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  • Kjell Fohrman
    Administrator

    • December 2001
    • 48148

    #61
    Ursprungligen postat av admin
    Donationer har varit stängda ett tag men är nu öppna igen. Fick detta brev från Ad:

    I had temporarily suspended the donate button of the Stuart M. Grant Fund because there were problems finding a new owner for the facilities on Maleri Islands. In the meantime we have found a new owner who is willing and ready to continue to produce and place the anti netting devices. I'll be in Malawi in May to meet with the new team and will report on the developments in June when I've returned. I have just reinstated the donate button and I thank you already in advance for your generosity.
    Ja och Ad Konings kommer ju till Ciklidstämman i april och då kan vi ju passa på att fråga honom om hur det hela har fungerat med AND-projektet
    Akvaristiska hälsningar
    Kjell
    Signatur 1. Frustra laborat qui omnibus placere studet
    Signatur 2. Jag är inte tillräckligt ung för att kunna allt och inte heller tillräckligt gammal för att ha glömt allt.

    Kommentar

    • Kjell Fohrman
      Administrator

      • December 2001
      • 48148

      #62
      Fick detta mail från Ad Konings

      Dear friends,
      This is the first update since a long time of absence. Last year we had a bit of a setback regarding the production and placements of the ANDs, because Alan had to sell his lodge on the Maleri Islands. The ANDs were made ready there and also the rocks of the island served as anchors for the net busters. The good news is that the new owners, Jimmy and Chris Giannakis, are keen to continue Alan’s work and will continue to place the ANDs. I’m very grateful to Alan for all his excellent work and wish him luck with his new venture in southern Malawi.
      Since my visit to the islands last September I wanted to improve some details of the contraptions, i.e. to add better floating material inside the AND because I found some of them that were leak and then became too heavy and sank to the bottom (where they are useless). My first idea was to replace the three plastic water bottles (empty) inside with floating polypropylene balls but I expected to get a large bag of balls for my $100 but that turned out to be a small box. Way too expensive. So now I’m thinking of a PVC tube inside with glued caps on either end and hope that this gives the AND enough buoyancy to keep it up when leak. Stuff in Africa takes time, as you are well aware off. In mid May I’ll be in Malawi and will meet the new owners of the lodge and we will make a “plan de attack”. We have about $12,000 at Pennstate waiting for things to get rolling again in Malawi. Jimmy and Chris also took over the account of the Maleri Island Community Trust which was used to transfer fund to from the US. We are back in business of protecting Malawi cichlids! Thank you again for your concern and your assistance. Enjoy your cichlids!
      Ad
      Akvaristiska hälsningar
      Kjell
      Signatur 1. Frustra laborat qui omnibus placere studet
      Signatur 2. Jag är inte tillräckligt ung för att kunna allt och inte heller tillräckligt gammal för att ha glömt allt.

      Kommentar

      • admin
        Christian Alfredsson

        • November 2004
        • 11233

        #63
        Detta kom efter jag betalade in denna månaden. Jag har valt att betala in 20$ varje månad så känns det inte lika mycket.

        --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

        thank you again for your continued donation. I'm just back from the Congo
        but am still a few days in Burundi. I have great news for the ANDs which I
        will write about next week when I'm back home. Thanks again!
        Christian Alfredsson
        Tekniskt ansvarig Zoopet

        Kommentar

        • Kjell Fohrman
          Administrator

          • December 2001
          • 48148

          #64
          Fick just ett mail från Ad Konings om AND-projektet och det var positiva nyheter

          Dear defender of Malawi cichlids!
          With the sale of the Maleri Island concession to Dimitri (Jimmy) and Chris Giannakis of Farmers World, Malawi, we were lucky to have engaging new owners who are anxious to protect Malawi fish. About a month ago I was in Malawi and met twice with Dimitri who also had the same idea as I had: to make much more durable ANDs that would function easily 10, perhaps more than 25 years in the lake. When I inspected a few of the ANDs last year at Nakantenga Island I was disappointed to see how quickly they had deteriorated. Worse, local fishermen now were trying their nets again as they noticed that many of the ANDs were either lost or, more likely, had sunk to the bottom where they are ineffective. We decided to construct a new type of AND from thick-walled PVC and stainless steel. PVC is locally available and Dimitri has made already a prototype using a 60 cm long pipe with a diameter of 10 cm. Both ends have glued-on caps and two stainless steel collars. The top collar has 4 hooks, to catch the nets, and the bottom collar has two eyelets to tie the anchor line (4 mm stainless steel cable). The whole construction with up to 10 m anchor cable has plenty of buoyancy so we will not see slowly sinking ANDs anymore. The PVC is blue (one of the two colors available in Malawi) which is impossible to see from a boat when the ANDs are tied up about 5 m below the surface.

