Thought many of you might find this interesting,, a letter that
concerns allot of us. Well worth the read and any letters sent would be
really appreciated.
cheers
Many of you will re-call that the Ornamental Fish Management Implementation Group (OFMIG) are currently looking at placing severe restrictive bans and controls on huge numbers of fish from the Grey List (which is a list of several hundred species of fish currently in Australia that are being bred, kept and sold all over Australia by aquarists) on unfounded, ill conceived scientific data, that does not stand up to scrutiny, as to their suitability for all aquarists who keep, breed, and sell these species throughout Australia. Some of the species they will be looking at this next meeting in June 2010 are as follows. Cichla monoculus, Cichla ocellaris, Cichla temensis, all Crenicichla species, Parachromis dovii (wolf cichlid), Parachromis managuensis (jaguar cichlid), Petenia splendita ( Bay Snooks), all Lepisosteus (spotted) garfish species, Osteoglossum (silver arowana) species, Scleropages formosus (Asian Arowana species) Leiarius catfish species, all Polypterus (Bichir) species, all Potomotrygon (freshwater stingray) species, all Ompok catfish species, all Ctenopoma (leopard bushfish) species, and hundreds of Astyanax species (which are huge number of Tetra species), from a list of some 315 species this time, just to name a few.
Next time it will be Caquetaia umbrifferum cichlid, Chitala blanci and Chitala ornate (the Clown Knifefish species) Perrunichthys perruno and Leiarius marmoratus catfish species, Arapaima gigas, Tiger shovelnose catfish, Redtail Catfish, Fire and Tyre Track eels, Sorubim lima catfish, Red Devils cichlids, Texas and Cichlasoma uropthalmus species just to name a few. So they will begin getting into the species we all keep.
OFMIG has a technical working group (TWG) that employs a dubious Risk Assessment (R.A.) protocol that is being used to give all species a number after passing through this R.A. and any species that accumulates a number higher than 12 will be subjected to more stringent protocols as to their acceptance for trade, breeding etc, and that will include almost 80% of all species currently in Australia, and will all of the above mentioned species.
Many, many, many of these species could end up being placed onto a NOXIOUS list, if TWG and OFMIG get their way, which means you cannot keep, breed, or sell any species listed as NOXIOUS, anywhere in Australia, with huge fines for those people caught doing so, OR, they could be placed onto a permit system, that is yet to be fully investigated or accepted and approved by OFMIG and/or all State Fisheries jurisdictions, many of which do not have funds or personnel to implement such a permit system.
The TWG as part of their R.A. are using a precautionary principle for all species (which means if not enough information is available on any species it will attract a 2.1 number) which in a huge number of cases the fish we all keep, breed, and sell will put them over the number 12 limit, simply because of this 2.1 listing, and therein some form of control option will be placed upon those species.
FOR THE RECORD, THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE DOES NOT APPLY TO ANY AQUACULTURE SPECIES EG, TROUT, REDFIN PERCH, JUNGLE PERCH, MANGROVE JACKS ETC, so why should it be levied onto the Aquarium Industry species??
As you may also know OFMIG sacked me from their group as I distributed information to hobbyists and retailers/wholesalers on various restrictive measures and control options being placed upon species we all keep, breed, and sell way back in October 2008, in order to get :feedback from all of you on these measures and control options, otherwise you would all not have been aware of what OFMIG were going to do with the species of fish we all keep. OFMIG stated it was confidential, which was a load of rubbish, as all other Industry people also distributed this same information, but were not sacked for having done so. My sacking was because I am NOT a YES person that the OFMIG require to get their proposals and options accepted. It is as simple as that!
The new chairman Dr. Doroudi stated in a letter to me dated 27.4.10 that the decision by the previous chair to sack me will stand, but in the same letter he stated my expertise and participation in another area would be welcomed, and I was led to believe from a discussion had by Anthony Ramsey and Dr. Doroudi that I would be invited to participate on the TWG. However, as of 14.5.10 in an email to Anthony Ramsey from the OFMIG Secretariat, Anthony was told I will not be invited to attend TWG meetings. THEY DID NOT EVEN CONTACT ME DIRECTLY!
This means that all the Cichlid Societies (the NSW Cichlid Society, the Illawarra Cichlid Society, and the Victorian Cichlid Society and hundreds of other retailers and hobbyists all around Australia) will no longer have a voice at the TWG or OFMIG meetings again, because they want to have people that will be agreeable to all the restrictions and control options being levied on all species we keep, sell, and breed, rather than to object to these measures and options being implemented unscientifically to the species currently held in Australia.
I have written to the Minister/s involved asking for the verbal commitment by Dr. Doroudi to Anthony Ramsey be honoured, and that I be asked to participate in TWG meetings to ensure all hobbyists around Australia have a say in what happens to the species they keep. I am awaiting a reply from the Ministers involved.
