Ret Talbot's Banggai Rescue Update at MACNA

Ret Talbot just gave an update on The Banggai Rescue Project and MACNA and I have to share some notes I took. Because they are mouth-brooding fish, Banggai Cardinal fish's range in the wild is very small and they face great pressure from current collection methods. Because of this, the efforts of Ret and the project team are very important. 3reef is proud to be a supporter this project.



Banggai Cardinal Market Trends:

• 1994: Very few exported, individual value $100.
• 2001-2004: 700,000 to 900,000 exported a year.
• (40% died before export. 90% decline in population.)
• 163,000 exported to US, individual value $20.
• Top 7 most exported fish today

Aquarium History:

• Introduced at MACNA as 'perfect fish' in 1995.
• Eric Bourneman and others call for boycott at MACNA in 2008.

- Wet Web Media counters


Range:

• Most come from what is known as the 'Banggai Triangle' which is only 30 square kilometers. You can go from one end to the other by boat in one day.

(By comparison, Dallas is 1000 square kilometers)


(triangle not shown but within this endemic range on left side)


Shipping Process:

• Wild caught with nets without cyanide, then held in holding nets.
• Due to algae growth, not much flow through the net.
• Banggai fish held in large densities in net (5000 is common) for up to a week or more.
• (Stressful, may be the introduction of possible virus being studied)
• When taken by boats to buyer, may sit in boat for over a week as well.
• Fish are "gang-packed" (7-9 a bag observed) for shipping.

Mysterious Virus - iridovirus (bciv)

• Die-offs began being documented in 2003.
• Outward signs are very non-specific and look like many other diseases.
• Inward signs (from dissection) - large spleen common

The Invasive Banggai Cardinals Found in Other Areas

• Most likely introduced by fisherman dumping sick fish overboard when waiting for buyers.
• From interviews of locals, this happens often and introduces species elsewhere. Cross-breeding implications unknown.

Supply Chains

• Only one legal supply chain with proper paper work for quarantine and inspection.
• SO MOST BANGGAI IMPORTS ARE TECHNICALLY ILLEGAL.
• Numbers collected legally don't even amount to USA import numbers.

Local Attitude of Banggai Cardinal Fish

• Banggai are often thrown in as bonus if you buy other fish.
• Exporters continue to lower prices.
• Fisherman try to sell more expensive fish first, so cardinals wait in holding.

Possible Paths to Protection

• multi-stake holder initiative
• regional enforcement of existing regulations/laws
• (Ret does not have much faith in the above two points as enforcement is weak and fisherman have not seen much benefit in this case from stake holding)
• CITES listing (first try at listing was shot down in 2007!)
• New indonesian law.

What We Can Do

• make informed decisions when buying fish.
• Do not buy by price.
• Buy captive-bred Banggai Cardinal fish (examples - ORA or Live Aquaria has a lot)

Ret Talbot at MACNA

Ret Talbot | Writer | Photographer | Consultant

The BANGGAI Cardinalfish RESCUE Project

Many thanks to Ret for the fantastic presentation and update on The Banggai Rescue Project.


matt

 

Very interesting. Thanks for posting

 

Nice read. Thanks.

 

Glad you like it.

Reading this again, I would like to add more about the project itself.

Some things Ret shared were about how they received information. Ret said that he went out weeks before the team and interviewed as many people as he could involved with the exportation of Banggai Cardinals. This included fisherman to custom agents - essentially anyone in the process.

Some antidotes were very interesting. For instance, one person on the team smoked and they found it made it easier to get a lot of details over a cigarette. Also when they went to a harbor where invasive Banggai Cardinals were known to be, smart phones actually helped locate them. They showed a pic of one to a fish collector whom had not seen them. However, this collector took a pic with his phone of the Cardinal on the other and texted it to his friends. Within a minute, his friends texted him with locations of where they had seen the Banggai Cardinal fish. The team then found them later from these leads.

One interesting observation by the team was that the invasive cardinals actually seemed to drawn to the polluted waters of the harbor or near the open latrines over the water in the villages.


Interesting stuff.

matt

 

thats not good at all, definatly an interesting read though.

sounds like buying captive bread is the way to go.

 

Thanks for sharing Matt and supporting a noble cause.8)8)

 

I sat in for several speakers/presentations, and I must say this was THE BEST presentation I saw. An amazingly passionate man and terrific speaker, Ret packed in so much info his hour seemed like two (in the best of ways).

He said to expect the book in late November, and if this presentation reflects anything of the book, it will be a must read.

Matt, one item I caught in your notes, is I believe he said 7-9 fish in that gangpack (not 79), if I'm thinking of the picture to which you are referring of the fisherman holding up a bag with several fish in it and a Styrofoam cooler nearby.

(And it was a pleasure to meet you finally, btw.)

 

It was a pleasure to meet you too Hunter. Big thanks for the catch with the gang-pack. 7-9 is mucch different than 79. Not sure if I missed the dash typing or wrote it that way in my notes. I'll have to look later.

Thanks for mentioning the book and I agree... Ret's speaking ability was awe-inspiring. I recall wondering if he was even looking at notes. Still not sure about that.

matt

 

Glad to hear you all enjoyed the talk. Rets presentation was very informative. I especially was shocked that their population can so easily be wiped out because of how easy it is to collect them. Also the fact that they live their entire life never going much more than a foot away from their home. Once they are removed from their habitat (often a single rock with noting around it, they will never return because the surrounding colonies never leave their area either.

I wish someone would just restock the extint areas with breeding pairs.

 

That first image was interesting. For the layperson like myself here is what's on the chart (with Wikipedia links):

1) Chromis Viridis - Green Chromis
2) Chrysiptera Cyanea - Blue Damselfish
3) Dascyllus Trimaculatus - Domino Damsel
4) Dascyllus Aruanus - Three-Stripe Damsel
5) Amphiprion Ocellaris - False Percula
6) Chrysiptera Parasema - Yellowtail Damselfish
7) Dascyllus Melanurus - Four Stripe Damselfish
8) Chrysiptera Hemicyanea - Azure Damselfish
9) Nemateleotris Magnifica - Fire Goby
10) Pterapogon Kauderni - Banggai Cardinalfish (Threatened)
11) Synchiropus Splendidus - Mandarinfish
12) Paracanthurus Hepatus - Blue Tang
13) Labroides Dimidiatus - Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse
14) Centropyge Loricula - Flame Angelfish
15) Premnas Biaculeatus - Maroon Clownfish
16) Centropyge Bispinosa - Twospined Angelfish
17) Pseudocheilinus Hexataenia - Six Line Wrasse
18) Amphiprion Frenatus - Tomato Clownfish
19) Gramma Loreto - Royal Gramma
20) Sphaeramia Nematoptera - Pajama Cardinalfish


I'm extremely disappointed at how many Damsels are on the list, I bet 90% are from Pet** & Pet*****. Also sad to see the Banggai as a threatened species when it can be tank bred. I'll be certain to buy from a reliable source and make sure I know where it's from if I ever buy any.