          A second lucky strike we got when Leon du Plessis, a dive instructor who runs a dive school in Senga Bay (Wamwai), offered to place the ANDs. He suggested that, instead of hauling rocks from the island, drill holes, tie the AND, and then haul the whole contraption to its final resting site, the holes should be drilled underwater with a pneumatic drill. If everything goes to plan he will have divers who are in need of 50-60 dives for their certification as dive master, 30-40 dives of which are just to build up experience and not part of the training. During such non-training dives he will have these divers drill holes in the rocks and anchor the ANDs at specific places around the island. We found out that you can run a pneumatic drill from a SCUBA tank and the idea is that a diver goes down with a double tank of which one is used to drill 1-2 holes in a rock. A stainless steel lug bolt is inserted in the rock and the anchor cable of the AND attached. I have bought already the drill but will try it out at home if all works underwater before I send it off to Malawi.

          Anxious to do more for the environment Leon also offered to start replanting the sandy area along the east coast of the main island. Over the years beach seines (illegal on the islands of course) have taken out all vegetation. On the other side of the island there are still a few clumps of Vallisneria and from there he is going to replant Bata Bay, as the small bay along the east coast is called. Before putting any new plants in he is going to place some large rocks strategically on the sandy bottom so that nets cannot be moved over the plants. This work he will start first as we are in the process of getting quotes on the stainless steel material for the ANDs in South Africa and then the contraptions have to be welded and put together.

          In cooperation with Dimitri, Leon is planning a minimum-impact dive camp on the main island (the lodge is on Nankoma, the second largest island of the group) near Bata Bay. To have a camp site right there where work is needed will be beneficial to the project and volunteers can also stay at this camp on Maleri Island.

          For almost 18 months the project had been in limbo during which local fishermen realized that fishing was at some places again possible. Since Parks found that something had to be done in the interim they recently installed a team of guards (paid by Parks & Wildlife) with a boat at the islands. We decided to also support these men by providing fuel so that they can continue to make their daily inspection rounds. In this way we are going to protect the cichlids with a two-pronged approach and when Leon will be successful in replanting Bata Bay also that will drastically increase the nursery grounds for many utaka found at the Maleri islands. Pennstate has more than $12,000 ready to be sent to Malawi and these funds will go towards the purchase of the material necessary to make 200 stainless steel ANDs.

          It starts to look good for Malawi cichlids! Expect some photos and video clips this fall!
          Enjoy your cichlids
          !
          Ad

          Akvaristiska hälsningar
          Kjell
          Signatur 1. Frustra laborat qui omnibus placere studet
          Signatur 2. Jag är inte tillräckligt ung för att kunna allt och inte heller tillräckligt gammal för att ha glömt allt.

          Kommentar

          • admin
            Christian Alfredsson

            • November 2004
            • 11233

            #65
            Skänkt lite pengar igen. Tror det är viktigt att bevara artrikedom till våra barn och framtiden
            Christian Alfredsson
            Tekniskt ansvarig Zoopet

            Kommentar

            • admin
              Christian Alfredsson

              • November 2004
              • 11233

              #66
              Då var det lite mer pengar insatta till fonden. Skänk lite du med.
              Christian Alfredsson
              Tekniskt ansvarig Zoopet

              Kommentar

              • VisualDarkness
                • February 2010
                • 7417

                #67
                Fick en mindre lön idag så 20$ till projektet.
                180l Sällskap:
                http://www.zoopet.com/akvarium/akvarium.php?NR=648
                60l Asien:
                http://www.zoopet.com/akvarium/akvarium.php?NR=663

                Kommentar

                • Kjell Fohrman
                  Administrator

                  • December 2001
                  • 48148

                  #68
                  Trevligt - Christian och Visualdarkness.

                  Tror säkert att vi kommer att få en urförlig rapport om detta projekt av Ad Konings under "Akvariehelgen" i vår när Ad kommer hit
                  Akvaristiska hälsningar
                  Kjell
                  Signatur 1. Frustra laborat qui omnibus placere studet
                  Signatur 2. Jag är inte tillräckligt ung för att kunna allt och inte heller tillräckligt gammal för att ha glömt allt.

