MAMTI is a collaborative undertaking of the international not-for-profit organizations, including the Marine Aquarium Council (MAC), Reef Check, and the Conservation and Community Investment Forum (CCIF). The project promotes the use of market-based instruments in conservation and sustainability of coral reefs through an internationally recognized international Certification system.
More than allowing ease of tracking commodities in a sometimes complex global supply chain, the interaction among stakeholders and researchers is leading towards the implementation of environmentally-sound practices through the tropical fish collection value chain, an industry whose existence has just recently been acknowledged.
Called the "IT Traceability System", the web-enabled, integrated information technology system was developed by MAC with the Spanish software company Soluziona. This system operates on a technical platform provided by the Microsoft Corporation. The IT Traceability System addresses the data and information needs of all players in the industry (e.g., collectors, exporters, importers and retailers). It also strengthens coral reef conservation efforts through sustainable management and responsible industry practices. The technological innovation holds promise of transforming the image and reputation of the global aquarium fish trade.
MAC is an international multi-stakeholder organization that brings together the aquarium industry, fishers and their communities, conservation organizations, public aquaria, hobbyists and others to create standards, certification and labeling for quality and sustainability and harness market forces to transform the trade. Building on the good practices used by responsible industry players, the MAC multi-stakeholder process created international Standards covering the entire "Reef to Retail" supply chain with requirements for third-party certification of quality and sustainability in marine aquarium fishery and industry.
Through worldwide multi-stakeholder consultations, MAC developed four international standards covering the entire chain of custody: for collection areas, the Ecosystem and Fishery Management international Standard; for fishers, the Collection, Fishing and Holding (CFH) Standard; for exporters, importers and retailers, the Handling, Husbandry and Transport Standard; and for the breeding and culturing facilities, the Mariculture and Aquaculture Management Standard.
Mac Elle is an important player in the marine aquarium trade. Elle is an aquarium fish trader for the United Association of Tropical Fish Collectors in Hambongan Island. Traders act as consolidators and business managers for a group of tropical fish collectors.
Prior to the implementation of "IT Traceability", Elle was struggling with reconciling data on fish species and quantities shipped to exporters in Cebu. Information on the numbers and conditions of fish arriving at exporters' facilities, recorded on paper and returned to the collectors only after the goods are checked, took longer to transmit and, thus, led to some ruffled relations between collector-harvesters and traders - and between traders and exporters. There was also virtually no exchange of information regarding the best means of handling the organisms that were being traded.
Information on fish arrival condition is important. There are a total of 18 collector-harvesters in Hambongan Island, one of the collection areas being assisted by MAC. All of these collectors were recently assessed and recommended for MAC Certification under the CFH Standard. Being MAC-CFH Certified means that these collectors are following internationally recognized best practices. They only harvest the species ordered by exporters who had also ordered those species ordered by their buyers. Collectors don't anymore harvest fish which are not on their order lists, eliminating "wastage" of stocks.
Collector-harvesters turn their catch over to a trader. It is the traders' duty to pack the live fish and invertebrates for shipment. Much care is taken that the organisms are handled properly as they could die en route to their destinations.
With "IT Traceability", a combination of a web-based system and short messaging service, Elle is in touch with exporters, in real time. Exporters no longer take orders verbally from exporters whenever they happen to visit a facility - which proved tedious and unreliable. "IT Traceability" is allowing quicker turnaround time, real-time and documented communication. Through the PDAs provided by MAC via the Academy for Educational Development (AED), Elle, and other traders in the Philippines that participate in the program, are advised of any mortalities in the cargo as it is unloaded at the exporters' facilities, or immediately thereafter. They are also advised if any of the fish or invertebrates were rejected at the exporters' screening phase -and why, allowing them to analyze and make improvements in the collection, holding, handling, husbandry or transport of the commodities.
Through this system of "continuous improvement", the trader is able to accurately determine the amount of cash that should be paid to every collector-harvester in his group. Training in proper collection, handling and transport of fish and invertebrates is giving collectors better income per unit effort as they get paid for more fish reaching exporters in good condition.
The "IT Traceability System" supports the conservation track of MAC and its partners. Upon installation of the IT-based hardware at the village level, traders, and their spouses, who normally act as finance managers for both the households and of the aquarium fish businesses, were thoroughly trained in putting commodity-related information into the database. All the data encoded from fish collection areas are collated in a database created by MAC, as a means of developing a credible picture of the aquarium trade from "reef to retail" in order that appropriate measures may be taken to establish total allowable catch levels (or annual catch quotas).
