Fish 'N' Chips
A Monthly Marine Newsletter
August 2002 Issue

Index

From Liz
By Elizabeth M. Lukan 8/23/02

SPAM & Virus Emails From Me! Within the last month or so, I've received several SPAM, etc. emails that appear to have come from fishnchips@mindspring.com or fishnchips@mail.com, my old email address. I know this is a common SPAMmer and Virus trick but I wanted you to know that if you also received emails like this, they most certainly did not come from me. Worse still, one faithful subscriber named Charles tells me I sent him a Virus (Klez to be exact). Thankfully he knew me well enough to know that it didn't really come from me - the subject line was about as far from marine talk as one could go! Thanks Charles for emailing me about it and for knowing I wouldn't do that. I am, thankfully, Virus free. So, again, if you got a Virus that appears to have come from me, it didn't really. Unfortunately, there isn't a thing I can do about this type of email address hijacking. Guess it's one of the prices I have to pay for publishing on the net.

Sherwood SCUBA LLC Recalls Maximus SCUBA Regulators - 14,000 Maximus SCUBA regulators are being recalled. The second stage orifices on these regulators can be cracked, bent, or broken and can result in a loss of breathing air underwater. Seven reports have been received but no injuries were reported. The following models and serial number ranges (noted in parenthesis) are affected: SRB5600 (K600001 to K611834), SRB5600D2 (DK60000 to DK62000), and SRB5600CE (EK60001 to EK62000). The regulators were sold from January 1998 to November 2000 for about $580. Stop using the regulators immediately and contact an authorized Sherwood retailer for a free repair. The Consumer Product Safety Commission Recall notice, including product photos, can be found at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml02/02150.html. Sherwood SCUBA can be reached at (800) 469-9929 from 8am and 5pm PT Monday to Friday or at http://www.sherwoodscuba.com.

More Showcases Needed: Yes, I'm asking again because now I'm really starting to run out. Keep those showcase submissions coming! Email your tank photos to fishnchips@mindspring.com (visit http://www.marinefiends.com/submittank.html - url dead 03/09/08) with as much or as little tank information as you want published.

Correction to last month's Showcase: The July 2002 showcase should have been titled "Hassan and Laurie Moore's 75 Gallon Reef Tank." You can check it out again at the showcase address noted below.

Visit This Month's Subscriber's Tank Showcase: Patrick Monaghan's 310 Gallon Reef is this month's Showcase and can be seen at http://www.marinefiends.com/showcases.html (updated 8/24/04).

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Shipwreck City
By Joe Anderson 2/5/02
Edited By Elizabeth M. Lukan 8/23/02

"Around 27 percent of the world's reefs are already either dead or being killed," says Jean-Michel Cousteau, the eldest son of the legendary ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau. "The scientific community are saying that if nothing is done in the next 25 years it will be up to 60 per cent... and we may even see the reef disappear in our lifetime."

The Cayman Islands government is doing something about this. In cooperation with the diving and tourism industries and the scientific community, they are moving forward with a plan to sink five ships in the waters around the Cayman Islands over the next five years. The plan includes three ships, a plane and a submarine to be placed in different locations around the Cayman Islands. The waters and reefs around the Cayman Islands have been protected by strict conservation laws since 1979 and Cousteau believes that sinking the wrecks would enhance the islands' reputation for marine conservation.

Ron Kipp of the Cayman Islands Dept of Tourism stated that "there is no other single project of this magnitude that will create such a positive impact on the tourism products that we have available. We have been working on this for almost 2 years now, and are happy to see it finally getting started." The goal will be to make the project self-sustaining in the coming years. The project has been dubbed Operation Shipwreck City. It is an ambitious scheme that aims to take Marine Environmentalism to new "depths." It plans to not only create new habitats for the marine life, but also provide alternative attractions for the thousands of divers who flock to the Caribbean islands every year. The sinking of the first ship is planned for early 2002 on the western side of Grand Cayman.