                  Kommentar

                  • admin
                    Christian Alfredsson

                    • November 2004
                    • 11233

                    #69
                    Pyntade in 20 dollars igår. Går superlätt via PayPal

                    Fick detta från Ad:


                    Dear friend of Malawi cichlids!

                    This is an update on the Stuart M. Grant Cichlid Conservation Fund. You
                    can read this online which has also two video clips embedded by going to


                    At the FOTAS/CARES meeting (Nov. 4-6, 2011) in San Antonio, Texas, I was
                    dumbfounded and excited by Melanie Stiassny’s presentation of her work on
                    the Congo River. She discussed mainly the fish fauna of the Lower Congo, a
                    stretch of a little more than 200 km but in which she found already 332
                    different species of fish of which more than 90 are endemic to this part of
                    the mighty Congo! A staggering number if you compare that with other rivers
                    in Africa. It also drove home the message that we still know so little
                    about the biodiversity of vast areas of Africa. And that at a time when
                    governments, with their eyes on the money, make broad-ranging decisions on
                    the future of these areas without knowing what is really at stake. Of
                    course, the quality of life and the sustainability of the area’s
                    biodiversity rarely play a role in such decision making. This was also
                    evident in Paul Loiselle’s presentation on the state of fish diversity on a
                    global scale and how it suffers from industrialization and burgeoning human
                    encroachment on freshwater habitats.

                    While I presented the latest developments of the ANDs in Lake Malawi
                    National Park, Rick Borstein of the Greater Chicago Cichlid Association,
                    asked what the total sum is that is needed to protect the Maleri Islands
                    and parts of the Cape Maclear area with ANDs. I didn’t have the answer
                    ready, but with the price of the new ANDs at about $50 each and estimating
                    that about 2000 of these are needed to cover the shorelines of the various
                    islands, I offered the sum of $100,000. This is far from an exorbitant
                    amount, and afterwards Lawrence Kent of the Bill & Melinda Gates
                    Foundation, suggested that I should be able to write a grant application
                    and submit it to one of the big environmental organizations, because
                    $100,000 is considered small change by his and many other organizations. I
                    thought about his suggestion, but I have other factors to contemplate in
                    our quest to save the Malawi cichlids. First of all, I’m 100% sure that we
                    aquarists can come up with this amount and that we are in time to protect
                    the majority of the Malawi species that are endemic to park waters.
                    Secondly, imagine the immense satisfaction by all who have participated in
                    the program ten years from now when all is set and done, and when we are
                    enjoying the fruits of our efforts. Just consider the Babes In The Cichlid
                    Hobby (fondly translated by my friend Marco Arroyo as “Las Putas”),
                    Caroline Estes, Pam Chin, and Pam Marsh, who have worked very hard at every
                    convention, traveling on their own dime, auctioning fish paraphernalia that
                    they have begged, stolen (hope not), or borrowed from their friends, and
                    entertaining us as well. In the last four years they were able, besides all
                    the other needed causes they work for, to donate $6,500 to the fund!
                    Imagine their satisfaction when they see that all is well in the Lake
                    Malawi National Park. I don’t want to steal their and your happiness by a
                    possible “take over” of big money. The placing of the ANDs is a slow
                    process and I’m confident that we can keep pace with donations and spending
                    costs.

                    A propos the placing of the ANDs, I received great news from Leon du
                    Plessis, who has now been established (with his wife Ingrid) as manager of
                    the lodge on Nankoma Island, that he was able to drill two holes in a rock
                    underwater with a single SCUBA tank with the pneumatic drills that I had
                    sent last summer. See a little video clip online. He now also has the right
                    accommodation for those of you who want to learn to SCUBA dive or who want
                    to become master diver. Those in the latter group are also involved in
                    helping Leon to place the ANDs. In August 2011 Pennstate transferred about
                    $6000 from our fund to South Africa to purchase the first batch of
                    stainless steel (good for 200 ANDs) which has arrived in Malawi. Dimitri is
                    now preparing the new design ANDs which will soon be available to be
                    employed in the lake.

