Fond för bevarandet av malawiciklider

[Mikael W]

Färsk uppdatering från Ad Konings

Dear Cichlid Friend,

There is good news from several fronts where we are trying to protect Malawi cichlids.
You all remember the 32 juvenile P. saulosi we released at Taiwanee Reef last September and why there were so few (see previous update). The good news is that since then, David Nkhwazi of Stuart Grant Ltd. managed to breed about 500 new Pseudotropheus saulosi that are ready to be reintroduced at Taiwanee Reef. He also managed to collect some breeding stock of Melanochromis chipokae and he has already about 100 juveniles to be reintroduced at Chidunga Rocks. Thank you, David!! At the moment we are looking for a SCUBA diver who could video the release of these fish at one or both sites. If necessary I’ll provide a small GoPro video camera but I’m not aware of any visitor going to Malawi soon. If you know of anyone interested to do this for us, please let me know.

ANDs and markers

Recently I received an email from Estelle and Matt at the Blue Zebra Island Lodge that they started to place floaters that will demarcate clearly the 100 meter no fishing zone around the Maleri islands. By doing so there will be no further disputes between the fishermen and park guards about where exactly the boundary is. Matt is using the pneumatic drill and the compressed air in a dive tank to drill holes in the rocks underwater. The floaters consist of discarded gas tanks that have been modified so that they cannot be used as cooking pots or for any other household purpose. They painted LMNP on top of them in yellow as required by the park. They did this together with the park rangers and have already placed at least 10 floaters. They intend to complete this demarcation before they will place the ANDs. Thanks Matt & Estelle!!

Other news items that Estelle mentioned:

- There is a new patrol captain, Charles, and he is really willing to fight against poachers. We have changed our way of patrolling and he will come more often and for shorter periods on unexpected visits (so that fishermen cannot be advised).

- Last but not least: the small camping hut for the park rangers has been built on the largest island (Maleri).

Unfortunately fishermen are still around and are now coming with bigger boats and nets. We are trying to take pictures of the boats when we see them, file the pictures and report to the park guards who then report to TA.... A long process, but we are optimistic!

Boat

There is also some good news on the diesel engine that we provided a while ago. Dimitri located a suitable (aluminum) boat and he is currently negotiating the fitting of the diesel engine. The boat, however, will be custom made and the price tag will be somewhere around the $14,000 mark. He chose for aluminum as it will be much more durable than wood or fiberglass, and it will be maintained and anchored right at the lodge. At this point we have about $10,000 in the fund available (also thanks to a very generous donation at the end of last year by Dick Au, thank you Dick!) and have asked Dimitri how we can assist in realizing this diesel boat for the park guards.

Encouraging news all around. The online update will have some photographs I received from David and from Estelle ( http://cichlidpress.com/smgfund/smgfund24.html ).

As always THANK YOU very much for your continued support!
Enjoy your cichlids!

Ad


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Ad Konings
Cichlid Press
P.O. Box 13608
El Paso, TX 79913
www.cichlidpress.com // www.elpasodesert.com
Editor of www.cichlidae.com

[Wilhelm]

Kan du översätta detta och maila mig, sså kanske, kanske det går att klämma in i CB!

[Mikael W]

