mFrame Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 Gary with the Austin Aquadome was kind enough to share this letter. Gary has offered to match $250 of club donations. Anyone donating $50 or more will receive 1 year of Premium Membership here at ARC (to receive you can donate through the ARC store or do so individually and copy me on the receipt). Quote Dear Valued Customers, A few days ago, I sent out an appeal for donations to the ADE Project in an effort to show the Ministry of Fisheries that our industry is highly involved and concerned about Reef Conservation efforts, especially in Fiji. Perhaps you already received a copy. As a result, we did receive some very generous donations from various individuals who realized that without urgent action, Fiji’s supply of coral and live rock would cease to exist. I am now reaching out to you, my loyal customers, who depend on the Fiji supply to continue as a regular and steady supply to their businesses. I am sure you realize how the recent ban on all coral and live rock exports will affect your weekly business. The local aquarium exporters as well as over 200 local employees in Fiji have already suffered greatly. This ban strikes almost two years after a devastating cyclone took their homes, something they had just started to recover from. Now they are faced with 100% loss of income. As I previously shared, a few days ago I was able to sit with top Ministry officials to show them the positive impact the ADE Project has had on Fiji’s resources. I was also able to demonstrate how ADE will make Fiji a world leader for sustainable reef conservation efforts. My goal is to negotiate terms that would allow the local export companies to continue their regular operations. I based my proposal on the fact that we have planted more coral through the ADE Project (under the direction of Walt Smith International) than are exported out of Fiji from the reef. Surprisingly, this is something the fisheries’ office did not know. I gave them a copy of the ADE video and asked them to review this to better understand how we have a positive impact on the reefs in Fiji rather than the negative impact they have come to perceive. They called for another meeting next week after they review our material—the video is key. I now ask for your support. To date, the aquarium livestock and dry good wholesalers’ support for this effort has been minimal, and we need to show the Fiji Government we care about their resources. Our first major donation came just a few weeks ago from the WAMAS Aquarium Club in Washington DC, and after that, a few other smaller donations filtered in. After my letter a few days ago, I am pleased to announce that several hobbyists and a few livestock wholesalers donated, and for this we are very grateful. It is now time for the industry itself, those who depend on this supply for their income, to step up and support this initiative. There has never been a time when a donation from the industry side has been more crucial. If I can walk into our next meeting and demonstrate an overwhelming support from the very people who receive our shipments or depend on them to earn a living, we can show them that we have a united and compassionate industry that is on the front line of reef conservation. I can assure you that overwhelming support from you will speak volumes to our Ministry. Help me prove that our industry cares about their reef. This is your chance to shine. Your generous donation will allow me to display your company logo at the sponsorship level of the ADE website. Please do this now. ADE is a registered non-profit organization, and your donations are tax deductible. A receipt will be automatically emailed to you as soon as you press the donate button. Thank you all for your concern. Walt Smith The donation professional levels are listed below and will be listed under “industry contributions” on the ADE website with a copy of your company logo. Of course, any contribution you can afford will be greatly appreciated. All contributions to the registered non-profit org (ADE) are tax deductible. Please join in the fight to save your Fiji supply. $500+ = Reef Guardian $1000+ = Coral Crusader $1250+ = Reef Researcher $5000+ = Farm Ambassador $10,000 or more = Chief Conservationist https://www.adeproject.org/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted January 18, 2018 Author Share Posted January 18, 2018 The washington club made a $10k donation! https://www.reef2rainforest.com/2017/12/20/new-funding-for-ade-project-from-wamas/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 Donated! Just makes sense, especially since I just made money from the swap anyways! So everyone who bought a frag from me... You donated too! Give yourself a pat on the back! [emoji4] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolt Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 I donated too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 Just made my donation! Happy to be able to contribute something to this cause. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 I'm also going to Fiji in the summer, hopefully I'll be able to see some of these grow out racks in person and talk with some of the farmers. It would be awesome to get the opportunity to help plant corals on the reef with them on one of my dives! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo662 Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 Made my donation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin S. Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 3 hours ago, Gig 'em @ NDstructible said: I'm also going to Fiji in the summer, hopefully I'll be able to see some of these grow out racks in person and talk with some of the farmers. It would be awesome to get the opportunity to help plant corals on the reef with them on one of my dives! Wow, that's super awesome! Live the dream and take lots of pics for the rest of us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellfish Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 Donated to the cause. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 Sounds like we have met the $500 Reef Guardian status. Let's see if ARC can climb up to Coral Crusader! Let's go guys, let's show the world we truly care about this amazing and delicate environment and that we're more than simple hobbyists with fish tanks!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted January 19, 2018 Author Share Posted January 19, 2018 1 hour ago, Gig 'em @ NDstructible said: Sounds like we have met the $500 Reef Guardian status. Let's see if ARC can climb up to Coral Crusader! Let's go guys, let's show the world we truly care about this amazing and delicate environment and that we're more than simple hobbyists with fish tanks!! That would be great guys! I've gotten $200 through the ARC store, if you donated individually please let me know via PM so that I can update Gary about the match. Thanks for getting us off to a fantastic start! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Dogfish Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 Put in my $20.00. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 I donated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted January 25, 2018 Author Share Posted January 25, 2018 Current funds received through ARC stand at $320, enough to get the match from Gary and the crew at the Aqua-Dome. We'll run this collection effort through 2/14/18, so plenty of time to get in and help us hit the next level! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 Whoop! Good job reefers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted January 31, 2018 Author Share Posted January 31, 2018 According to Walt Smith's FB page Quote We can now happily say that Fisheries has officially withdrawn the ban put in place on December 28th! We are now waiting for the Department of Environment to hold the CITES MA meeting to discuss the quota’s and finalize everything. Waiting for clarification, but this seems to be great news! We'll be wrapping up the fundraiser and sending it to Walt and the ADE project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 The dive operation at the hotel I'll be staying at in Fiji this spring offers coral planting dives. Most definitely going to participate in that! I'm curious if it is related to the ADE coral restoration project Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted March 8, 2018 Author Share Posted March 8, 2018 Great news from Walt Smith Int'l! Quote Bula! I know its been over a month since we have put out an update, and trust me when I say we have been in the offices of the government every day of this 70 day ban. Walt and Dave spent this time providing data and records to show the Prime Minister and his staff how WSI operates and the sustainable efforts we have already established in the 23 years we have been in Fiji. After many long presentations and meetings the Prime Minister was convinced of our success, honesty and commitment to the Fiji Reefs. The government will be setting up an monitoring team to ensure compliance and work with us on the future of Fiji's Reefs, ensuring they will be around for everyone to enjoy forever. We openly welcome all of this as we have always had an open door policy toward our government. We can now officially say that the Fiji Coral ban has now been lifted and our quota for 2018 is being restored. WSI still has a rough road ahead of us in getting everything back on track but this is a huge hurdle and we are excited to be able to start getting back to normal business. Additionally we would like to thank many of you for donating to The ADE Project and this played a huge part in showing our industries commitment to sustainability. It is not to late to also help show your support and be part of the huge rehabilitation program for Fiji. www.adeproject.org www.waltsmith.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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