Reefs.org Forums

[marillion]

Okay, I'm starting this #1 for my own information and #2 for the benefit of the casual reefkeeper/newbie who wonders what this forum is all about and who all these usernames are that jaw at each other all day.

The rules are simple...a basic paragraph or two about you, your industry experience and your current position in the industry.

Here's a short list of whom I'd like to see participate :

Steve Robinson
Jamie Banquero
Peter Rubec
GreshamH
bobimport
sdcfish
StevenPro
Matt Wandell

Feel free to add yourself to this thread even if you aren't on the list. I just named some names off the top of my head.

No 'commentary posts' is the only rule...I'd like this to be a reference so that people know who is 'speaking.' Off-topic posts will just be deleted to keep the clutter down.

Also, if someone can post summaries for people like Ferdinand, etc, that would also be helpful. I've read his name hundreds of times and still don't know what his 'official' position is in the whole grand scheme of things.

Thanks in advance for any help, guys.

Peace,

Chip

[PeterIMA]

PeterIMA is Dr. Peter Rubec. He has conducted quantitative fisheries stock assessments for the Canadian Dept of Fisheries and Oceans and for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. He is presently a Fisheries Research Scientist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). He is an expert on fish habitat and conducts spatial habitat suitability modeling (HSM) for FWC.

He helped found the International Marinelife Alliance (IMA) in the USA (1985), Philippines (1986) and Canada (1987). The IMA grew and had offices in 8 countries by 2002. Since, then its funding has declined and the organization is presently not functioning. He has published over 20 papers that pertain to cyanide fishing and cyanide testing, destructive fishing, net training, mariculture of corals, live rock, and giant clams, and management alternatives such as the implementation of spatial management stategies.

He is an expert on cyanide testing and helped to prepare the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for cyanide testing used by the IMA and presently being used by the Philippines Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR). He recently participated in a Cyanide Detection Workshop sponsored by NOAA and SeaWeb, held in Orlando February 7th and 8th, 2008.

He is presently associated with the East Asian Seas and Terrestrial Initiatives (EASTI) which is a Philippines NGO and with Telapak, which is an Indonesian NGO. Dr. Peter Rubec is a registered importer of tropical marine fish. He is collaborating with EASTI and Telepak to improve collection, transport, and shipping methods. MO fish exported from Les Village in Indonesia are being shipped to buyers in Europe, Canada and the USA. Those importing the fish report their DOA to Dr. Rubec. Dr. Rubec also has a laboratory in Saint Petersburg, that receives net-caught fish from the Philippines and Indonesia. The DOA and the DAA are being monitored as well as the changes in water quality in the shipping bags.

In addition to the above, Peter Rubec has been an active participant on RDO and has shared a lot of information with participants in the section Industry Behind the Hobby. He has also been an invited speaker at several MACNA Conferences. The intention is to facilitate reform and promote a sustainable aquarium trade. He moderated sessions concerning Sustainability of the Marine Aquarium Trade at the MO06 Conference held in Las Vegas and at the MO08 Conference held in Lake Bueno Vista, Florida, February 9-11, 2008.

[jhemdal]

Awww, My name wasn't on your list, but since I've posted a couple of times here, I can't resist replying. I wrote my first anti-cyanide editorial back in 1971. Here is a quote:

"Whoever drugs fish is a dumb cluck. Fish that are drugged may look very good at first, but if they have an overdose of drugs they will die!"

Oh, perhaps I should mention that this was for a class project when I was the fourth grade. Still, does anyone care to refute this statement? (grin)


Jay

[cortez marine]

Jay
I REMEMBER ..
I remember you wrote a letter to the editor in FAMA supporting the early on net training in the Philippines . That was back in the early 80's. So yes, you are a bonafide reformer , long before it was vogue to be so.
Steve

[PeterIMA]

Could Jay Hemdahl and Steve Robinson please provide summaries of their experiences and background here in this thread. You both have done a lot and we need your information.