Ny info från Ad

Dear Malawi cichlid friend,
There have been some developments in Malawi regarding the conservation of the cichlids. If you have been following the Facebook page of Stuart M Grant Fish Farm (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Red-Zebra-Tours-Stuart-M-Grant-Fish-Farm/125606107492080) you will have noticed the photos showing the installation of the new shade netting, the preparation of the large breeding and grow-out vats, and that on April 20^th David had already about a 100 fry from his P. saulosi breeding group! Thanks David! At the end of September I will be joined by a group of Malawi cichlids enthusiasts and we will release the first batch of P. saulosi back at Taiwanee Reef! Needless to say that this event will be documented and we will post the photos and videos on the web. Before the release I would like to take a census of the P. saulosi by all divers so we can get an idea how many there are before we supplement the population. Next year I’m planning a similar census/release to see if we have made an impact.
On the AND front I have no progress to report yet. The lodge on Maleri islands has been completed but Leon du Plessis had, for personal reasons, to abandon the managing part of the lodge and Dimitri Giannakis told me that a new team will take over management at the beginning of June. The new managers are dive masters as well and we have to wait and see, after they have settled, where and how we can continue placing the 200 ready ANDs. The group of safari participants I’m with in September may actually help one day to place a few of the ANDs.
Dimitri writes further: “The engine [i.e. the diesel engine for the guard’s boat] remains in its box for now, and I am looking for a good second hand fiberglass boat in South Africa. In the mean time I continue supporting the National Parks’ team with 100 lts of fuel and food rations to support them 3 days per week, for what they spend camping on and patrolling of the islands. I am very pleased to say they seem to be doing a very good job, with fishermen respecting the 100 m protected zone around the island. There also seems to be very little fisherman activity in any of the coves and beaches, with a lot of natural vegetation re-establishing itself.”
We are really fortunate to have Dimitri so committed to the cause and I want to thank him for sponsoring Lake Malawi National Park in protecting the fishes. I also want to thank Leon and his wife Ingrid for the work they have done in the last two years in preparation for AND placement and procedures.
And, of course, I want to thank you all for your continued support.
Enjoy your Malawi cichlids!
Ad


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Ad Konings
Cichlid Press
P.O. Box 13608
El Paso, TX 79913
www.cichlidpress.com // www.elpasodesert.com
Editor of www.cichlidae.com

[Ola Svensson]

Mera sådan info ifrån Ad som kan platsa i nästa CB!

Jag brukade be Ad fylla ut texten samt skicka några foton. Det behöver inte vara så långt.

Ta en titt på den här t.ex. http://www.ciklid.org/artikelarkiv/c...201103&lopnr=4 Jag har för mig att jag bad om bilder på fisk som bara finns i nationalparken.

Den här är dessutom kortare http://www.ciklid.org/artikelarkiv/c...200903&lopnr=6

[Mikael W]

Mera sådan info ifrån Ad som kan platsa i nästa CB!

T.ex. en artikel om odlingsprojektet med de två hotade arterna skulle vara intressant att läsa.

[maltandis]

Jag är lite dålig på siffror, men har för mig att det var ca 10400:-

/Jocke

[DaRe]

Sv: Fond för bevarandet av malawiciklider

Tummen upp Dev!
Du borde bli NCS medlem!

Jepp. Förresten, har vi inte siffrorna klara för publicering kring hur mycket NCS stöttade fonden med under 2012?

[Wilhelm]

Här kommmer ett mail från Ad Konings med senaste nytt om Stuart Grants fond för bevbarandet av malawiciklider:

Mera sådan info ifrån Ad som kan platsa i nästa CB!

[Wilhelm]

Tummen upp Dev!
Du borde bli NCS medlem!

[Mikael W]

Färsk uppdatering från Ad Konings

Hej alla vännner av malawiciklider!

Här kommmer ett mail från Ad Konings med senaste nytt om Stuart Grants fond för bevbarandet av malawiciklider:


Dear Malawi cichlid friend,

It has been some time now since I sent an update of our progress in saving Malawi cichlids. One of the reasons is that Leon du Plessis is still totally occupied with the construction of the lodge on Nankoma Island (check out photos of it at https://www.facebook.com/BlueZebraIslandLodge), and has not yet had an opportunity to place the new ANDs. Whenever I’ll receive a picture or video of the placed ANDs I’ll post it.
But we are trying to stop illegal fishing in park waters in several ways and Dimitri Giannakis recently sent me an update of the progress on the other fronts. These were his points:

1. The diesel engine for the guards’ boat has arrived safely and is in its box on the island. I have paid import duty and local freight. Our initial plan of fitting it into our smaller 6 m boat has not worked out as the boatyard advised us that the boat’s original design does not allow for this. Now we have two options, one to bring in a suitable fiber-glass boat from South Africa (approx. cost $7 – 8,000) or two, to buy a custom-built wooden boat made locally (cost $6 – 8,000). We are exploring both options. It is important that we have this very efficient engine on patrol in the near future as it will save us money in the long run.

2. Given that we need to find a suitable boat for the Yanmar diesel engine, we are providing Lake Malawi National Parks with 100L of petrol each month and food rations for the guards. Parks has a very active team that is now patrolling the island once per week and the guards are often camped out on the island. With the price of fuel at $2 per litre we spent more than $300/month on this exercise and have been doing so for over a year.

