meeting.
 
Correct Steve. This Feb was scheduled as regional. Back to back regionals allowed BAR to shift the member-only swap to the August slot.
 
earthboy17 said:
I'll film it if someone he'll allow us to. I just need to know ahead of time.

EDIT: After posting the above, someone pointed me to a thread discussion about pros/cons of filming speakers. I had not seen it. (Here it is: http://www.bareefers.org/home/node/8902) Having read it, it seems like we're back to where we started: I'll be the guy who "steps up and films it" IF the presenter allows it. I certainly won't do it surreptitiously, but IF the speaker's ok with it (and only if), I'll do it for those that want to hear it but can't. ...I just need to know ahead of time. :)

If I missed someone's point, please clarify it for me via PM. Thanks.
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I think Rich was hinted to the answer being no in this post:

Thales said:
I am on the fence about video of my talks simply because live and taped are two different animals. If I was putting together a talk that was going to be taped, I would do things differently because things play differently live vs tape and I would be concerned about production values. I would be bummed if a video of me produced without my input showed up on the web, especially if there was no post production. A bad video stays forever. I like the idea of info getting out there, but I also like the idea of engaging people in person because it uses different brain muscles.
So, if there were a TED style production crew and I knew in advance, sure. Otherwise, prolly not. :D
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LOL Didn't realize it was OUR Rich speaking! Lol. Egg on my face.

I thought Rich/Thales was just giving his opinion. I didn't realize he was giving his opinion as the speaker!
Lol, all right, I'm a little embarassed. :)



Is there a room we are supposed to go to?
This will be my first time at this meeting location; the most detailed I saw so far was to go to the "B" parking lot.
Thanks for the help.
 
Great meeting!

One thing Rich didn't mention is that in addition to the fish that die at the LFS or our tanks MANY MANY more die at each stage in the chain of custody. Its been a very long time since I visited a wholesaler/transhipper (10+ years) but it seemed like 20% of the fish they received were DOA. Then more died in their tanks. Then they were packed and shipped to LFSs (where more died). Does anyone know what those numbers are like these days? How many fish die for every one that we buy?
 
It really depends on the COC, for example a company like Quality Marine charges a premium price compared to (insert name here [I don't want to call anyone out]) lets just say a wholesaler/trans shipper that is concerned with volume and a lower price point. The issue with volume shipping is packing light, meaning that a damsel is being shipped in 3 oz. of water to fill the box with more fish, then to get the lower prices on shipping they send more boxes. The last time I went on a wholesale run the stiffs situation wasn't too disturbing, not to say they weren't there... The more disturbing thing to me was the amount of animals that were not suitable to be kept by hobbyists. That is simply to get shipping charges lowered and to add to the box fee simply to create more revenue for the exporter.

I could harken back to the days of yore when shipping was cheap and the animals actually came in a bag with a reasonable amount of water, but that's looking backwards
 
To be honest, I was a bit depressed after the presentation. It made me very sad to hear that so many animals were killed. I will need to rethink my participation in this hobby, especially when it comes to non-propagatable species. I wonder if I am being selfish in my desire to obtain and keep these wild caught animals for my own desire and pleasure? No matter how much I love and admire these beautiful creatures, perhaps it is best that I not participate in the chain of destruction. I was never a huge purchaser of livestock, but I think that after today, I'll stick to DBTC and captive bred animals.
 
It is a sad situation, but I am thankful that we have a club like this that we can all share a coral frag from each other. Maybe in a couple more years we will be able to propagate fishes. Overall, the food was great and thank you for everyone that brought them. Also, thank you Benjamin and Beverly for your hospitality and showing us your beautiful tanks.

AJ & CJ
 
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