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Members' Update 40/09
Dear members,
In this Update:
- EU CITES MEETING
- OFI AROWANA INITIATIVE
- SPONSORING THE OFI JUBILEE DINNER
- CUSTOM TATTOOS MAY KILL FISH
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EU CITES MEETING
On the 18th of November OFI CITES specialist and Executive Board member Svein Fosså and your Secretary General attended a stakeholders meeting of the European CITES authorities in preparation of the CITES Conference in March in Qatar. Several other European pet trade associations at this meeting accompanied OFI.
On the agenda there were not so many topics of huge relevance to our industry. At a meeting of the Sharks workgroup earlier this year in Geneva, our representative was already able to prevent proposals to list all freshwater stingrays in Annex II, which would have been a "hot" item. Items of interest for us at the Conference are e.g. proposal by the USA on identification of coral species in the trade and the proposal to include an article to split up Scleropagus formosus into four species into the official reference list.
We will prepare a position on both items that will be available to members. If members are invited for contacts with their own governments on proposals, the secretariat and OFI CITES specialist Svein Fosså is open for assistance.
OFI AROWANA INITIATIVE
In the previous Members' Update we mentioned the OFI initiative to come to a meeting to discuss possibilities with respect to the legal position of the Asian Arowana Scleropagus formosus. The aim was to find possibilities to increase the market for these fish. As said, we have sent a letter to all CITES registered breeders and also contacted several OFI members who export Arowana. In the letter we have a deadline for expressing support for this initiative till 15 November. Unfortunately the support for the initiative has been such that for the moment we had to decide that we couldn't proceed with this initiative.
SPONSORING THE OFI DINNER
During Interzoo 2010 OFI will celebrate its 30th anniversary with a dinner after the Annual General Meeting, on Friday the 14th of May. This dinner will take place in the Vasco da Gama restaurant in the Exhibition complex, CCN Ost 1st floor. For this event we seek sponsoring. If you are interested in sponsoring, please contact the secretariat.
CUSTOM TATTOOS MAY KILL FISH
Source: China Daily
Custom tattooed fish may be big sellers at markets, but an animal expert says it is a cruel and potentially lethal practice. In Laitai Flower and Fish Market near the Lufthansa Center in Beijing, four of over 20 fish stores sell marine ornamental fish that are tattooed using laser guns with beautiful images in order to make them more attractive to customers.
"Many people just love these kind of fish, it gives them a unique visual impression," said Li Jing, the owner of a tattooed fish store at the market. Li said the price of these fish ranges from 50-100 yuan. Some customers are willing to pay an additional 100 yuan to have Chinese characters tattooed on to the fish. The most popular characters are "zhaocai" (attracting fortune) and "fu" (blessing). "The color of tattooed fish won't fade away, and the fish can be cared for as easy as regular fishes," Li said.
But Ye Zhenjiang, a professor from the Ocean University of China, said the practice would damage a fish's mackerel scale, which is its protective layer. "Although I haven't done any research on the impact of the laser on mackerel scale, it is obvious that the mackerel scale may be infected or even destroyed under the exposure of laser," Ye said.
"The mackerel scale is derivatives of a fish's skin which protects them. It may even cause death among fish which have thin mackerel scale."
A specialist in aquatic animal study surnamed Xu, from the Beijing Fisheries Research Institute, said: "We have no specific regulations to prevent fish from being tattooed."
An official surnamed Bai from the Beijing Fishery Surveillance and Administration Bureau, said there is no study showing that the laser threatened a fish's health. He said a regulation on small animal protection, to be passed in the near future, doesn't include regular aquatic animals. He said the institution is only responsible for aquatic animals that are on the verge of extinction.
Li said tattooed fish are mainly from south China's Guangdong province because Beijing did not have the laser technology to tattoo a fish. "It's too brutal to tattoo pictures or characters on fishes, even if it makes them more beautiful," a tropical fish buyer surnamed Chen told METRO yesterday. "I would never buy fish like that, I prefer them with natural beauty," Chen said.
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With kind regards,
Alex Ploeg & Roberto Hensen
OFI Secretariat
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