Peter

[jhemdal]

Here is my bio:

Jay Hemdal has been an avid aquarist for over 40 years. He was raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan and set up his first marine aquarium when he was 9 years old. He worked part time for 10 years at various local retail pet stores and fish wholesale companies while he was living at home and later at college. After graduating from college, he managed the aquarium department of a large retail pet store for five years until 1985 when he was hired as an aquarist (and later department manager) for the John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. In 1989, he accepted the position of curator of fishes and invertebrates for the Toledo Zoo, where he still works today. The aquarium at the Toledo Zoo exhibits over 3300 animals comprising over 315 different species including; flashlight fish, deep sea isopods, giant spider crabs, giant octopus, exotic insects, as well as many other, more commonly seen species. He has been the AZA's (American Zoo and Aquarium Association's) studbook keeper for the highly endangered Lake Victorian Cichlids since 1993 and is a member of the executive steering committees for both the AZA's freshwater fishes and marine fishes taxon advisory groups. From 2001 to 2007 he was a member of the AZA’s board level Wildlife Management Conservation Committee.
Jay has written over 125 articles for 12 different aquarium magazines and scientific publications since his first article about sharks was published in Freshwater and Marine Aquarium magazine back in 1981. He has written five books, Aquarium Careers, Aquarium Fish Breeding, Advanced Marine Aquarium Techniques, Bugs as Pets and Miniature Aquariums. He has presented numerous lectures on aquarium topics for a variety of professional and hobbyist groups as well as appearing on many of episodes of the regional "Zoo Today" television show. He holds the PADI rating of Divemaster, and has logged over 350 hours of dive time under a wide variety of conditions. He is a professional member of the AZA and is a member of the American Fisheries Society. His current interests include; public aquarium collection planning, aquarium-related careers, flashlight fish husbandry and public aquarium exhibit design.

[SeahorseWhisperer_]

Mr Hemdal is being modest. He is the author of one of the best books I've ever read.

[marillion]

Keep in mind that I'll be eventually be cleaning up this thread of the 'commentary' posts and just leaving the bios. Thanks peeps.

Peace,

Chip

[cortez marine]

Bio;

Steve Robinson has been collecting marines since 1974 when he stocked the lab tanks with local marinelife in the Biology department at San Jose State University. He was the only non science major to receive an A in Icthyology there.
Since then he has been a commercial marinelife collector logging thousands of underwater hours, most of them while living in rural villages.
He uses only nets and has made the pilgramage to the Clarion islands 5 times, collecting the once again famous clarion angel.
He discovered the serrano soccorensis basslet there and hopes to return again to sedure a breeding group soon.

He was an exporter and importer since 1979 working in Mexico, Australia, Hawaii, Bali, Tonga the Marshall Islands and the Yucatan.
As an environmental consultant he has worked in the Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Tonga, Bali, the Philippines and Mexico.

He was contributing editor of FAMA magazine from 1982-1991 and a trainer of cyanide fisherman in various training programs in the Philippines from 1983 to 1993.

As a founder of the International Marinelife Alliance in 1985 and an industry reform activist since the beginning... he was instrumental in exposing the nefarious trade in cyanide caught food and aquarium fish, and has actively campaigned for village training programs to convert fisherman to sustainable practices.

Steve was the president of AMDA from 2003-2004, the American Marinelife Dealers Association, and founder of a Net Fund to supply fisherman with nets as an adjunct to pending training programs.

Currently he is working as a consultant for Eco Ez , hired by the National Fisheries Authority of the government of Papua New Guinea to train fish collectors to sustainable methodologies and high standards. [ Papua New Guineas entrance into the aquarium trade will not be made until their collectors are all trained properly in the use of nets ]
Training begins today.
Sincerely,
Steve

[Jaime Baquero]

Jaime Baquero is a marine biologist. He has been working within the different levels of the marine aquarium industry since 1984. Back in the late 80's he worked in different projects funded by the Canadian International Development Agency. His projects included working on developing sustainable methods for marine aquarium harvest, and developing marine aquarium fish holding and exporting facilities in the Philippines for the Federation of Fish Collectors of the Philippines (PMP);training PMP's holding facilities operators in all aspects related to the aquarium management(handling techniques, holding facilities, and water quality criteria); and developing the market of marine fish in North America for PMP.

He has set up marine aquarium stores in the Ottawa/Gatineau area and trained owners and staff in all aspects related to aquarium management/husbandry practices.

As a member of the board of Directors of Ocean Voice International, Jaime contributed to different projects oriented to conservation and protection of coral reefs in different countries.

He created his own consulting business "Récifs" since 1989, business with a solid reputation in Canada's Capital Region.

[Matt_]

Well I post here about once a year, but you asked. My involvement in "the industry" is limited at best. To be honest, I have very little familiarity with the supply side politics and economics. Reading threads down here is always interesting and sometimes baffling.

Matt Wandell is an Aquatic Biologist at the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco. The Steinhart Aquarium is part of The California Academy of Sciences. The Academy's mission is to "explore, explain, and protect the natural world". My day to day duties include maintaining and designing exhibits for tropical marine fauna; I am currently focused on accquiring, treating, holding, and growing specimens for our 200,000 gallon Philippine Reef Exhibit due to open in September of 2008.