3. The ANDs, 200 of these have been assembled at our cost (we purchased the PVC pipes and paid duty to clear the stainless steel), are now waiting for Leon to start up his dive centre and work in a placement program. Some of the sponsors may want to be involved in this exercise!

4. We have engaged a legal firm, William Faulkner, to set up "The Lake Malawi Conservation Trust" of which we hope that Parks, Ad Konings, and I will be trustees. I am told the documents will be ready soon.

5. We have set up a Foreign Denomination Account (US$ account) for the trust, once established, to hold funds and receive donations.

You can see that Dimitri is very committed to the cause and I am very grateful for his efforts, time, and capital he has invested in the preservation of Lake Malawi Park.

On yet another front, the Stuart Grant Fund has supported David Nkhwazi (director of Stuart M. Grant Ltd) by sending $5000 to furnish the breeding of two Malawi cichlids that are on the brink of extinction, i.e. Pseudotropheus saulosi and Melanochromis chipokae . David recently sent me some photos of the temporary breeding tanks which you can see here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Red-Ze...25606107492080
David is currently installing new shade netting over two large vats that will be the long-term breeding area for these two species. In September we hope to have a sufficient number of P. saulosi juveniles to be released at Taiwanee Reef.

A week ago I was in Winnipeg, Canada (yes, it was cold!), and saw how Spencer Jack and Chris Biggs had started their Malawi Goat Fund, collecting funds to save Malawi cichlids in an unusual way. Their motto, “Save Our Fish, Eat a Goat”, is not only hilarious but also to the point: from the proceeds of their Dead Fish Order meetings and other fishy activities they will purchase goats in Malawi (through a Canadian Certified Charity) and give them to impoverished families around the lake providing them an alternative to fish. Please see their goat logo (available on t-shirts) here: http://deadfishorder.com/mgf/

I would like to wrap up this update by thanking Steve Edie of the Missouri Aquarium Society, who regularly requests aquarium clubs to write “Stuart Grant Fund” on his travel expense reimbursement checks—thanks Steve!

Thank you all for your continued support.
Enjoy your Malawi cichlids!

Ad

När jag köper VF är jag mycket noga med vem som fiskat om det ej kan sägas med säkerhet köper jag ej den fisken från butik.

[Mikael W]

Ny uppdatering från Ad Konings

Hej

Fick ett mail från Ad om läget med SMG-fonden.

Två huvudpunkter:

ACA, vår systerförening i USA, har nyligen donerat 5.000 USD till fonden, detta belopp saknades fdör inköp av en dieselmotor, som är mycket bränslesnålare än aktersnurran de nu använder.

Ad har upptäckt att Melanochromis chipokae behöver skyddas. Den hotas av utfiskning för akvariebruk (det är inte ofta vår hobby har hotat en art).

Men, läs själva:

Dear cichlid friend,

[SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri]A few days ago I received from Dimitri Giannakis the first photos of the new ANDs as they are being produced in Lilongwe, Malawi. They had some difficulty to weld the stainless steel wire but all is now set to get the 200 ANDs ready by the end of the month.

At the San Antonio FOTAS/CARES convention (Nov 2011), Phil and Jan Benes approached me and expressed their desire to help the Stuart Grant fund to obtain the diesel inboard engine for the park guards’ patrol boat. We were about $5000 short—engine plus peripherals cost about $13,300—and the Benes promised me that they would try to convince the ACA board of directors to help us obtain our goal. Less than a week later Phil sent me the great news that the ACA would donate a staggering $5000 (!) so that we could purchase the diesel engine that will use far less fuel than the present gasoline outboard. Early January Pennstate transferred the necessary funds to South Africa and the engine has been ordered and should be in Malawi by the end of February. Fuel in Malawi at the moment is rationed and the park guards could use their boat to patrol the Maleri islands only once a week.

Starting March this year the guards can make their rounds every day using the same amount of fuel, donated by Dimitri’s company by the way, and prevent fishermen from plying their nets inside the 100 m no-fishing zone.