Similar projects have been undertaken before. In 1996, a Russian frigate was bought by the Cayman Islands Ministry of Tourism and sunk by controlled flooding off Cayman Brac. Likewise, in July 2000, the San Diego Oceans Foundation acquired a decommissioned Canadian warship and sunk it off the California coast with great success. These new wrecks are expected to provide a variety of new locations for visitors to see. Because they would be sunk in relatively shallow waters, they will be accessible to either divers or by snorkelers and tourists in glass-bottom boats or submarines. They will be placed away from existing reefs but should quickly become encrusted by algae, to be followed by coral that will attract fish and add to the marine environment.

All the dive sites around Grand Cayman and Little Cayman have been fitted with permanent moorings to prevent damage from boat anchors. However, over 100 divers visit the wrecks every day. Without even knowing it, these divers cause small degradations in the reef systems no matter how careful they might be. This project will serve two purposes; adding an additional tourist attraction, and protecting the existing reef from further "inadvertent" destruction.

Chris Gray of "The Independent" notes that similar, yet smaller, schemes have been criticised for drawing fish into one place, making it easier for fishermen to catch them and contributing to the decline of stocks. But John Bythell, of Newcastle University and an expert in tropical marine ecosystems, said there was unlikely to be any environmental damage. Cousteau, president of the Ocean Futures Society conservation organization, adds that "artificial reefs like this serve a useful function in taking the pressure off the coral reefs themselves, which are fragile structures easily damaged by careless divers. It's a bit sneaky, but my view is that while people are exploring something like Shipwreck City, they're not on the reefs, which gives the reefs a rest."

Cousteau is never happier than when he is talking about the life beneath the waves. "We still know very little about the oceans," he says, "but we do know that they provide us with essential compounds which are used to fight disease." "I find my serenity down there. I recharge my batteries. I can be having the most stressful time but down there I relax - it's ten times better than seeing a shrink." And, its probably cheaper. Hopefully, the work of organizations like the Cayman Islands government and British Columbia Artificial Reef Society - which is also involved in this project - will help to keep the reefs safe so that explorers and stressed out tourists can enjoy them for generations to come.

Update Feb. 2002:

The first ship was to be sunk in conjunction with a major tourism event early this year titled "Celebration of the Seas." Due to economic setbacks within the dive industry in the Caribbean, the organizers have had to cancel the event, which was to take place January 19-26, 2002. Speaking to Nancy Romanica, Project Manager for Shipwreck City, this author has discovered that the Cayman Islands is presently in negotiation with another government for purchase of a different ship than that earlier planned. Hopefully, the Shipwreck City project will continue despite the lack of public presentation as soon as possible.

Sources:

• Hello! Magazine http://www.hellomagazine.com/2001/11/01/cousteau/# (url dead 10/06/05)
• Yahoo! Sports Outdoors Wednesday September 26, 2001
• "Cayman Islands to Create Shipwreck City" from http://www.scubadiving.com/feature/news/90701shipwreckcity.shtml (article gone 8/24/04)
• 2001 Cayman Islands Department of Tourism Cancellation Notice from http://www.divecayman.ky/islands/events.asp (url dead 03/09/08)
• Dive New Zealand: Latest News 12 December 2001 from http://www.divenewzealand.com/news.html (url dead 10/06/05)
• The Independent 10 October 2001 "Cousteau creates ocean park from scrap metal" by Chris Gray from http://www.millennium-debate.org/index.html
• Project Yukon Home Page at http://www.hmcs-yukon.org/ (url dead 10/06/05)
• The Diving Locker at http://www.divinglocker.com/yukonpage1.html (url dead 8/24/04)

Special Thanks to:

• Elizabeth M. Lukan Fish 'N' Chips Newsletter (http://www.marinefiends.com/ (updated 8/24/04) for her help in identifying sources of this article.
• Nancy Romanica, Project Manager for Shipwreck City for providing an update on the progress of the project.