From 2001 to 2007 I owned and operated a private aquarium design and maintenance service. From 2001-2004 I maintained and designed systems for, and collected, temperate marine invertebrates at the University of California at Davis, where I earned my BS in Marine Biology in 2004. I have been an avid hobbyist since 1999.

I currently write a regular column for Reef Hobbyist Magazine.

In my spare time I like eating sushi from The Green List and using php code to link to random pages on the internet.

[marillion]

BTW Chip - why did you change your avatar, and WHAT was that previous one?

I changed it because Toy Fair 2008 is happening, I'm a huge fan of Justice League Unlimited and am very pleased the line of toys based on the cartoon is continuing (I've been a toy collector for 15+ years and a comic book collector for 25+ years). The characters in my avatar are Stargirl and STRIPE. My previous avatar was Peter Gabriel circa 1974 when he was with Genesis performing "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway." I've been a Genesis fan (all eras) since 1985.

Peace,

Chip

[sdcfish]

My name for those who don't know me is Eric Cohen. I am just one partner of three of Sea Dwelling Creatures, Inc., a marine livestock and drygood wholesaler located in Los Angeles, CA.

Growing up in my fathers Aquarium Stores, I have been keeping marine fish since I was 10?

My partners are my younger brother Scott, and my next door neighbor since the beginning Brad.

We have been studying marine fish, holding, shipping, packing, collecting, stress etc...and strive to be the best possible at what we do.

We have worked with Oregon State University to research shipping stress and disorders, worked with overseas collecting stations...mostly My brother Scott and I set up a collecting station in Fiji, when Acropora was just beginning, and learned how to collect, hold and ship Acropora and made it successful on a consistent basis. I have spent dozens of days in the Fiji waters, and learned so much about fish habits, and collecting techniques. I also built and operated a collection facility in Kona, Hawaii...that was a cool experience.

I consider myself an environmentalist and strive to acheive sustainability for our industry before I am done here! I have been on the board of directors for Reef Check for many years now, and I support a fisheries management plan and protected areas where needed.

I am very involved in the day-to-day activities of the business, and handle most of the new customers, and try to be accessable every day to anyone. I personally handle orders from both small stores all the way up to the finest Public Aquariums in the world.

I also consult and design large aquariums, and have built multiple commercial warehouses.

My personal life gets too involved....being a "California Kid"...I pretty much do it all I own my own horse which takes ALOT of my time now, but I also....Remote Control Airplanes/Gliders, Dirt Bike, Water and Snow Ski like a madman, windsurf, dive, fish, skateboard, etc....

Most importantly, feel free to email me anytime! Sdcfish@aol.com

[StevenPro]

I am a bit surprised to see myself named in this group, but since you asked I will tell you all a bit about myself as briefly as possible.

I have been working full-time in the industry for over 12 years now (For the past 7 1/2 years, I have been self-employed.) primarily in the design, sales, installation, and maintenance of aquarium displays. But, prior to be self-employed, I did my fair share of time working the sales floor of the local pet store.

I do a lot of writing and speaking for the hobby. I have had over 40 articles published and presented at more than 50 clubs and conferences across the US.

Previously, I served for one year on the Board of Directors of the American Marinelife Dealers Association (AMDA) and am currently serving on the board for the Marine Aquarium Society of North America (MASNA). I was also co-chair for the 19th annual Marine Aquarium Conference of North America (MASNA 19).

[bobimport]

Hello my name is Bob Kelton. I have been in the business for over 20 years and made money in 5 of them.
I am the largest Caribbean dealer in the world. ( Like being the tallest pigmy in the tribe your still small) I used to be the largest in the whole aquarium trade but I lost 150 lbs last year. I got into the business when a Rabbi I know introduced me to a shady guy in the fish business. ( is there any other kind? The fish guy not the Rabbi). After he went away to club fed for triple life I wound up with a defunct fish business.( again the fish guy not the Rabbi) I am almost universally detested in The Fl Keys. ( you bet I am proud of that). I have outlasted most of my competition due to the simple fact that I could not get a job anywhere else. I have no skills other than putting fish in bags. I sell to all the mega wholesalers on 104 st in LA and a few that have been kicked off the street.
Somewhere along the line I befriended a guy in Haiti who had been screwed over by everyone he had shipped to in the US. So in exchange for NEVER claiming a DOA I locked him up and Paid on time a revolutionary approach in the fish business.
After selling the first fish business for a pocket full of magic beans. I blew it all on a station in Costa Rica. Where the woman are warm and the beer is cold. Or is it the other way around? I bet Steve R knows a few places like that!
I then started delivering fish to the local Miami Wholesalers in a small pick up. One day I saw land hermit crabs being shipped out at Southwest airlines and struck up a conversation with the driver for a large reptile company. He told me that the crabs came from Haiti. Ding! You get them from Haiti? Two years later I had like 95% of the crab market in the US. ( no, this is a big deal no pigmy's here). I sold 3 million crabs that year.
I now have a 9000 sq. Ft. warehouse that holds 20,000 gal of saltwater and I think I made more $$ with the damn pick up.
I am also am a bit surprised to see myself named in this group. Most people recognize me from my photo in the post office