                    Critics of CARES and of any other captive breeding programs uphold the
                    notion that a species’ genetic diversity is quickly lost because of
                    inbreeding and can never replace the lost diversity of the original
                    population, and also that reintroduction of captive-raised fish into the
                    original habitat has never been achieved successfully. Well, the last
                    statement is incorrect as successful fish reintroductions have been
                    completed in Europe as well as in the US. I’m not aware of any such efforts
                    with cichlids but I don’t see any problem in that. The fact that wild
                    caught cichlids can quickly adapt to the artificial environment of aquaria,
                    the reverse should pose no problem either. We have, unfortunately, proof of
                    the cichlids’ ability to introduction in Lake Malawi (and also in Lake
                    Tanganyika) where over the years cichlids have been introduced at various
                    places by collectors of ornamental fish.
                    Many rock-dwelling cichlids stay their entire lives within hundred meters
                    of their place of birth and in principle form relatively small breeding
                    groups within the population. The genetic diversity of such local groups is
                    not necessarily larger than that of a captive breeding group. For several
                    of the species kept in captive breeding programs their genetic diversity is
                    millions of times higher than that of their wild counterparts because there
                    are no wild counterparts; these species are extinct in the wild!
                    Reintroduction may not copy exactly the genetic makeup of the original
                    population, but it is a lot closer to the real thing than no fish at all.
                    We have a chance to prove that this works and we may even be able to
                    involve Malawian students in the project. Along with the tremendous
                    over-fishing and species loss that is taking place in Lake Malawi, the
                    demise of a few cichlid species is to blame to unscrupulous collectors;
                    case in point: Pseudotropheus saulosi. This species is endemic to Taiwanee
                    Reef which is a large reef, but most of it is in water deeper than 80
                    meters. The area where P. saulosi lives, where they find the algae they
                    feed on, is rather small, like the size of a quarter football field. It
                    doesn’t need a lot of imagination to see that the population of any endemic
                    cichlid at the reef is vulnerable to over-fishing. Till about ten years ago
                    P. saulosi occurred in sometimes large schools of hundreds of individuals
                    that wandered through the habitat foraging from the biocover on the rocks.
                    During the last decade several collectors of ornamental fish have
                    concentrated on catching large numbers of P. saulosi and as a result the
                    species is becoming scarce. When I visited the reef in August 2010 there
                    were only a few specimens to be seen. The large boulders you see in the
                    video clip posted online used to be covered with hundreds of P. saulosi but
                    in 2010 there were only three individuals on this rock and many boulders
                    had none at all.


                    The program I envision should consist of the following stages:
                    1. Local government should forbid the collection of any rock-dwelling
                    cichlid (P. saulosi and Protomelas sp. ‘steveni taiwan’) at Taiwanee Reef.
                    This does not affect the local fishermen who collect utaka in the area. I
                    also understand that there would hardly be any enforcement possible apart
                    from inspecting what fishes are exported from Malawi.
                    2. A survey of the extant population of P. saulosi in the upper 20 meters
                    of the reef (they are very rare in deeper areas) should indicate how many
                    can be collected for a captive breeding program. Since I don’t expect a
                    large genetic diversity 25 females would be sufficient to guarantee a say
                    95% of the existing diversity.
                    3. A small fin clip of the live fishes (breeders) would be taken (anal fin
                    of females and tip dorsal fin of males) and the DNA analyzed to get an idea
                    of the diversity. The DNA typing can be done abroad.
                    4. Breeding groups are set up in Malawi to prevent legal problems when
                    importing live fish back into Malawi.
                    5. After one/two years, reintroductions can take place and monitored every
                    year thereafter. If, however, the fishing ban was effective, the species
                    could have (partly) recovered on their own account and reintroduction would
                    not be necessary.

                    This would be a simple project that shouldn’t cost much money to complete.
                    It would certainly emphasize the importance of the work others do by
                    maintaining endangered species in captivity. In the case of P. saulosi if
                    we wait any longer we may need to reintroduce the aquarium strains.
                    The FOTAS/CARES convention made one thing clear and that is that action is
                    needed now, when there are still opportunities. After all the years we have
                    enjoyed cichlids, Paul Loiselle said it best: “Folks …it’s payback time.”

