ORCA supports the Banggai Project

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BANGGAI RESCUE


This project will produce BANGGAI RESCUE, an authoritative book in hardcover, softcover, and e-book editions telling the remarkable story of the Banggai Cardinalfish, a beguiling coral reef species at the confluence of fishery issues in developing countries, sustainability, and aquaculture.

A darling of the aquarium trade, this fish connects native fishing families in a remote region of Indonesia with aquarists worldwide, but overfishing and a mysterious virus now threaten it. As many of you may be aware, overfishing of the Banggai Cardinalfish has been cited as a factor in the species being placed on the IUCN Red List as "endangered." This is alarming since this fish has only been widely available in the hobby for less than two decades.

The Banggai Rescue Project aims to investigate and document the extent of the decimation of the Banggai's natural populations and to support research into large-scale captive aquaculture methods. The Project is seeking funding for their expedition and a book documenting their findings. The book will be sold to offset the costs they incur.

Funding will allow an interdisciplinary team, including scientists and an embedded journalist, to mount an expedition to the Banggai Islands to document the story and develop new protocols for the mariculture and captive breeding of this species. The expedition is planned for May 2012, and an experienced publisher has committed to the book project.

ORCA has pledged $250 towards this project. The project has now exceeded it's funding goals and is a "go". Past 2010 MACNA speakers Matt Pedersen and Ret Talbot are involved and on this team. We wish them well.

You can follow their progress here http://www.banggai-rescue.com/banggai-blog/

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and ORCA is already listed as sponsor :
http://www.banggai-rescue.com/suppor...rate-sponsors/

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UPDATE (from Banggai-rescue.com) - As of Sunday 8 April, our Banggai Rescue Kickstarter campaign came to an end. We had a goal of $25,000.00, but thanks to your enthusiasm for the Project, we raised $33,006.00 (that’s 132% of our goal)! We are excited to put your backing to good use, and we’ll be keeping you updated on exactly what that looks like both on the ground in Indonesia and back here in the States.

So what’s next?

Well first off, you should know all of us on the team have already been hard at work on the Project, so knowing we now have the funding is tremendously rewarding (and a huge relief!). In terms of the rewards, all of you who backed the Project at $10 or more will be receiving an email from us in the next month to discuss any options associated with your reward (e.g., art print or photographic print, name as it is to appear on the website and in the book, etc.) and to make sure we have the proper address for you. If you would like to review your reward level, you can do so here on our Kickstarter page at any time.

The best part of what comes next is staying abreast of what we are doing. You should expect reports from the team as we continue to work toward the publication of the book planned for release at MACNA in Dallas (September 2012). So be sure to check www.Banggai-Rescue.com as well as the Kickstarter page, and if you have any questions, thoughts or comments, feel free to be in touch by using the contact information found here: http://www.banggai-rescue.com/contact.