Reefs.org Forums

[jhemdal]

Hi All,

I just saw a term used by an aquarium importer that I wasn't 100% familiar with; "short chain supplier". I suspect that this means exactly what it says - importing fish from an exporter who has shortened the supply chain for fish in order to minimize mortality rates of certain small or delicate species. You know, little gobies that pass through three middlemen and take two weeks to get on the plane for export generally do poorly. "Direct from the collector" *could* be a synonym, but in my experience this is just bragging that some dealers use to show they are "in the loop" and doesn't really make a statement about the quality of the fish.

Assuming that I understand the term correctly, how prevalent is this method? I am 100% for it - I tire of having to rescue skinny, half dead fish that have been languishing in the supply chain for weeks and weeks. Give me a ocean-fresh mandarin over a skinny one that took a month to get to me every time!


Thanks,

Jay

[Quality Marine]

Hi Jay,
We were perusing the site this morning as usual and came across your post and assume that you were referring to the most recent article that was posted up on our site. Since we recognize that we haven't really posted our definition of SSC anywhere on the QM site. Chris, the owner of Quality Marine asked me to post this response on his behalf:

Hi Jay,
Thanks for noticing the verbiage we are employing to identify the very shortest of our many supply lines. We are encouraged that people are starting to take notice of the efforts we have always put into sourcing the best handled livestock. We single out those collectors and suppliers from the many exporter options out there, that first and foremost have their hearts minds in the right place, and secondly, have the capacities and logistics in place to produce high quality product consistently.

We coined the Term “SSC –Short Supply Chain” a few years ago to let our customers know which products we carried that endured the shortest transit times from the point of collection to the point of export. Our Short Supply Chain Animals are collected and brought back to the export facility within a day. As many of you know, some of the longer supply chain products endure upwards of two weeks from the point of collection to the point of export, and pass through countless hands.

I could go into tremendous detail about the type of handling and husbandry ,or lack thereof, afforded many longer supply chain animals. A fish collected within a few hours of an export facility, collected by trained divers under the employ and watchful eye of that exporter, held in optimal conditions for 3-5 days prior to export, will yield a much higher quality animal, much more consistently, than one which endured a week or two in a plastic bag, in the bottom of a boat on the open sea, without regular water change, or food, for days and even weeks on end, prior to reaching land.

The way we summarize our SSC philosophy:
“Quality Marine supports the most sustainably harvested and managed collection sites and sources animals from collector groups rather than middlemen wherever possible. This philosophy helps to reduce transit times to a matter of hours or days, rather than weeks. Shorter supply chains and fewer middlemen eliminate inconsistent levels of care, reduce stress in animals, increase survivability and decrease pressure on marine habitats.”

Thanks again for noticing and appreciating what we do!

Chris

I hope this sufficiently answers your question.

Best Regards,
Kurt Soderberg
Quality Marine

[gdw]

Greetings All !

... We coined the Term “SSC –Short Supply Chain” ...

Hmmm ... "long chain" and "short chain" appear in marine ornamental industry literature at least as early as 2001, and were used within socio-economic and price structure contexts.

Some of the poor practices that persist within the fishery are due to the economics of the trade and the way collecting operations are organised. The main problems arise where there is a long chain between the collector and the exporter, such as in the Philippines and Indonesia. In these cases the collectors, who are the least privileged of all sectors within the industry, are paid significantly less for each fish than collectors who work in a short chain. According to Rubec et al. (2000), about 85% of the price paid by Manila exporters goes to the middlemen and only 15% to the collectors.

Wood, E.M. (2001). Collection of coral reef fish for aquaria: global trade, conservation issues and management strategies. Marine Conservation Society, UK. 80pp.
http://www.icriforum.org/docs/Aqua-MCS-report.pdf

I'm just sayin' ... I have no objection to QM using whatever terminology they please, and I'm a major fan of their acclimation & husbandry practices.


JMO

[jhemdal]

Kurt,

Thanks - I figured that was the definition, but nice to have Chris confirm it.

Jay