Editor's Comments:
The above article was written by Joe Anderson, President of the Oklahoma City Aquarium Association. The article was originally published in the March/April 2002 issue of Tank Talk, their official publication. You can find the Oklahoma City Aquarium Association at http://www.okcaa.aquariumsociety.com (url dead 10/06/05). My editing was limited to spelling, grammar and putting the article into the Fish 'N' Chips format.

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What's Up @ Reefs UK
- http://www.reefsuk.org -
By Elizabeth M. Lukan 8/23/02

8/5/02:

• A new article, "Reef Regeneration" by Brian Windibank is now available on the Reefs UK website. The article explains the efforts to regenerate the reefs around Tioman.
• The Marine Conservation Society has asked Reefs UK to inform you of a survey they are undertaking about the life span of ornamental fish and invertebrates and the difficulty of keeping such species. For more information, please visit the Marine Conservation Society website at http://www.mcsuk.org.
• Cellpharm (http://www.cellpharm.co.uk/ (url dead 10/06/05)) sponsored Reefs UK by providing several aquaculture products to assist in their attempts to raise Hippocampus reidi seahorses. The use of these products allowed them to raise their first batch to 80 days. Reefs UK is now confident they can raise the seahorses to adulthood.

To join the Reefs UK Mailing List or the Reefs UK Chat (Email Discussion Group),
visit the Reefs UK Website for instructions.

Editor's Comments:
Information in this section covers the latest happenings at Mark T. Taber's Reefs UK Web Site. Mark has given me permission to publish any information from his mailing list that I feel would be of interest to Fish 'N' Chips subscribers. So, the above, although reworded by me, should be credited to Mark or to Derek Scales who works closely with Mark on the running of Reefs UK. The dates in bold coincide with Mark or Derek's mailings and are provided as a reference.

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Caught In The Net
By Elizabeth M. Lukan 8/23/02

New Stuff Found

On Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine (http://www.advancedaquarist.com/:

• Volume 1, Issue 8, August 2002 is now available.

On Reefs.org (http://www.reefs.org/):

• Article: "Sea Pens" by Rob Toonen
• Article: "Treating Those Darn Dinoflagellates" by Todd Crail
• Article: "Turbo Snail Problems and Acclimatization" by Various Authors
• Talk: "'Memoirs' of a Clam Farmer" by Phil Dor on 7/28/02

Marine Aquarium Council Update

I'm late again on updating you on MAC. Below are the highlights from the 4th Quarter 2001. I've got two more updates coming so look for them in the next couple of issues (I hope).