                    Without your input and generosity many Malawi cichlid species will not be
                    there 20 years from now.
                    Enjoy your cichlids!
                    Ad
                    Christian Alfredsson
                    Tekniskt ansvarig Zoopet

                    Kommentar

                    • admin
                      Christian Alfredsson

                      • November 2004
                      • 11233

                      #70
                      En video från arbetet med AND

                      Leon du Plessis drilling a hole in a rock in Lake Malawi using a pneumatic drill powered by a single SCUBA tank. Video contains no sound.
                      Senast redigerad av admin; 08 November 2011, 19:08.
                      Christian Alfredsson
                      Tekniskt ansvarig Zoopet

                      Kommentar

                      • admin
                        Christian Alfredsson

                        • November 2004
                        • 11233

                        #71
                        Donera en liten peng direkt: http://www.cichlidpress.com/smgfund/smg-donate.html
                        Christian Alfredsson
                        Tekniskt ansvarig Zoopet

                        Kommentar

                        • Kjell Fohrman
                          Administrator

                          • December 2001
                          • 48148

                          #72
                          Intressant läsning.
                          Och man skall uppenbarligen (förutom att skänka pengar till AND-projektet) definitivt inte köpa VF Pseudotropheus sauosi och egentligen bojkotta de affärer/grossister som säljer sådana
                          Akvaristiska hälsningar
                          Kjell
                          Signatur 1. Frustra laborat qui omnibus placere studet
                          Signatur 2. Jag är inte tillräckligt ung för att kunna allt och inte heller tillräckligt gammal för att ha glömt allt.

                          Kommentar

                          • källebacken
                            • February 2006
                            • 574

                            #73
                            Ursäkta en dum en men vad gör dom på filmen och varför.. ska skänka en peng snarast...
                            Annica

                            Kommentar

                            • malawijanne
                              • October 2006
                              • 504

                              #74
                              Jag lägger upp mailet på svenska, så att vi som inte är så haj på engelska fattar.Janne
                              Fick detta mail från Ad Konings

                              Kära vänner
                              Detta är den första uppdateringen sedan en lång tid av frånvaro. Förra året hade vi lite av ett bakslag när det gäller produktion och placeringar av och, eftersom Alan tvingades sälja sin lodge på Maleri öarna. Och gjordes klar det och även stenar av ön fungerade som ankare för the net busters. De goda nyheterna är att de nya ägarna, Jimmy och Chris Giannakis, vill gärna fortsätta Alans arbete och kommer att fortsätta att placera och. Jag är mycket tacksam mot Alan för hans utmärkta arbete och önskar honom lycka till i hans nya företag i södra Malawi.
                              Sedan mitt besök till öarna i september förra året som jag ville förbättra vissa detaljer om contraptions, dvs att lägga till bättre flytande material inne och eftersom jag hittade några av dem som var läckan och sedan blev alltför tung och sjönk till botten (där de är värdelösa). Min första idé var att ersätta de tre vatten plastflaskor (tom) inuti med flytande polypropen bollar men jag förväntas få en stor påse med bollar för min $100, men som visade sig vara en liten ruta. Sätt för dyrt. Med limmade matcher på antingen slutet och jag hoppas att detta ger och läcker tillräckligt flytkraft att hålla det när så nu tänker jag på ett PVC-rör inuti. Grejer i Afrika tar tid, som ni väl vet utanför. I mitten av maj I be i Malawi och kommer att uppfylla de nya ägarna av lodge och vi kommer att göra en "plan de attack". Vi har ca $12.000 på Pennstate väntar på att få rullande igen i Malawi. Jimmy och Chris övertog också hänsyn till den Maleri Ö gemenskapens Trust som användes för att överföra fonden från USA. Vi är tillbaka i verksamhet för att skydda Malawi Cichlider! Tack igen för din oro och din hjälp. Njut av din Cichlider!
                              Ad


                              malawi.forum24.se

                              Kommentar

                              • malawijanne
                                • October 2006
                                • 504

                                #75
                                Det förstod jag för ett par år sen att det skulle gå så med salusi, så därför har jag satsat på en grupp salusi, demasoni kommer att bli den nästa mbunas som kommer att komma i farozonen, om den inte redan har hamnat där.
                                Så visst är det bra att det finns folk som odlar ciklider.
                                Trots att det ur miljösynpunkt tydligen är helt värdelöst, eller vad tycker du Kjell, som alltid förespråkar VF.Janne


                                malawi.forum24.se
                                Ursprungligen postat av Kjell Fohrman
                                Intressant läsning.
                                Och man skall uppenbarligen (förutom att skänka pengar till AND-projektet) definitivt inte köpa VF Pseudotropheus sauosi och egentligen bojkotta de affärer/grossister som säljer sådana

                                Kommentar

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