Meanwhile, I have drafted a letter that should be sent to the Minister and OFMIG personnel involved in order for me to be able to represent your interest at TWG meetings, when it comes to discussing all the fish species you keep. A letter on your own letterhead if possible, PLUS an email should be sent, as only these forms of communication are acceptable and considered by Government Ministers and their personnel. In October 2008 I am reliably informed that some 160 letters and quite a number of emails and telephone calls were sent in and this tended to upset their Ministers no end. This time we are far more advanced in knowing what will be happening this time around. It will be up to every person who gets or views or receives this communication to act immediately and send off your email AND letter to the following people below. We need several thousand people to send these letters and emails, otherwise they WILL implement their measures without any aquarists having their say, as I will not be there, so it is now up to all of you to prevent this from occurring.
The letter to these people is as follows;
For the attention of:
Mr. Tony Burke MP, Minister for DAFF, P.O.Box 6022, Parliament House,
Canberra. ACT. 2600 email address is Tony.Burke.MP@aph.gov.au
Fax No. (02) 62725161
Mr. Peter Garrett MP, Minister for DEWHA, P.O.Box 6022, Parliament House,
Canberra. ACT. 2600 email address is Peter.Garrett.MP@aph.gov.au
Dr. Mehdi Doroudi , Chairman OFMIG. C/- Pirsa Aquaculture, G.P.O.Box 1625
Adelaide. S.A. 5001. email address is Mehdi.Doroudi@sa.gov.au
Fax No. (08) 82260330
Heidi Allaway, Secretariat OFMIG. C/- Pirsa Aquaculture, G.P.O.Box 1625,
Adelaide. S.A. 5001. email address is Heidi.Alleway@sa.gov.au
Fax No. (08) 82260330
Australian National Noxious List.
Dear Sirs,
It has been brought to my attention that your Department/s intend to upgrade many of the fish species currently on the National Grey List to the category of Noxious and I wish to object very strongly and oppose such actions.
I am alarmed that this intension was only made known to a few Industry people around October 2008, and it is proposed to be implemented in Tranches by State Fisheries Departments very soon. I also note that to date that consultation which have occurred has mainly been with parties such as Industry wholesalers who are largely unaffected by these proposals, and you seriously need to be made aware of the very large number of retailers, hobbyists and members of aquarium societies who will be adversely affected by these measures from unsubstantiated science that does not stand up to scrutiny.
Unlike the current Noxious list, the proposed extension may include many widely owned aquarium species, some of which have never caused problems in Australia and have been here for decades, and many of the most prized and valuable specimens in the hobby today, eg, Redtail Catfish, Arowanas etc. Other fish like African and American cichlids and other interesting fish form the heart of the collections of many serious aquarists. Many hobbyists have invested considerable time and finances in their hobby, which your proposals would wipe out overnight, and make criminals of them, with heavy fines applying if owning such fish.
Any re-categorisation should be on a species by species basis, based on valid scientific rationale and not on ad-hoc measures. It is critical that my interests and those of other hobbyists are represented by having Norm Halliwell present at the TWG meetings as a hobby representative and be directly involved in this process, so that the process is transparent and widely consulted rather than just an arbitrary subjective departmental opinion. Many of the species under consideration could not survive and/or reproduce in our waterways due to temperature, water chemistry and huge predators that already exist in our waterways.
There is far more damage being done to the environment by the translocation of native and non-native species than any of our ornamental fish ( see paper by Damian Burrows called Translocated Fishes in streams of the Wet Tropics regions, Nth Qld Distribution and Potential Impacts in Rain Forrests areas. In CRC Feb.2004).
Far from protecting our environment the proposals and control options your Departments intend to implement will have the direct opposite affect. Regrettably it will spawn a black market and the fish which are todays treasured pets are likely to be released into waterways, in an organized manner, rather than by hobbyists destroying the species in their possession simply because you say so.
Federal and State Governments will have to police these laws and right now they do not have sufficient personnel to prevent species entering Australia illegally, let alone be able to employ more staff with adequate knowledge of species already in Australia. Certainly there are species that do need attention, but there are many that do not, and thoughts also need to be given to those species and the hobbyists like myself that keep, breed, and sell these species.
I urge you to take a far more considered, balanced, and informed approach to this issue and allow Norm Halliwell to represent my interests and that of other hobbyists on all TWG meetings. Please reply to this communication as soon as possible.
