Wow, first off what a remarkable show you guys! The vendors are happy, sales are bangin, and people are exchanging information and ideas. At every table, in every isle there is a fellow reefer who has as much experience and dedication as I do, and everyone is receptive to casual (and not so casual) "fish talk." In fact, the talks I've had today have caused me great pause and reflection. But before throwing down the philosophical quandary of topics running through my mind, let me first begin by providing a chronicle of my journey today.
I began like everybody, overwhelmed with the gadgets and corals for sale and the immense size of the show room floor. This was utter paradise, although I was privy to the fact that Brad Raymer was there. I've been locked in a campaign against his show "Tanked" for a couple of weeks now, but moreover locked in a contemplation of our effect and responsibilities to our animals and to wild reefs. This notion set a precedence for my whole day. I said to myself, "I'm just going to go and have a good time and set that all aside," after all, I didn't want to get kicked out of MACNA! More on this later though. What I'd been waiting all year for, was to meet J.E.N. (Charlie) Veron.
I met up with a friend and colleague of mine, fellow GIRS member Matt Tibbs who is working on his pH.D (haha get it pH instead of Ph?) at the University of Iowa in the Department of Geosciences. Matt studies genetic variation between corals actually, and has access to a number laboratory equipment; sequencers, microscopes, computer programs, and such. Could there be a more appropriate friend to enjoy Veron's talk with?! The talk was about Reticulate Evolution, a complex new paradigm for the foundation evolutionary biology somewhat in contrary to Darwinian notions of gene flow mechanisms and the idea of "speciation." In any case, we approached Charlie after his talk and a number of us had the opportunity to chat and ask questions. I was surprised throughout the day, that not everybody I talked to was aware of the gravity of Dr. Verons work and experience. This is a man who began at the Australian Institute of Marine Science in the mid sixties with a background Ph.D in biology, and for 35 years officially, and now many more unofficially, witnessed first hand the decline of wild reefs day by day for a number of decades!!!
When we spoke with Charlie, he evoked the obligatory doctrine that reefs are dying and facing enormous, insurmountable perils throughout the world. By his and other estimates, most reefs have declined by 70% or more in the last 30 years, and that rate only seems to be accelerating. Pause: We hear this figure all the time...what does a reef declining by 70% mean? Imagine you had 10 large acropora colonies filling you 120 gallon tank, and remove 7 of them due to disease, bleaching, breaking, and wasting. Now what kind of condition do you imagine the remaining 3 to be in? Where do you're 15 fish sleep at night now? This all leads to stress. Stress of the fish communities, the coral communities. What's left is a deposition of dead coral skeletons, a rich substrate for bryopsis and the like, cyano perhaps, and then things start getting pretty hairy (literally) for the remaining corals. How many of you would throw in the towel after an episode like this? How many of you would try to improve your water quality or remove pests like acropora eating flat worms after an event like this? At this point, we have those two options; 1.) tell our children and the indigenous island communities that rely on reef fish as a primary source of food, that we quit. Meh, we're done with coral reefs, it was fun for a while, but now were into video games and fast cars, haha, hobbies you know?...!?!?!?! 2.) make the epic, important changes in environmental, political, industrial, and social policies to reduce ocean acidification, sedimentation, pollution, and over exploitation by drastically changing energy use and production, ending mangrove destruction and coastal development, address agricultural and industrial pollution, and setting effective and realistic limits on harvesting food species. It's a massive burden, almost impossible, but will we just wait until there's so much suffering, death, loss, and destruction that we just can't ignore it anymore? This is a call to action.
Charlie also recalled a talk he gave to climate scientists while he was working on or nearing the end of his book A Reef in Time: The Great Barrier Reef From Beginning to End. He said the precedence was that it was a new piece of work and that if anybody had something contrary to say, or wanted to point out anything he had missed or not made clear enough, that they should say so. After the lecture he had a discussion at length with a man he recalls as being quite brilliant and well versed in climate science. Charlie asked him, "you know, I'm sorry who are you again?" The man reveals that he's an executive for Exxon and edits climate talks for politicians, "W" to be exact. Charlie though, how could this guy possibly live with himself, with the deceit and manipulation of facts in the face of it all. Naturally, a seven figure salary dispelled all wonder.
So...what does all of this say about us? At what point do these thoughts begin reverberating at a frequency as to cause an echo, such that we might hear ourselves, inventory our thoughts, and buy or sell that stock (to the highest bidder)? What are the implications of all this, what are the consequences, and who among us is capable of addressing these things with honesty and integrity? I know it's time for me to.
