Eddie
02-13-2009, 01:32 AM
Hello everyone,
My name is Eddie and I come to you with an plan.
I would like to take some time to discuss a few things with you all before I get to my main points. First off, this is genuinely the nicest and most helpful community I have ever seen, and i sincerely mean this. Secondly I have noticed something that is, in my mind, troubling. There is a lack of an organized national aquarist society in North America. Granted, there are many private or regional societies that are very well established and do quite well but I feel it is time to set the table for a new era in aquarium keeping.
I come to you today with a vision, one society/club for all of North America to partake in. There are individual societies for certain sub-categories of fish or types of fish keeping, ie reef keeping, cichlids, planted aquaria ect. I feel it an obligation to unite all aquarists in North America under a single leadership. I feel a society like this could not only be beneficial to new and advanced aquarists alike but, in my mind, we could have a colossal positive impact on our environment.
Taking my last statement into further detail, imagine if all aquarists united under one cause and spoke out against the illegal harvesting of corals or fish or even fish dyeing. Imagine the impact of a boycott of that magnitude. Picture millions of people calling for corals to be certified to have been aqua-cultured. Imagine us setting the stage to only take fish harvested by reputable clients whom have safe and legal collection methods. Imagine the impact that would have. Wouldn't it be nice to see a world where aquarists boycott fish that have been mutilated so that they grow into specific desired shapes? One of these that sticks into my mind is something i saw a while back, "Heart" Blood Parrots and "Batman" stingrays. These fish have been grossly mutilated to look like pleasing shapes but in reality these fish have been tortured. The same with fish dyeing, that speaks for itself.
I need not say boycotts or regulations would be a fast ordeal to ascertain but certainly would be worth pushing for and I for one wish to create a society that stands up against such cruelties as these and would ultimately end them in AT LEAST North America.
Another main point of this discussion is that these individual societies cater to specific wants and do not openly display other aquarium options that are available. For my idea, we will support all aspects of aquarium keeping and acknowledge them all. If all is discussed in one place than, for example, a large predator fish keeper may listen to a seminar on dwarf cichlids and become fascinated by said creatures and begin a new chapter in their fish keeping experience.
I wish to combine my love for aquarium keeping with everyone else's on a much larger scale than has truly been tried before. Forums can only do so much, actually forming a society and planning conventions, expeditions around the globe to various areas where favorite fish are found and making serious efforts to put an end to illegal/inhumane practices within the fish keeping hobby is another.
I am considering this established and am looking for people who are SERIOUSLY looking to get this going in every way shape and form. Any suggestions and ideas are more than welcome. Any serious help will greatly be appreciated as I am committing myself to this cause to unite aquarists as efficiently as possible so that everyone can share their love in all aspects as fully as they wish.
I greatly appreciate anyone who took the time to read all this and am thanking everyone in advance for their help, suggestions and ideas. Please contact me through private message, MSN messenger and in this thread with all questions, concerns, ideas and suggestions. Again, serious help is needed as this is currently a one man show and everything is being taken into consideration right now. Also, just because you wish to help me initially set this up and get it going does not necessarily mean I will be taking you up on your offer. I do not wish this to come off as rude or ungrateful but I am looking for people who will be as committed as I during this setup process. I need mature people who can handle real responsibility and will be able to set a lot of time to this. This is the real deal people, I have no intentions of backing out of this. This is my dream, to unite all aquarists under one common philosophy and to push for unified ideas on what fish keeping should be about and how it should generally be executed.
I, Edward L. Ducharme III, am hereby establishing The North American Aquarist's Society on this Twelfth of February in the year 2009.
My name is Eddie and I come to you with an plan.
I would like to take some time to discuss a few things with you all before I get to my main points. First off, this is genuinely the nicest and most helpful community I have ever seen, and i sincerely mean this. Secondly I have noticed something that is, in my mind, troubling. There is a lack of an organized national aquarist society in North America. Granted, there are many private or regional societies that are very well established and do quite well but I feel it is time to set the table for a new era in aquarium keeping.
I come to you today with a vision, one society/club for all of North America to partake in. There are individual societies for certain sub-categories of fish or types of fish keeping, ie reef keeping, cichlids, planted aquaria ect. I feel it an obligation to unite all aquarists in North America under a single leadership. I feel a society like this could not only be beneficial to new and advanced aquarists alike but, in my mind, we could have a colossal positive impact on our environment.
Taking my last statement into further detail, imagine if all aquarists united under one cause and spoke out against the illegal harvesting of corals or fish or even fish dyeing. Imagine the impact of a boycott of that magnitude. Picture millions of people calling for corals to be certified to have been aqua-cultured. Imagine us setting the stage to only take fish harvested by reputable clients whom have safe and legal collection methods. Imagine the impact that would have. Wouldn't it be nice to see a world where aquarists boycott fish that have been mutilated so that they grow into specific desired shapes? One of these that sticks into my mind is something i saw a while back, "Heart" Blood Parrots and "Batman" stingrays. These fish have been grossly mutilated to look like pleasing shapes but in reality these fish have been tortured. The same with fish dyeing, that speaks for itself.
I need not say boycotts or regulations would be a fast ordeal to ascertain but certainly would be worth pushing for and I for one wish to create a society that stands up against such cruelties as these and would ultimately end them in AT LEAST North America.
Another main point of this discussion is that these individual societies cater to specific wants and do not openly display other aquarium options that are available. For my idea, we will support all aspects of aquarium keeping and acknowledge them all. If all is discussed in one place than, for example, a large predator fish keeper may listen to a seminar on dwarf cichlids and become fascinated by said creatures and begin a new chapter in their fish keeping experience.
I wish to combine my love for aquarium keeping with everyone else's on a much larger scale than has truly been tried before. Forums can only do so much, actually forming a society and planning conventions, expeditions around the globe to various areas where favorite fish are found and making serious efforts to put an end to illegal/inhumane practices within the fish keeping hobby is another.
I am considering this established and am looking for people who are SERIOUSLY looking to get this going in every way shape and form. Any suggestions and ideas are more than welcome. Any serious help will greatly be appreciated as I am committing myself to this cause to unite aquarists as efficiently as possible so that everyone can share their love in all aspects as fully as they wish.
I greatly appreciate anyone who took the time to read all this and am thanking everyone in advance for their help, suggestions and ideas. Please contact me through private message, MSN messenger and in this thread with all questions, concerns, ideas and suggestions. Again, serious help is needed as this is currently a one man show and everything is being taken into consideration right now. Also, just because you wish to help me initially set this up and get it going does not necessarily mean I will be taking you up on your offer. I do not wish this to come off as rude or ungrateful but I am looking for people who will be as committed as I during this setup process. I need mature people who can handle real responsibility and will be able to set a lot of time to this. This is the real deal people, I have no intentions of backing out of this. This is my dream, to unite all aquarists under one common philosophy and to push for unified ideas on what fish keeping should be about and how it should generally be executed.
I, Edward L. Ducharme III, am hereby establishing The North American Aquarist's Society on this Twelfth of February in the year 2009.