• The Banggai Rescue Project



    For the past few decades, hobbyists around the world have enjoyed keeping the Banggai cardinalfish in their home aquariums. Public aquariums keep large groups to display to their annual audience of visitors which number in the millions. Many hobbyists have raised their fry to be able to share them with others in their local area. Have you ever kept any in yours?

    But where do they come from? Did you know there's an actual locale called the Banggai Islands? That's where these fish hail from, and why they were so named. In recent years, there have been huge debates regarding this fish and its future. Some fear their numbers have dwindled to the point of extinction, while others state they are still plentiful in the wild. The only way to know for sure is to go find out and get some real answers. How can anyone believe one version over another without real proof?

    The Banggai Rescue Project endeavors to do just that. Over the next six months, a group of dedicated individuals are willing to investigate what's truly going on and get the information published this year with the latest facts. As with anything, this is going to take money to afford such efforts, and the hobby community as a whole needs to step up and put their money where their collective mouth is. We hobbyists defend our love for the ocean and our hobby, yet are we willing to verify that our collection practices aren't decimating this particular species? One of the buzz words we hear is sustainability, and that means using forethought and planning to maintain a good ratio of collection practices that won't affect the breeding population in nature. It also requires that groups make the conscious effort by raising them in captivity to lessen the demand from the Banggai Islands in Indonesia. We may even find ourselves one day adding some back into the ocean in a safe manner to replenish their numbers -- but that's getting ahead of the current goal.

    Please take a few minutes to read up on The Banggai Rescue Project at the appropriately named site banggai-rescue.com to learn the specifics. By MACNA this September, we could potentially get a very clear update on their current status if the $25,000 funding has been acquired by the April 8th deadline. Share this article via social networks and spread the word, because every day counts. At the time of this writing, nearly $2,000 has already been pledged. We're off to a great start!

    Photo taken at the Denver Downtown Aquarium, by Marc Levenson

    Additional information:
    Banggai Cardinalfish wiki
    Press release: Banggai Rescue Media Release.pdf
    Comments 12 Comments
    1. edandsandy's Avatar
      edandsandy -
      Great article Marc...I will donate!
    1. kayl's Avatar
      kayl -
      Sounds like a great project and I want to support it, but seriously? You have to donate $100 before you even get a softcover copy of the book?

      I think most people would rather have that than the other rewards at the lower levels...
    1. melev's Avatar
      melev -
      kayl - I don't know what the book will cost, but you can always donate one portion and purchase the book upon release later. That still equates to the number you were considering. I wanted a print from Ret from their trip, personally.

      pepper'scove - From looking at the participants, this is being managed by people that already have a good handle on portions of the project, such as publishing. Keep in mind that it's hard to ask people to donate money towards something that has little detail. I'd almost expect adjustments to be made based on what is discovered. The entire tone of the book could vary significantly based upon acquired knowledge. We'll see.
    1. pepper'scove's Avatar
      pepper'scove -
      Didn't mean to sound negative in the last post (I deleted it myself to prevent that). I think plenty of species need protecting. What I meant before was that I want to check into this a little more before donating. But I am considering a small $10/$15 donation after I get time to read what they're doing. I think everybody should at least look into it.
    1. pepper'scove's Avatar
      pepper'scove -
      Wow, so I spent more time looking into this and the authors are:

      Ret Talbot - Acclaimed outdoors author and regular contributor to Coral Magazine where he is a senior editor
      James M. Lawrence - Among many notables, the editor/publisher of Coral Magazine!!! (I had always thought it was Daniel Knopp, but now I know!)
      Matt Pedersen - Aquarist of the year in 2009, breeder of choice for the PNG Lightning Maroon Clownfish found off the coast of Papua New Guinea, and founder of Marine Ornamental Fish & Invertebrate Breeders

      In short, I'm very impressed and the fact that this group has an association with the Aquarium hobby makes me less nervous about us having another Hawaii on our hands. I'll be donating!
    1. pepper'scove's Avatar
      pepper'scove -
      Just made sure my name got in the book. Now I just hope this gets funded!
    1. mpedersen's Avatar
      mpedersen -
      Quote Originally Posted by pepper'scove View Post
      Ret Talbot - Acclaimed outdoors author and regular contributor to Coral Magazine where he is a senior editor
      Ret has been doing a fantastic job of maintaining journalistic professionalism when covering PNG, Hawaii, Sustainability and more. Yes, he's an aquarist, so some will always forever see him as "biased by default", but no, really, that outdoors background (of which I happen to share as a fellow fly fisherman) provides real world context and a background framework for so many of the fisheries problems that have been debated prior...and are now being debated yet again in the context of marine aquariums. It's amazing how much our interests outside of the aquarium world influence our views within.

      Quote Originally Posted by pepper'scove View Post
      James M. Lawrence - Among many notables, the editor/publisher of Coral Magazine!!! (I had always thought it was Daniel Knopp, but now I know!)
      Actually it's both Lawrence (English version) and Knop (German version). And James is behind numerous books too. He's a very talented writer himself too...he always brings great insights as an editor.

      Quote Originally Posted by pepper'scove View Post
      Matt Pedersen - Aquarist of the year in 2009, breeder of choice for the PNG Lightning Maroon Clownfish found off the coast of Papua New Guinea, and founder of Marine Ornamental Fish & Invertebrate Breeders
      Mind if I throw in that I'm also a Sr. Editor at CORAL too, as well as AMAZONAS (think "freshwater CORAL")? Not much of a fan of MOFIB these days (years back it was great, but alas, it's been really ruined and I'm generally embarrassed to have my name associated with its current state because I have nothing to do with it being the way it is) - however am very proud of my participation with the Marine Breeding Initiative (MBIsite.org).

      Quote Originally Posted by pepper'scove View Post
      In short, I'm very impressed and the fact that this group has an association with the Aquarium hobby makes me less nervous about us having another Hawaii on our hands.
      Well, I should also mention that there are two as-of-yet undisclosed scientists also involved, who will bring the hard light of scientific observation and data to enhance and deepen our understanding of the situation on the ground. The book project is going in certainly based on the situation as it's thought to be to-date, but we are not letting that set any preconceived notions of what the science team will discover during their research. I gotta say, this team is fantastic.

      Quote Originally Posted by pepper'scove View Post
      I'll be donating!
      Well, we're glad to have your support!!!
    1. kayl's Avatar
      kayl -
      I've got to admit that I donated at the $100 level after checking out the incredible artwork that Melev was talking about. It'll look nice on my wall
    1. pepper'scove's Avatar
      pepper'scove -
      Come on guys! Keep the funds coming!! Look into this project and you'll see how cool and vital it is. We've got 24 days left and only a little more than a third (36%) of the funding! The project needs more money!
    1. melev's Avatar
      melev -
      If you have more questions about why you might want to contribute to this project, this interview should help fill in some of the blanks. Ret Talbot talks with Advanced Aquarist...

      http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog...banggai-rescue
    1. pepper'scove's Avatar
      pepper'scove -
      Come on guys! Pump money into this project!! This stuff is important and if you check into it it's very legitimate.
    1. melev's Avatar
      melev -
      95% is darn close!