Meeting Notes

April, 2009

President Sherry started the meeting with club updates. Posters are available for the upcoming auction. The lending library had 10 books. A breeders award update was discussed. Paul Lord is publishing a June edition of Delta Tales and is looking for articles from members.

Michael Barber gave us an update on the Hearst School aquarium renovation. The aquarium was originally purchased by Wm. Randall Hearst for the school which was named in honor of his mother who was an important figure in education. Darryl and Samie Staehle, a great, great granddaughter of Wm. Randall Hearst, donated over $30,000 to refurbish the aquarium, which is now estimated to be worth over $100,000.

The aquarium holds 146 gallons. There are angels, cories, and plecos and live plants in the aquarium. It is surrounded on one side by large windows which provide natural sunlight.

Our speaker was Dr. Paul Loiselle from the New York Aquarium. His talk was about freshwater conservation, and he gave a lively lecture about his many trips to Madagascar.

The island of Madagascar was isolated for a long time. It has a rainy season and a rainier season, he said. The east side of the island gets the most rain, with the west side of the island being drier. The fish found on Madagascar are related to species from Asia rather than from African fish.

Freshwater fish are seriously threatened fauna in Madagascar due to habitat destruction, fishing practices, and invasive exotic predators.

Population pressures lead to unsustainable native fisheries. Captive breeding programs save fishes like rainbows, killies, and cichlids.

Captive breeding has been successful in many Malagasy fishes, but there's a long way to go, said Dr. Loiselle. There are hardy and very easy to breed killies and rainbows. It's a good start at conservation.

Mark Harnet