• The Marine Aquarium Council redesigned and upgraded its website.
• During the 2nd Annual International Marine Ornamentals Conference in Orlando, Florida on 11/27/01:
  • The MAC Certification system was publicly launched.
  • The MAC Certification label was unveiled. The label will allow consumers to identify certified facilities and organisms by looking for the label on store windows and retail aquarium tanks.
  • University of Florida researchers presented their study on the value and demand for MAC Certification. More than half of the 40 firms in the study were very or moderately familiar with the MAC certification program. And, 77 percent of the firms were very or somewhat likely to use MAC Certification in 2002.
  • Martin Moe, of Green Turtle Publications, presented the results of a recent marine ornamentals survey of marine aquarium hobbyists. 80 percent of the hobbyists surveyed strongly support the efforts of organizations such as MAC.
  • MAC staff provided updates on and explanations of the MAC Certification system.
  • MAC staff summarized plans for educating consumers and other stakeholders in countries that import marine ornamentals.
  • MAC staff reviewed progress in introducing MAC Certification and adoption of the MAC Standards in the Philippines, Indonesia, and the South Pacific.
  • MAC partners discussed progress with the Global Marine Aquarium Database.
  • MAC partners discussed monitoring protocols for MAC Certified collection areas.
  • MAC partners discussed the importance of MAC Certification to public aquaria.
• The MAC board of directors approved the MAC Core Standards on 11/27/01. The Standards Committee will adjust them based on feedback from their initial implementation.
• The following new officers were elected on 11/27/01:
  • Chair, President and Treasurer: Bruce Bunting, World Wildlife Fund US
  • Vice President (Industry): Lolita Ty, Philippine Tropical Fish Export Association
  • Vice President (Conservation): Frank Vorhies, IUCN Business & Biodiversity Initiative
  • Secretary: Keith Davenport, Ornamental Aquatic Trade Association
• The International Marinelife Alliance in November 2001 completed an eight-month partnership project with MAC. The project investigated the feasibility of implementing the MAC Certification system in the Philippines and involved 339 collectors at 18 collection sites. Collectors from seven sites were able to deliver marine aquarium organisms conforming to the MAC Collection, Fishing and Holding Core Standard.
• MAC will work with government, non-government and industry partners in 2002 to train additional collectors in Asia, the Pacific and elsewhere to be able to conform to the MAC Standards.
• The final step before system launching:
  • In early November 2001, five international certification companies tested the MAC Certification system. They needed to ensure that the MAC Certification system was effective throughout the supply chain.
  • The companies used the MAC Core Standards and Best Practice Guidance documents to analyze the operations of 18 companies in the Philippines, US, UK, and Netherlands.
  • The two UK wholesalers account for the majority of the UK’s importing capacity for marine aquarium organisms.
  • The certifiers determined that the MAC Certification system is sufficient to evaluate collection areas, resource management, and industry operators throughout the chain of custody.
• Statements of Commitment & Support:
  • Forty-five companies in nine countries have signed Statements of Commitment to become MAC Certified as soon as possible. This includes 17 wholesalers in the US who account for 35 to 40 percent of the US importing capacity.
  • Statements of support have also arrived from major industry associations, including Ornamental Fish International, the Indonesia Coral, Shell and Ornamental Fish Association (AKKI), and the Philippines Tropical Fish Export Association.
  • A list of the committed companies as well the MAC statement of commitment can be found on the MAC website.
• Global Marine Aquarium Database:
  • The UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) has announced that the Global Marine Aquarium Database on the trade in aquarium species is available at http://www.unep-wcmc.org/marine/GMAD/.
  • Approximately 50,000 records of trade in live aquarium species are in the database. These records can be queried geographically (e.g., the number of fish exported from the western Pacific to North America) and taxonomically (e.g., the top 10 most traded families of invertebrates in global trade).
  • Data collection is ongoing and the database is continuously being updated.
  • The release of the next version is scheduled for April 2002.
  • UNEP-WCMC would appreciate your comments on the website.
• In November 2001, after about two years, KLM reopened the shipment of wild-caught marine fish and invertebrates. The suspension of the embargo is contingent upon KLM shippers in select countries agreeing to adhere to criteria for quality and sustainability, which are derived primarily from the MAC Standards.

Remember to visit the MAC website at http://www.aquariumcouncil.org/ for more information and to subscribe to the newsletter.

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Marine News
By Elizabeth M. Lukan 8/23/02

8/5/02 - Texas, US: A Texas oceanographer is developing a system of ocean buoys that could provide an early warning of algae blooms in the Gulf of Mexico. The entire news release can be found at http://ens-news.com/ens/aug2002/2002-08-05-09.asp#anchor3 (url dead 8/24/04).

8/9/02 - DC, US: A new study shows that since the early 1980s, ocean phytoplankton concentrations that drive the marine food chain have declined in many areas of open water in northern oceans. The entire news release can be found at http://ens-news.com/ens/aug2002/2002-08-09-09.asp#anchor5 (url dead 8/24/04).