References:
Damian Burrows, Translocated Fishes in Streams of the Wet Tropics regions, Nth Qld Distribution and Potential Impacts in Rain Forrests areas. In CRC, Feb. 2004
Yours Sincerely,
Signed:
Dated:
concerns allot of us. Well worth the read and any letters sent would be
really appreciated.
cheers
Many of you will re-call that the Ornamental Fish Management Implementation Group (OFMIG) are currently looking at placing severe restrictive bans and controls on huge numbers of fish from the Grey List (which is a list of several hundred species of fish currently in Australia that are being bred, kept and sold all over Australia by aquarists) on unfounded, ill conceived scientific data, that does not stand up to scrutiny, as to their suitability for all aquarists who keep, breed, and sell these species throughout Australia. Some of the species they will be looking at this next meeting in June 2010 are as follows. Cichla monoculus, Cichla ocellaris, Cichla temensis, all Crenicichla species, Parachromis dovii (wolf cichlid), Parachromis managuensis (jaguar cichlid), Petenia splendita ( Bay Snooks), all Lepisosteus (spotted) garfish species, Osteoglossum (silver arowana) species, Scleropages formosus (Asian Arowana species) Leiarius catfish species, all Polypterus (Bichir) species, all Potomotrygon (freshwater stingray) species, all Ompok catfish species, all Ctenopoma (leopard bushfish) species, and hundreds of Astyanax species (which are huge number of Tetra species), from a list of some 315 species this time, just to name a few.
Next time it will be Caquetaia umbrifferum cichlid, Chitala blanci and Chitala ornate (the Clown Knifefish species) Perrunichthys perruno and Leiarius marmoratus catfish species, Arapaima gigas, Tiger shovelnose catfish, Redtail Catfish, Fire and Tyre Track eels, Sorubim lima catfish, Red Devils cichlids, Texas and Cichlasoma uropthalmus species just to name a few. So they will begin getting into the species we all keep.
OFMIG has a technical working group (TWG) that employs a dubious Risk Assessment (R.A.) protocol that is being used to give all species a number after passing through this R.A. and any species that accumulates a number higher than 12 will be subjected to more stringent protocols as to their acceptance for trade, breeding etc, and that will include almost 80% of all species currently in Australia, and will all of the above mentioned species.
Many, many, many of these species could end up being placed onto a NOXIOUS list, if TWG and OFMIG get their way, which means you cannot keep, breed, or sell any species listed as NOXIOUS, anywhere in Australia, with huge fines for those people caught doing so, OR, they could be placed onto a permit system, that is yet to be fully investigated or accepted and approved by OFMIG and/or all State Fisheries jurisdictions, many of which do not have funds or personnel to implement such a permit system.
The TWG as part of their R.A. are using a precautionary principle for all species (which means if not enough information is available on any species it will attract a 2.1 number) which in a huge number of cases the fish we all keep, breed, and sell will put them over the number 12 limit, simply because of this 2.1 listing, and therein some form of control option will be placed upon those species.
FOR THE RECORD, THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE DOES NOT APPLY TO ANY AQUACULTURE SPECIES EG, TROUT, REDFIN PERCH, JUNGLE PERCH, MANGROVE JACKS ETC, so why should it be levied onto the Aquarium Industry species??
As you may also know OFMIG sacked me from their group as I distributed information to hobbyists and retailers/wholesalers on various restrictive measures and control options being placed upon species we all keep, breed, and sell way back in October 2008, in order to get :feedback from all of you on these measures and control options, otherwise you would all not have been aware of what OFMIG were going to do with the species of fish we all keep. OFMIG stated it was confidential, which was a load of rubbish, as all other Industry people also distributed this same information, but were not sacked for having done so. My sacking was because I am NOT a YES person that the OFMIG require to get their proposals and options accepted. It is as simple as that!
The new chairman Dr. Doroudi stated in a letter to me dated 27.4.10 that the decision by the previous chair to sack me will stand, but in the same letter he stated my expertise and participation in another area would be welcomed, and I was led to believe from a discussion had by Anthony Ramsey and Dr. Doroudi that I would be invited to participate on the TWG. However, as of 14.5.10 in an email to Anthony Ramsey from the OFMIG Secretariat, Anthony was told I will not be invited to attend TWG meetings. THEY DID NOT EVEN CONTACT ME DIRECTLY!
This means that all the Cichlid Societies (the NSW Cichlid Society, the Illawarra Cichlid Society, and the Victorian Cichlid Society and hundreds of other retailers and hobbyists all around Australia) will no longer have a voice at the TWG or OFMIG meetings again, because they want to have people that will be agreeable to all the restrictions and control options being levied on all species we keep, sell, and breed, rather than to object to these measures and options being implemented unscientifically to the species currently held in Australia.
I have written to the Minister/s involved asking for the verbal commitment by Dr. Doroudi to Anthony Ramsey be honoured, and that I be asked to participate in TWG meetings to ensure all hobbyists around Australia have a say in what happens to the species they keep. I am awaiting a reply from the Ministers involved.