Parallel to providing PDA's to fishers, MAC and partners engage collection area stakeholders in comprehensive coastal management programs springing from what they call the Collection Area Management Plan (CAMP). The CAMP represents a multi-year environmental sustainability action plan for the coastal community.
In San Francisco, Camotes, Agricultural Technician Dulcesima Maramba heads the Collection Area Management Plan Committee (CAMP-C), a multi-stakeholder body that sees to the implementation of the CAMP. Maramba reports that the number of marine protected areas or fish sanctuaries in her town is increasing as more and more residents are convinced of the need to conserve coastal and marine resources. By October 2006, two barangays had started the process of establishing Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and two others were in the proposal stage.
The local government of San Francisco has elected to work with MAC and its partners. With technical guidance from Reef Check, the CAMP-C has established total allowable catch limits for most species of tropical fish found in the municipality's waters. If an exporter makes an order for a species whose catch limit has been met, coordinators are immediately able to send advice through the " IT Traceability System". A yearly review allows for adjustments to fish catch limits.
Aside from implementing and enforcing catch ceilings, the CAMP-C has also campaigned against illegal fishing practices - dynamite and cyanide fishing - once a bane to conservation initiatives around Camotes Island. The local government has as well allotted budgets for non-extractive livelihoods for fishing communities.
The local government of Inabanga, Bohol, is also actively participating with MAC in the program. Agricultural Technician Renante Cempron reports that Inabanga's tropical fish collectors have been trained in sustainable practices, among them the use of barrier nets, species identification and resource monitoring. Fish collectors are involved in coastal resource management planning. They were among the sectors consulted in the formulation of the town's second five-year Coastal Resource Management Plan for implementation from 2006-2010.
To help uplift the way of life of collector-harvesters, the Conservation and Community Investment Forum (CCIF) - an international NGO working with MAC- recently introduced residents of Hambongan to microfinancing opportunities. CCIF was able to convince a local bank to open a non-collateralized loan fund and a savings window for the residents of Hambongan who were formerly availing of informal financing at usurious rates. The facility has enabled 69 Hambonganons, most of whom live below the poverty line, to access a formal banking institution, allowing them to borrow on friendlier terms, establish credit track records and learn the value of sound financial management.
MAC, through the MAMTI, is enabling communities, collection area stakeholders and exporters in the Philippines to adopt best practices and meet standards to ensure quality and sustainability in the live tropical fish trade. The "IT Traceability System" is among the tools that have been developed to help achieve a closed loop in the chain of custody of live tropical fish. The system proves that technology does have meaningful applicability in the lives of communities existing outside of the mainstream.
The dead woman was identified as Apolinaria Tariman Isabeda. Her son Jestoni, upon reaching home for dinner, found her body hanging from a rope that was tied to a steel bar protruding from the concrete wall of their unfinished house.
Jestoni quickly shouted for help prompting his maternal uncle, Manuel Tariman, and neighbors to run inside the house where they retrieved the body by untying the rope from Apolinaria's neck. They tried to revive her but they failed.
Talamban policemen, led by SPO4 Efren Hermosa, and tanods, led by Bacayan barangay captain Zenaida Colina, rushed to the scene after receiving the report of the incident.
They found Apolinaria's body already laid on top of a bamboo bed inside the house. An examination of the body showed it had no other visible external injury except for the contusion mark around her neck.
Apolinaria's husband, Godofredo, a 42-year-old ice cream vendor, and other informants told the police that she had just arrived home two weeks ago from Manila where she worked as a cook.
They said that they noticed Apolinaria acting strangely and saying that somebody was following to try to kill her. They said she was showing signs of someone who has a nervous breakdown. Godofredo even told SPO4 Hermosa that they brought Apolinaria once to the doctor but this did not result to anything better because she would not take the medicines prescribed to her.
"Gikan ni sa Manila nanarbaho didto as kusinera, pero pag-uli diri tulala na, unya gidala bag-ohay lang sa doktor kay gipatambalan pero dili man mo inom sa tambal, unya mag sige og ingon nga naay magsunod-sunod niya,nga naay mo patay niya", the police quoted Godofredo's story.
Apolinaria's body was later taken to a funeral home for autopsy, as advised by the policemen. - Norvie S. Misa/RAE