Project BANGGAI RESCUE Begins Today

Crowd-funding begins today for Project BANGGAI RESCUE - an exciting collaboration of a team of renowned aquarists and scientists that will embark on an expedition to the remote Banggai Islands this May in Sulawesi, Indonesia in an honest effort to help save the Baggai from the brink. This is an important mission and notable for the unique combination of scientists and prominent fellow hobbyists (finally!) including legendary breeder Matt Pederson and James Lawrence, the editor and publisher of CORAL, The Reef & Marine Aquarium Magazine. 3reef is proud to support this effort and hopes you will too. This project will only be funded if at least $25,000 is pledged by Sunday Apr 8, 2:19pm EDT. Donation link above and details below.


Project BANGGAI RESCUE Begins Today

“It’s time to save this fish,” says James Lawrence, as he and an interdisciplinary team of aquarists and marine scientists today announce the launch of a major initiative to prevent the Banggai Cardinalfish, Pterapogon kauderni, from being wiped out in parts of its native range.

Uncommonly beautiful and known for its unusual mouthbrooding reproductive habits, the species was listed as Endangered in 2007 by the International Union of Concerned Scientists’ (IUCN). Uncontrolled harvest for the aquarium trade has been cited as the major threatening factor for a fish with a very limited natural range.

Project BaNggaI RESCUE will send a team on an expedition this May to the remote Banggai Islands in Sulawesi, Indonesia, with several simultaneous missions: assessing the situation; tracking the source of a mysterious disease that kills many Banggai Cardinals collected for the aquarium trade; exploring the possibility of establishing mariculture operations run by local Indonesian families; and collecting healthy broodstock for captive aquaculture research in the United States.

“We need approximately $25,000 for the first stage of this project,” says Lawrence, editor and publisher of CORAL Magazine and head of Reef to Rainforest Media, based in Shelburne, Vermont. “Today we are going live with a Kickstarter.com campaign to raise funds for the expedition, captive breeding research, and seed money to produce a book covering all aspects of the project.” Coauthors announced today include writer Ret Talbot, who will be embedded with the Expedition, and Matt Pedersen, who is writing new protocols for small-scale breeding of the species. Lawrence says that the science team will be named in the coming weeks.

Entitled BANGGAI Rescue, Adventures in bringing Pterapogon kauderni back from the brink, the book is scheduled for publication in time for the annual Marine aquarium Conference of North america in Dallas/Fort Worth at the end of September, 2012. Sales of the book will help fund ongoing research and sustainability initiatives.

This project will only be funded if at least $25,000 is pledged by Sunday Apr 8, 2:19pm EDT.

Kickstarter:
The BANGGAI Rescue Project by Reef to Rainforest — Kickstarter

Website:
The BANGGAI RESCUE Project

Media Resources:
Media Support | The BANGGAI RESCUE Project

Contact:
James Lawrence 802.985.9977 x7
[email protected]

 

Honestly, I thought the Banggai cardinals moved to another location. I need to go hunt that article down.

 

Yes. They didn't "move", they were introduced to areas in the Lembeh Straits. Have read articles suggesting that they may actually be causing problems for other native fishes in these areas where they are non-native (aka...are Banggais endangered in one place and yet invasive exotics in another?)

 

Yes, I believe curt knows a good bit about the bangaii's in the lembeh straits area. I was under the impression that they weren't at risk anymore.

 

Curious if you have any specific references you want to cite regarding the impression you have? It seems a lot of people have assumed that since the wild caught fish are still available, and the price hasn't really changed, that there's no way possible for it to actually be at risk...that *could* be what's leading your impression?

There is a lot of back-and-forth on this, and it does seem that some of it stems from misinformation or a misunderstanding of information. Other viewpoints come from the fact that there is now this potentially invasive exotic population in Lembeh. However, to this day, the fish remain listed as an Endangered Species on the IUCN Redlist, and the aquarium industry seems to be culpable for that listing.

I would love for the scientific expedition that will inform that section of the book to come back with POSITIVE findings for the Banggai - indeed, either way, I hope this book will bring more insights whether good or bad. As the author responsible for the breeding portion of the book, I hope to make everyone more successful and profitable breeders of Banggai Cardinalfish - I was not without my own troubles when I first tackled this species, and MANY breeders to this day suffer from a myriad of problems, most noteably broodstock mortatily (which is why we will be reexamining the Banggai virus) and breeding related issues (pairing, premature abortion of broods, inability to truly consistently incubate broods artificially). There is just so much we can cover here.

 

Mostly my information was from Curt. I asked him to chime in here so we will see if he stops by.
However, I also recall talking to my friend Felicia who was concerned about the Bangaii's. Ill pass this on to her

 

Great to see you here Matt. I had no idea you were a 3reef member!
I am very excited about this.

Anyone have any questions about the project?


matt

 

Lol I can't see them as being "invasive" when I had mine, he kind of just sat there!!

 

I'm doing my part. I have successfully raised 9 offspring from my mated pair in my dt. If I devoted more effort, I am sure I would have raised more by now.

 

Ok.

I will start....

I'd love to know some technical details... like,
is there a research vessel that will take the team around?
Do you have a route in mind?
What scientists have committed to this project?
What do we know about this 'mystery disease?'


matt