At 08:21 AM 11/13/2004 -0500, you wrote:
I have been really impressed with the many new and hard to find
species of Notho's and other killies that are often made available to
the hobby. I am disappointed though that there is rarely, if ever any
of the established species such as the many gardneri varieties that
are ever made available. Maybe not as a new specie but as wild
collected fish that can be reintroduced into the hobby to strengthen
the blood lines that have been established. I have become most
interested in the gardneri species available and am always in search
of new fish or any wild or F1 fish that would be made available. What
are the chances of something like this happening? Or is there a
reason this does not happen? Have some of the species become so
common that there is not enough interest to make this a future project.
I hope not.
This is a much debated topic an one of the reasons exactly
what you wish does not happen, in my opinion, is costs.
Unless there is a groups of dedicated people like Brian
Watters and others who spend their own money and bring back wild fish
to share and distribute, other sources must be used. Calculating the
real cost of fish brought back from collecting trips would only scare
people away..... Thank goodness the enjoyment of collecting keeps them
going, because there is no profit motive to recover those costs.
Since I have imported a few killies over the years, let me
share my opinion. Everyone says they want new blood. but do they, or
more importantly would they pay for them ???? Here is a simple
scenario................... A new import of wild killie is
available, because of the difficulty and distance involved the fish
can be landed at a port of entry ( including Air Freight,
Transshipping, Cost of certificates and cost of freight ) at $4 each
. Here are a few other "normal issues with this $4 landed fish -
minimum order 150 pieces (not pairs), 4 bags to the box, 4 box
minimum order. Fish are guaranteed , but not the freight which would
have to be paid again to reship the DOA.
Just to cut this short, that's an expensive of $2000 for
common killies, if you can find enough different ones to fill the
order with killies, you have to hold, separate, treat, and hopefully
pair them up......each part has its own problems. .... With a good
shipment you now offer the killies for sale Fundulopanchax gardneri
nigerianus ...wild ............. at $22 a pair which is very
reasonable considering costs, losses, poor sex ratios .... I do not
believe the membership would pay those prices. and there would have to
be enough members to pay for hundreds of pairs not 5. we are spoiled
because we have access to fish at such low prices and many hobbyists
collect and distribute .....................
Occasionally there are good deals in the import world, but it
is a good deal only if it is an item that people want and are willing
to pay for...................I know everyone would love to see a new
collection of wild Blue gularis................. a single box full
could be 400 fish, with no guarantee as to sexes, packed in 4
bags................ my guess would be $28 a pair
..................... Is there a market for 150 - 200 pair
immediately upon import ?? I don't know ..............
Thankfully some people are still taking risks with imports of
wild killies from areas where it is possible to collect them.......
But they only bring in what they think will sell at a reasonable price
within a reasonable time.
the available Commercial import market is
Tony Terceira
Scituate, Rhode Island
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