I had an opportunity to address Brett Raymer at the end of the day. I've been moderating a boycott group on Facebook, writing emails to ATM, Discovery Network, and Animal Planet, as well as calling the Discovery Network and posting on public forum discussions. I've had a lot to say in the last few weeks about Tanked. If I could sum it up, this is pretty much the core of it;
"Please join me in boycotting the show "Tanked." The program is a reality TV show about Acrylic Tank Acrylic Tank Manufacturing in Las Vegas. This company panders to the needs of wealthy folks who see marine aquariums as a novelty, and not as a responsibility. It's important for the PR of our hobby and skills that this show is not allowed to proceed. Activists will see this show for what it is, a perversion of nature, and assume that marine aquarists everywhere are this farcical and trifling.
Our hobby already stands at a segway between environmental degradation and pending legislation put forth by humanitarians who detest our activities. It's important that we draw the line here and show the world that we stand as stewards of our livestock and share common ground with those who protest our industry. This is an opportunity to show that we care, maintain, obsess, and respect our livestock in a capacity that is far beyond a novelty. This is a life style, this is a responsibility, this is an obsession, and our community of like-minded individuals are the majority of keepers out there, and we deserve access to these animals because WE truly care. "
I was running around the show room floor taking last minute pictures of booths when I passed by Mark Vera and Brett, I don't think I even saw either one of them, but I heard a tone in Marks voice, and I felt something in the air. I stopped and backed up. They were talking exactly about this very thing in a sort of way, what responsibilities does Brett have as the face of the aquarium industry to the masses? In hindsight, I was too understanding and reasonable with the guy, but I'm not a fighter, I'm an intellectual, and this guy could have taken me! But I threw down anyways, or rather chimed in. Things got pretty hot fast between Mark and Brett, so I switched rolls to moderate the exchange. I was even sympathetic to Bretts disposition, as a business man, having little creative control over the show. Brett put the responsibility of new aquarists on retailers all over the United States, which in a lot of ways is reasonable, but unfortunately not pragmatic since as we know not all LFS's are that great...most aren't. But let's face it clients are manipulative too, some of them are just goddamn determined to kills something! I asked Brett to address these grievances in the upcoming season, and make a show that we can enjoy too!!! He agreed to that in uncertain terms. I later learned that Brett has agreed to make improvements to the Central Campus marine biology lab which I think is fantastic! Anyways, we all made nice and went on our way. I think Mark was a little peeved at me for being too jovial with Raymer, I just didn't want to see anything get out of hand. I sincerely hope Brett will make changes that we can all embrace, that makes us proud of our work, our dedication, and our hobby. MACNA is OUR event.
At dinner I had an exchange with some friends, and I began to "digest" the day. David Hannah was speaking, I couldn't hear him. People were talking and the sound system wasn't loud enough, I was pretty disappointed. But I tried to hear what he had to say anyhow. The summation of the speech was that he believed in the power of aquariums to bring conservation and political will to the masses. Strange, I though. In a room full of people who are being rude and basically ignoring you, you have faith in us as stewards of our animals and as messengers of the plight of the reefs (and indeed the worlds oceans). And it hit me, it all goes back to what Charlie was saying about the Exxon executive, and I wondered, "is this moral bankruptcy?" Raymers objectives are purely economic, and fail to observe the long view, what impact does this have on wild reefs? What impact will new hobbyists have? What impact do we already have...really? What condition are wild reefs in now and will there continue to be an aquarium industry in 15 or 20 years anyways? Disturbingly, for a moment I allotted an economic explanation.....excuse, to justify the actions of a guy that makes 7 figures a year. Somewhere between fiscal responsibility and moral responsibility a line must be drawn. Brett Raymer and his clients are the guys driving Humvees, building coastal developments, using wayy to much fertilizer on their lawns, and maintaining the status quo that is destroying our planet.
Right there! It all comes full circle and nothing could be clearer. Are we all just another part of the machine? With our obsession for gadgets and our perverse desire only for the colorful and "good looking" corals. Many marvel not in the biology, the physiology, and natural history of these animals.....but just the colors. No. We've got to be more than this, the time has come for us to bring much more attention to the plight of reefs, protect, conserve, educate, and call for very serious fundamental changes. I won't be standing idly.
In deepest reflection,
ANdy Long