While I was working on a description of a new Melanochromis species I realized that another Malawi cichlid species needs protection: Melanochromis chipokae . This species has the narrowest distribution of any Melanochromis species and is found on tiny rocky reefs near Chipoka (Chidunga Rocks). They have been overfished by the ornamental fish trade and in 2009, the last time I was there, I found only three individuals. Twenty years ago they were rather common at this place and since the other species, less desired by aquarists, are still very common at Chidunga, it means that M. chipokae has been selectively collected, almost till extinction. Hopefully collectors now will refrain from collecting this species and hobbyists should make sure that this species is not lost.

Enjoy your cichlids and thank you for your continued support!
Ad

This message online with photos:
http://cichlidpress.com/smgfund/smgfund20.html

[Kjell Fohrman]

Då har man donerat lite mer pengar. Ska ut och njuta av mina malawiciklider om en stund ;-)

Tack Christian för AND-julklappen

[Christian Alfredsson]

Då har man donerat lite mer pengar. Ska ut och njuta av mina malawiciklider om en stund ;-)

[Mikael W]

En ny uppdatering från Ad

Hej

Ad har skickat oss en dagsfärsk rapport som handlar om en kongress i USA, nuläget i AND-projektet och att saulosin håller på att försvinna:

Dear friend of Malawi cichlids!

This is an update on the Stuart M. Grant Cichlid Conservation Fund. You can read this online which has also two video clips embedded by going to http://cichlidpress.com/smgfund/smgfund19.html

At the FOTAS/CARES meeting (Nov. 4-6, 2011) in San Antonio, Texas, I was dumbfounded and excited by Melanie Stiassny’s presentation of her work on the Congo River. She discussed mainly the fish fauna of the Lower Congo, a stretch of a little more than 200 km but in which she found already 332 different species of fish of which more than 90 are endemic to this part of the mighty Congo! A staggering number if you compare that with other rivers in Africa. It also drove home the message that we still know so little about the biodiversity of vast areas of Africa. And that at a time when governments, with their eyes on the money, make broad-ranging decisions on the future of these areas without knowing what is really at stake. Of course, the quality of life and the sustainability of the area’s biodiversity rarely play a role in such decision making. This was also evident in Paul Loiselle’s presentation on the state of fish diversity on a global scale and how it suffers from industrialization and burgeoning human encroachment on freshwater habitats.

While I presented the latest developments of the ANDs in Lake Malawi National Park, Rick Borstein of the Greater Chicago Cichlid Association, asked what the total sum is that is needed to protect the Maleri Islands and parts of the Cape Maclear area with ANDs. I didn’t have the answer ready, but with the price of the new ANDs at about $50 each and estimating that about 2000 of these are needed to cover the shorelines of the various islands, I offered the sum of $100,000. This is far from an exorbitant amount, and afterwards Lawrence Kent of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, suggested that I should be able to write a grant application and submit it to one of the big environmental organizations, because $100,000 is considered small change by his and many other organizations. I thought about his suggestion, but I have other factors to contemplate in our quest to save the Malawi cichlids. First of all, I’m 100% sure that we aquarists can come up with this amount and that we are in time to protect the majority of the Malawi species that are endemic to park waters.

Secondly, imagine the immense satisfaction by all who have participated in the program ten years from now when all is set and done, and when we are enjoying the fruits of our efforts. Just consider the Babes In The Cichlid Hobby (fondly translated by my friend Marco Arroyo as “Las Putas”), Caroline Estes, Pam Chin, and Pam Marsh, who have worked very hard at every convention, traveling on their own dime, auctioning fish paraphernalia that they have begged, stolen (hope not), or borrowed from their friends, and entertaining us as well. In the last four years they were able, besides all the other needed causes they work for, to donate $6,500 to the fund!

Imagine their satisfaction when they see that all is well in the Lake Malawi National Park. I don’t want to steal their and your happiness by a possible “take over” of big money. The placing of the ANDs is a slow process and I’m confident that we can keep pace with donations and spending costs.

A propos the placing of the ANDs, I received great news from Leon du Plessis, who has now been established (with his wife Ingrid) as manager of the lodge on Nankoma Island, that he was able to drill two holes in a rock underwater with a single SCUBA tank with the pneumatic drills that I had sent last summer. See a little video clip online. He now also has the right accommodation for those of you who want to learn to SCUBA dive or who want to become master diver. Those in the latter group are also involved in helping Leon to place the ANDs. In August 2011 Pennstate transferred about $6000 from our fund to South Africa to purchase the first batch of
stainless steel (good for 200 ANDs) which has arrived in Malawi. Dimitri is now preparing the new design ANDs which will soon be available to be employed in the lake.