[sdcfish]

I love ya big Bobbie! I am very happy to see you have finally got your health in check....keep it up!

Thanks for sharing and all the years of good service.

Best regards,

Eric

[brandonberry]

Although I am by no means a big part of the industry, I do consider myself to be a little more than just a hobbiest. Since the age of 2 I spent almost every day of every summer on the beaches of NC and had an interest for marine creatures. By age 4, I was breeding swordtails and guppies. By the age of 6 I owned my first fish net and was collecting and attempting to keep marine fish and invertebrates, although very unsuccessfully. I did, however meet a lot of friends at the NC Aquarium and began to bring them all types of interesting specimens that I caught. Looking back, some were not all that interesting but they were always happy to see me and very appreciative of my efforts. I started my first real marine aquarium at the age of 14, back in 1992. I bought Moe's The Marine Aquarium Handbook and followed it to the best of my ability for the budget I had. My turning point in the hobby was in 2000 when I graduated from college. I bought my first protein skimmer and really began to study up on reef husbantry and finally was able to successfully keep and propagate corals.

Currently I maintain 9 reef tanks, 6 of which are my personal tanks. I also continue to volunteer for the NC Aquarium, helping them to collect a variety of both marine and freshwater fish. I also consult and collect fish for a local museum in the city where I live. I have a small scale frag propagation business which, at this time, pretty much just covers all my costs for the hobby. In addition to keeping aquariums I also enjoy scuba diving and all types of fishing. I have dove hundreds of times off the coast of NC as well as in Florida on many occasions, Jamaica, Hawaii, and The Bahamas. I have also successfully collected and transported my own aquarium specimens from Florida on several occasions and regularly collect tropical fish off the coast of NC in the summertime.

My goal for the future is to eventually have a full time career in the aquarium industry, most likely in the field of aquaculture. For now I will continue to go in the direction that the hobby takes me and if I can justify making a career out of it that would be great. If not, no big deal.

[cortez marine]

Bob,
Thats the best bio yet!
You should be keynote speaker at the next MACNA....
Steve

[Raskal311]

Not that I belong here but I thought I’d introduce myself to the group. I’ll keep this as short as to not make too/two/to/2 many grammar mistakes.

- 29gal reef from
- 100gal reef from
- 90gal cube reef new
- 4’x4’ prorogation system
- Basic website to sell prorogated live stock
- Bought and rebuilt a dying fish store
- Open online store
- Looking to expand both online store and fish store.
- Still have day job

Kevin Luu
OCAquatic.com

I know our website is down at the moment, the developer has been contacted.

[naesco]

I am pleased to post my bio:

Wayne Ryan (naesco) has been a marine hobbyist for over 19 years.

He is a barrister and solicitor and practices law in British Columbia.

He has had the privilege of diving in most of the Caribbean islands as well as Hawaii, the Philippines, Taiwan and Indonesia.

He was one of the 'founders' of the industry behind the hobby forum on reefs.org.

In his role as barrister and solicitor, he is actively involved in the industry representing both import and LFS clients. In that connexion he has visited both Indonesia and the Philippines and met with exporters concerning issues like the use of cyanide, aqua-culture, sustainability, CITES and the sale of impossible to keep species.

He has toured aqua-culture facilites both at export facilities and on-site ocean aqua-culture and viewed MAC net caught fishers at work.
He had consulted with experts in the field of cyanide testing, advised the Marine Aquarium Council, and consulted with both industry and hobbyists concerning the use of cyanide by the marine trade, aqua-culture, and the sale of impossible to keep species.

Along with many industry leaders, he recently made a presentaiton to the Hawaiian Senate concerning proposed new laws on the harvest of Hawaiin marine species submitting recommendations for reeform of the industry.

Thank you for giving us an opportunity of posting our bio.
Respectfully,

Wayne Ryan