Meanwhile, I have drafted a letter that should be sent to the Minister and OFMIG personnel involved in order for me to be able to represent your interest at TWG meetings, when it comes to discussing all the fish species you keep. A letter on your own letterhead if possible, PLUS an email should be sent, as only these forms of communication are acceptable and considered by Government Ministers and their personnel. In October 2008 I am reliably informed that some 160 letters and quite a number of emails and telephone calls were sent in and this tended to upset their Ministers no end. This time we are far more advanced in knowing what will be happening this time around. It will be up to every person who gets or views or receives this communication to act immediately and send off your email AND letter to the following people below. We need several thousand people to send these letters and emails, otherwise they WILL implement their measures without any aquarists having their say, as I will not be there, so it is now up to all of you to prevent this from occurring.
The letter to these people is as follows;
For the attention of:
Mr. Tony Burke MP, Minister for DAFF, P.O.Box 6022, Parliament House,
Canberra. ACT. 2600 email address is Tony.Burke.MP@aph.gov.au
Fax No. (02) 62725161
Mr. Peter Garrett MP, Minister for DEWHA, P.O.Box 6022, Parliament House,
Canberra. ACT. 2600 email address is Peter.Garrett.MP@aph.gov.au
Dr. Mehdi Doroudi , Chairman OFMIG. C/- Pirsa Aquaculture, G.P.O.Box 1625
Adelaide. S.A. 5001. email address is Mehdi.Doroudi@sa.gov.au
Fax No. (08) 82260330
Heidi Allaway, Secretariat OFMIG. C/- Pirsa Aquaculture, G.P.O.Box 1625,
Adelaide. S.A. 5001. email address is Heidi.Alleway@sa.gov.au
Fax No. (08) 82260330
Australian National Noxious List.
Dear Sirs,
It has been brought to my attention that your Department/s intend to upgrade many of the fish species currently on the National Grey List to the category of Noxious and I wish to object very strongly and oppose such actions.
I am alarmed that this intension was only made known to a few Industry people around October 2008, and it is proposed to be implemented in Tranches by State Fisheries Departments very soon. I also note that to date that consultation which have occurred has mainly been with parties such as Industry wholesalers who are largely unaffected by these proposals, and you seriously need to be made aware of the very large number of retailers, hobbyists and members of aquarium societies who will be adversely affected by these measures from unsubstantiated science that does not stand up to scrutiny.
Unlike the current Noxious list, the proposed extension may include many widely owned aquarium species, some of which have never caused problems in Australia and have been here for decades, and many of the most prized and valuable specimens in the hobby today, eg, Redtail Catfish, Arowanas etc. Other fish like African and American cichlids and other interesting fish form the heart of the collections of many serious aquarists. Many hobbyists have invested considerable time and finances in their hobby, which your proposals would wipe out overnight, and make criminals of them, with heavy fines applying if owning such fish.
Any re-categorisation should be on a species by species basis, based on valid scientific rationale and not on ad-hoc measures. It is critical that my interests and those of other hobbyists are represented by having Norm Halliwell present at the TWG meetings as a hobby representative and be directly involved in this process, so that the process is transparent and widely consulted rather than just an arbitrary subjective departmental opinion. Many of the species under consideration could not survive and/or reproduce in our waterways due to temperature, water chemistry and huge predators that already exist in our waterways.
There is far more damage being done to the environment by the translocation of native and non-native species than any of our ornamental fish ( see paper by Damian Burrows called Translocated Fishes in streams of the Wet Tropics regions, Nth Qld Distribution and Potential Impacts in Rain Forrests areas. In CRC Feb.2004).
Far from protecting our environment the proposals and control options your Departments intend to implement will have the direct opposite affect. Regrettably it will spawn a black market and the fish which are todays treasured pets are likely to be released into waterways, in an organized manner, rather than by hobbyists destroying the species in their possession simply because you say so.
Federal and State Governments will have to police these laws and right now they do not have sufficient personnel to prevent species entering Australia illegally, let alone be able to employ more staff with adequate knowledge of species already in Australia. Certainly there are species that do need attention, but there are many that do not, and thoughts also need to be given to those species and the hobbyists like myself that keep, breed, and sell these species.
I urge you to take a far more considered, balanced, and informed approach to this issue and allow Norm Halliwell to represent my interests and that of other hobbyists on all TWG meetings. Please reply to this communication as soon as possible.
References:
Damian Burrows, Translocated Fishes in Streams of the Wet Tropics regions, Nth Qld Distribution and Potential Impacts in Rain Forrests areas. In CRC, Feb. 2004
Yours Sincerely,
Signed:
Dated:
