OFI is proud to be a partner of the 3rd International Ornamental Fish Conference to be held 25 – 26 February 2021, and for the first time will be held online to enable greater access for the world industry!

The theme for the virtual conference is SUSTAINABILITY AND THE FUTURE OF THE ORNAMENTAL FISH INDUSTRY, participants will have the opportunity to interact in several sessions on trade and markets, market access and barriers, farming and fish health, as well as marine ornamental fish breeding and rearing. The major pillar underpinning these discussions will be sustainability, in recognition of its importance for the future of the industry. The conference is ideal for Ornamental fish exporters, importers, breeders, farmers, traders, industry leaders, policy makers, government officials, researchers, academics and service providers.

Registrations received after 22nd January 2021 will be charged US$55 per delegate for INFOFISH non-member countries and US$25 for delegates from INFOFISH member countries and OFI members. Registration includes e-conference booklet, online INFOFISH International Magazine, sponsor brochure etc. There will be no refunds for cancellations; however a substitute delegate may attend at no extra charge.

 

To download an information brochure click here

 

To go to the INFOFISH website to register click here

Amersfoort, The Netherlands – October 30, 2020 – It is with great pleasure that OFI announces Mr Scott Dowd, co-founder of Project Piaba, the 2020 OFI Award for his work with Amazonian ornamental fisheries and sustainable livelihoods for the indigenous people of the Amazon.

Scott Dowd has dedicated years to research in the sustainable livelihoods of high-value aquarium fish for people residing in areas of critical biological importance to thrive in a way that makes it a viable way to preserve the Amazon tropical forests and waterways. Project Piaba works with fishing communities, providing training and mentoring to improve fishing techniques and supply chain logistics which improves livelihood outcomes for indigenous people, as well as promoting these fish to markets in the USA and beyond. Scott has published widely, including the OFI Journal on Project Piaba's work and is recognised widely for his work in the industry. His tireless work in developing and promoting sustainable collection in the Amazon to help provide sustainable livelihoods for indigenous peoples is highly commendable and he is well respected in the industry for these contributions. 

The award was presented during a OFI quarterly members meeting held online at which Scott was making a presentation about his work. OFI President Shane Willis said “Scott is a very deserving candidate of the award, he has worked tirelessly on Project Piaba as well as various other works towards promoting the industry and bringing public aquariums and the hobby sector together, we thank Scott for his contributions to our industry. His tireless work in developing and promoting sustainable collection in the Amazon to help provide sustainable livelihoods for indigenous peoples is to be applauded and we look forward to continuing to work with him into the future.”

Buy a fish, save a tree!

Ornamental Fish International (OFI) welcomes the appointment of two new members to our Board of Advisors, Mr H. Chrishantha Alexander, Managing Director of Seylon Aquatics (Pvt) Ltd of Sri Lanka, and Mr Rajanta Sinardja Rahardja of CV Bellenz, Indonesia. Both new members were selected by members in their countries and act on their behalf to provide input to  the executive on issues affecting their region and help to facilitate membership and communication.

The new positions were created out of recognition of Indonesia and Sri Lanka both to the ornamental fish industry as major exporting countries and the large number of members in these countries. OFI President Shane Willis sad “Indonesia and Sri Lanka are major producers and exporters of ornamental fish that were currently not represented at the board level of OFI, a decision was taken at the last AGM to expand our Board of Advisors to include a representative from each of these countries”.

 

Rajanta has been an OFI member since 2010 and is a world-renowned expert on breeding rare L-number catfish. He has held positions on a number of government working groups and industry associations in Indonesia, and is an active advocator for the industry in Indonesia. Chrishantha has a solid background in the industry having started working for John Keells Aquariums in 1993 where he was promoted up to Senior Marketing Executive. He established his own export business in 2003 which has been an OFI member for over 10 years. Chrishantha is currently the president of Association of Live Tropical Fish Exporters of Sri Lanka.

 

The appointment of these two new positions will allow OFI to work more in these two important countries, Willis said “I have known Chrishantha and Rajanta for many years and both are excellent appointments to the Board of Advisors I look forward to working with them in the future.”

Ornamental Fish International (OFI), along with other pet trade associations around the world including Canada, the United States, Europe and the UK have banded together to write an open letter in response to calls to end all live animal trade in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Our letter expresses the pet industry’s alarm at the use of the current pandemic to push calls for blanket bans on wildlife trade, without a care for the consequences this would bring, and urges national and international bodies governing the trade of live animals to resist calls for the elimination of the wildlife trade and instead to rely on sound science, good regulation and robust enforcement to prevent the spread of disease.