Critics of CARES and of any other captive breeding programs uphold the notion that a species’ genetic diversity is quickly lost because of inbreeding and can never replace the lost diversity of the original population, and also that reintroduction of captive-raised fish into the original habitat has never been achieved successfully. Well, the last statement is incorrect as successful fish reintroductions have been completed in Europe as well as in the US. I’m not aware of any such efforts with cichlids but I don’t see any problem in that. The fact that wild caught cichlids can quickly adapt to the artificial environment of aquaria, the reverse should pose no problem either. We have, unfortunately, proof of the cichlids’ ability to introduction in Lake Malawi (and also in Lake Tanganyika) where over the years cichlids have been introduced at various places by collectors of ornamental fish.

Many rock-dwelling cichlids stay their entire lives within hundred meters of their place of birth and in principle form relatively small breeding groups within the population. The genetic diversity of such local groups is not necessarily larger than that of a captive breeding group. For several of the species kept in captive breeding programs their genetic diversity is millions of times higher than that of their wild counterparts because there are no wild counterparts; these species are extinct in the wild! Reintroduction may not copy exactly the genetic makeup of the original population, but it is a lot closer to the real thing than no fish at all. We have a chance to prove that this works and we may even be able to involve Malawian students in the project. Along with the tremendous over-fishing and species loss that is taking place in Lake Malawi, the demise of a few cichlid species is to blame to unscrupulous collectors; case in point: Pseudotropheus saulosi . This species is endemic to Taiwanee Reef which is a large reef, but most of it is in water deeper than 80 meters. The area where P. saulosi lives, where they find the algae they feed on, is rather small, like the size of a quarter football field. It doesn’t need a lot of imagination to see that the population of any endemic cichlid at the reef is vulnerable to over-fishing. Till about ten years ago P. saulosi occurred in sometimes large schools of hundreds of individuals that wandered through the habitat foraging from the biocover on the rocks.

During the last decade several collectors of ornamental fish have concentrated on catching large numbers of P. saulosi and as a result the species is becoming scarce. When I visited the reef in August 2010 there were only a few specimens to be seen. The large boulders you see in the video clip posted online used to be covered with hundreds of P. saulosi but in 2010 there were only three individuals on this rock and many boulders had none at all.

The program I envision should consist of the following stages:

1. Local government should forbid the collection of any rock-dwelling cichlid (P. saulosi and Protomelas sp. ‘steveni taiwan’) at Taiwanee Reef. This does not affect the local fishermen who collect utaka in the area. I also understand that there would hardly be any enforcement possible apart from inspecting what fishes are exported from Malawi.

2. A survey of the extant population of P. saulosi in the upper 20 meters of the reef (they are very rare in deeper areas) should indicate how many can be collected for a captive breeding program. Since I don’t expect a large genetic diversity 25 females would be sufficient to guarantee a say 95% of the existing diversity.

3. A small fin clip of the live fishes (breeders) would be taken (anal fin of females and tip dorsal fin of males) and the DNA analyzed to get an idea of the diversity. The DNA typing can be done abroad.

4. Breeding groups are set up in Malawi to prevent legal problems when importing live fish back into Malawi.

5. After one/two years, reintroductions can take place and monitored every year thereafter. If, however, the fishing ban was effective, the species could have (partly) recovered on their own account and reintroduction would not be necessary.

This would be a simple project that shouldn’t cost much money to complete. It would certainly emphasize the importance of the work others do by maintaining endangered species in captivity. In the case of P. saulosi if we wait any longer we may need to reintroduce the aquarium strains.

The FOTAS/CARES convention made one thing clear and that is that action is needed now, when there are still opportunities. After all the years we have enjoyed cichlids, Paul Loiselle said it best: “Folks …it’s payback time.”

Without your input and generosity many Malawi cichlid species will not be there 20 years from now.

Enjoy your cichlids!

Ad



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Ad Konings
Cichlid Press
P.O. Box 13608
El Paso, TX 79913
www.cichlidpress.com // www.elpasodesert.com
Editor of www.cichlidae.com