8/14/02 - DC, US: A new report from the Pew Center on Global Climate Change warns that climate change will create increasing challenges to U.S. coastal and marine ecosystems over the next century. Temperature changes, altered patterns of rain and snowfall, and rising sea levels are expected to upset the delicate balance of fragile coastal ecosystems. The entire news release can be found at http://ens-news.com/ens/aug2002/2002-08-14-06.asp (url dead 8/24/04).

8/15/02 - Texas, US: DNA evidence may help Texas researchers predict future red tides. The entire news release can be found at http://ens-news.com/ens/aug2002/2002-08-15-09.asp#anchor6 (url dead 8/24/04).

8/20/02 - Georgia, US: Eternal Reefs, Inc., an Atlanta company, offers an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional burials - adding ashes to artificial reefs. The entire news release can be found at http://ens-news.com/ens/aug2002/2002-08-20-09.asp#anchor8 (url dead 8/24/04).

8/21/02 - Oregon, US: Marine zoologists at Oregon State University state that the preservation of biodiversity is an absolute necessity to keep marine ecosystems healthy and prevent local or regional extinction of multiple species. The newly published study was done on coral reefs in the Bahamas, where the scientists were able to isolate some reefs and selectively remove certain fish, and their competitors or predators, to observe the effect. They found that overfishing of any one species, especially predator species, can have ripple effects that destabilize the whole fishery. The entire news release can be found at http://ens-news.com/ens/aug2002/2002-08-21-03.asp (url dead 8/24/04).

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Chips...er...Tips
Reef Maintenance Schedule
By David Brough 4/22/02
Edited By Elizabeth M. Lukan 8/23/02

There has been a lot written about maintenance in a reef tank. Of course the different filtration methods require slightly different maintenance but in general there are certain guidelines which can be followed for any reef. I am going to break the maintenance into daily, weekly, and monthly tasks as I have seen done in many other texts.

Daily:
Check for deceased animals and remove them. Notice any leaks or other obvious problems with the aquarium or the plumbing. Also observe the health of the inhabitants and note any sudden changes in coloration or behavior. This can be an early warning sign of impending problems. Also provide top-off water (replace water that has evaporated) if the aquarium is smaller and/or once a week is not often enough due to large water loss.

Weekly:
Check all chemical levels and adjust if necessary. These should include: salt, calcium, carbonate hardness, strontium, iodine. Also check for nitrates and phosphates and note any changes. Water changes of 2-5 percent can be done weekly. If you have a protein skimmer, this should be cleaned and serviced.

Monthly: Change any carbon or other resins (nitrate or phosphate removers). If not done weekly, water changes of 5-20 percent can be done monthly.

Editor's Comments:
The above tip was taken from David Brough's Exotic Tropicals site. David gave me permission to include information and articles from his site as I needed. The above is part of David's "Mini Reef Aquarium Basics" article. Thanks Dave for coming through yet again! You can visit Exotic Tropicals at http://animal-world.com/ (url updated 03/09/08, originally http://www.exotictropicals.com/).

To Submit Your Tip: Send your tip via email to fishnchips@mindspring.com (visit http://www.marinefiends.com/submit.html - updated 10/12/05) and I'll publish it in an upcoming issue of Fish 'N' Chips. I'll write it up for you or you can do it yourself if you are so inclined. Make sure you let me know if I can include your name and email address or if you'd rather go anonymous.

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Upcoming Events
By Elizabeth M. Lukan 8/23/02

To Submit Your Event: Send your event and all the specifics (date, time, location, pricing, contact info, etc.) via email to fishnchips@mindspring.com (visit http://www.marinefiends.com/submit.html - updated 10/12/05) and I'll publish it in all issues of Fish 'N' Chips prior to the event.

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Prove It!, a Bibliography
By Elizabeth M. Lukan 8/23/02

Article: From Liz Recall Notice

• The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Subscription List (http://www.cpsc.gov)

Article: Marine News

• Environment News Service, http://ens-news.com/

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