The UK’s Ornamental Aquatic Trade Association was behind the open letter, supported by Ornamental Fish International, US and Canada’s PIJAC, REPTA, members of the European Pet Organization and the Sustainable Users Network, an umbrella organisation for affiliated associations with a broad interest in trade and keeping of non-domesticated animal species. OATA’s Chief Executive Dominic Whitmee explained the need for the open letter. “We are seeing a growing number of indiscriminate calls from a wide range of NGOs and celebrities who are calling for a ban on wildlife trade, with no heed for what this would actually mean.

“We feel many of the anti-trade NGOs are using the cloak of this undoubtedly concerning and worrying pandemic to further their own political agendas, pursuing this call to stop trade without considering the varied nature of the trade and the consequences of any ban for many of the poorest people on this planet.

OFI President Shane Willis said "There should be scientific evidence to support regulation of wildlife trade particularly where livelihoods in vulnerable communities and developing countries are involved. There is clear evidence that sustainable trade in ornamental fish can provide sustainable livelihoods and these should not be taken away from people through knee-jerk reactions or political agenda to see the ban on the exploitation of all animals and animal products" 

This statement was echoed by Mr Whitmee “We feel many of the anti-trade NGOs are using the cloak of this undoubtedly concerning and worrying pandemic to further their own political agendas, pursuing this call to stop trade without considering the varied nature of the trade and the consequences of any ban for many of the poorest people on this planet.

“But we also stand firm as a global industry in acknowledging the need to tackle unsustainable use of wildlife and illegal trafficking. As the letter says unsustainable and illegal practices that are harmful to biodiversity taint and demonise the reputation of those who work sustainably and legitimately. We support and pledge to work with credible organisations in the fight to develop stronger policies and increased enforcement action across the world to tackle these issues.”

The letter can be downloaded here

OFI President has met with Indonesian OFI members,  AKKII (Asosiasi Koral Kerang dan Ikan Hias Indonesia) and INAFISH (Indonesian Ornamental Fish Exporters Association to discuss the current Coral Export Suspension and the recently announced CITES Marine Aquarium Fish Collection Workshop. While the scope and nature of the workshop is not yet confirmed, industry is already beginning preparation to ensure their interests are protected.

Industry want to work with CITES to arrive at a science-based solution to managing the marine fish collection and giving a clear pathway to industry for a sustainable future to safeguard the many thousands of people employed by this sector across Indonesia and other source countries. During our recent trip to Indonesia to attend Nusatic 2019, we had the opportunity to meet with Minister and government officials to discuss the ongoing coral export suspension in Indonesia, as well as the upcoming CITES workshop on wild collection of marine ornamental fish. We also met discussed the issue with AKKII and INAFISH members, who have expressed their willingness to provide data and information on the marine ornamental collection industry in Indonesia which is the world’s largest exporter of ornamental fish. OFI President Shane Willis said “the Indonesian industry understands how important it is to ensure regulators have the correct information on which to make decisions regarding their livelihoods. Recent experiences with the coral export suspension that resulted in and estimated 10 to 12,000 jobs lost at  cost of approximately $36 million in export revenue highlights the devastation on sustainable livelihoods poorly conceived decisions based on emotion and not facts can have on people's livelihoods”.

OFI is working with members in Indonesia to develop a strategy to providing data to assist in the CITES workshop to help ensure science-based decisions are made on current data. It is hoped that with this level of cooperation, industry will be given a fair hearing by CITES and that decisions are data driven rather than emotionally driven. OFI will also be undertaking similar work with members from other source countries during early 2020.

Using the blog gadget, you can add a blog to your Wild Apricot site to provide timely updates and information to your membership.

By using Recent blog posts, you can display a list of the most recent blog posts, with links to the full posts. The list will include the date of each post and the name of the poster – with the name linking to their profile if available.

For instructions on inserting, moving, and deleting gadgets, see Gadgets.

You can create as many different blogs as you wish. You can limit access to a blog by placing it on a restricted page. If you make the page public, you can still use the blog gadget settings to control functionality for visitors and members.

You can read more about setting up blogs on our Blog help page.

If you are looking on more information on how to use blog, you can find it here.

This is another sample blog entry. Depending on your readers' access permissions, they can comment on your posts, and reply to comments.

You can learn more about setting up blog pages on our Blog help page.