Suzy Conklin stated: "I had understood from some previous postings
that the New & Rare was to be sold, or given, to experienced AKA
breeders so that the species could have wider distribution
.................Someone with no knowledge of killies or a novice keeper
could buy them...."
I needed to comment on this as the Chairman of the BOT (2003)who
appointed the N&RSC and supplied guidelines to him.
We felt that the policy stated above was negatively prejudicial to
newcomers to the hobby and specifically did NOT tell the N&RSC to do
this. In fact, his guidelines are to distribute fish equitable to all
MEMBERS who wish to try their breeding skills on them. We wished to
abolish the "good-old-boy" attitude inherent in the above statements and
make it clear that ALL AKA members are equal in terms of obtaining
services from each and every committee.
I can recall 1970 when I was a "newbie" to killies. The "guys" in the
AKA treated me as an equal and provided me the opportunity to try and
breed anything, including brand new import from Africa which I obtained
from the N&RSC in existence at the time. Well, yes, I had as much
success as any old-timer, because I studied, listened, tried new things
and paid attention to the fish.
We have people in our affiliate who have been in the hobby only a year
or two. They can breed (fish) with the best of them. It takes care,
attention to detail, an observant and questioning attitude and so forth.
Their name, longevity in the hobby or sheer size of their fishroom is
irrelevant.
Had the N&RSC, in 1970, told me that I wasn't qualified to try the new
imports, well, I'd probably have quit the AKA and be breeding parrots or
Guinea Pigs now. (I would never have gone to "chicklets")
I believe in the value and intelligence of the new hobbyist and hope
that our N&RSC allows them to be FULL members of the AKA.
PS: old hobbyist loose species just as quickly as the new hobbyists. I
keep saying: it's the fish who determine if they want to breed, not you.
If the experienced hobbyist could breed and maintain anything they
wanted to, the F&EL and the pet shops would be full of fulgens, Mbam and
even blue gularis. Obviously that isn't so.
To join the AKA see http://www.aka.org/pages/join.html
Archives are at http://fins.actwin.com/killietalk/