Sustainable Collection Revives in Papua New Guinea

By Ret Talbot

Special to CORAL MAGAZINE

In March 2010, I first met Daniel Navin in the departures terminal at the international airport in Brisbane, Australia. We were both headed to Papua New Guinea (PNG)—me to research an article for CORAL Magazine on PNG’s emerging marine aquarium fishery and Navin to begin a job with Seasmart, the US-based environmental consultancy working with the PNG government to establish said fishery.

Sixteen months later—in July 2011—I caught up with Navin in Los Angeles, as he was returning to PNG as director of the company with the sole license to export PNG marine aquarium life.

As readers of CORAL know, much had changed since when Navin and I first met in Brisbane. In a miasma of politics and finger-pointing, the joint trial program between PNG National Fisheries Authority (NFA) and Seasmart came to a premature end late last summer.

We know now that at the same time Seasmart was making a splash at MACNA in Orlando, the PNG marine aquarium fishery, for all intents and purposes, ceased to exist due to a loss of funding. By January 2011, a fishery previously synonymous with environmental and socio-economic sustainability became a polarizing force for industry insiders and aquarists alike.

Oh yea, and Navin was out a job.

Papuan children with Dan Navin, new head of EcoAquariums, the government-sanctioned sustainable collection program in Papua New Guinea.

Staying on in PNG

Actually, Navin left Seasmart prior to the end of Seasmart's operations in Papua New Guinea. CORAL readers will recall that Seasmart, feeling its government funding had been revoked prematurely and without cause, took PNG NFA to court in the fall of 2010. That court case, according to Seasmart officials who are no longer operating in PNG, is ongoing, but Navin has moved on.

“It was clear to me that Seasmart didn’t have a future in PNG,” Navin tells me about his decision to leave. “But I still believed that PNG had the potential to become the model for the future of a sustainable marine aquarium fishery.”

That’s the reason that even though Navin decided to leave Seasmart last fall, he chose to remain in PNG.

“Coral reef conservation has always been my passion,” says Navin, “and I still firmly believed that a sustainably and equitably managed marine aquarium fishery could be a very powerful coral reef conservation tool.” 

Navin realized PNG’s potential to create a model marine aquarium fishery could only be realized with “the right kind” of operator in place.

“PNG needed a private company that would be market driven and committed to sustainability,” he says. Being close to the inner workings of NFA and the industry at large, Navin knew there were several companies lobbying NFA for a license.

That’s when Navin decided to throw his name into the ring and form his own company, which would bid for and win the license to export PNG marine aquarium animals.

Pink Skunk Clownfish and anemone in an EcoAquarium fishery area.

Exclusive License to Export

When I caught up with Navin last month in Los Angeles, he was en route back to PNG as director of EcoAquariums Papua New Guinea, Ltd., and he was returning as the sole licensee permitted to export marine aquarium animals from the developing island nation.

The enthusiasm Navin has for the marine aquarium hobby in general was palpable on our first meeting in Brisbane—this was clearly more than a job for him—but as we discussed EcoAquariums’ future prospects in PNG, I could see his passion for the trade had gone to a whole new level. As he explained it to me, EcoAquariums was really just the logical end to a personal-turned-professional journey that had started long ago when he worked at a local fish store in his hometown.

"I started working at That Fish Place (TFP), a local fish store in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, when I was 15 years old," Navin recalls. For the next seven or so years, he worked at the store, first as a sales associate, and then progressing until, "without even realizing it at the time," he had launched a career in the marine aquarium trade.

"I got exposure to all kinds of marine aquarium species from all over the world while working there,” says Navin, “and I really got into saltwater tanks, then reef aquariums. Before I knew it, I was setting up a big saltwater pond in my parents’ basement, and, with the help of my friend and co-worker Cory Shank, we started a coral farm in the basement where we were growing coral frags and selling them to TFP.”  

While Navin says he learned a lot of the skills he uses today as a marine aquarium trade professional, he acknowledges he saw a lot of things he did not like about the marine aquarium trade at large. “These things inspire me to this day to want to change the way the industry is run,” says Navin. What things specifically? I ask him. “Seeing fish that have no chance of survival being routinely added to shipments, seeing high mortality rates in shipping and throughout the holding process, seeing fish die from cyanide poisoning—these things weren’t TFP's fault, but rather issues with the importers, and or the supply countries. I knew the game needed to be changed.”

Growing Up in the Marine Trade

Philosophy aside, from a local fish store in Pennsylvania to running a collection station in a developing Pacific island nation is quite a trajectory. Over a Carl’s Jr. meal on Century Blvd near Los Angeles International Airport (it is the little things you miss when living in a developing island nation), I asked Navin about how he first got to PNG back in the spring of 2010.

“It was my first weekend home after I came back from Iraq and got out of the army,” Navin recalls. “In a strange twist of fate, my friend Cory Shank convinced me to go to MACNA 2009 in Atlantic City after my North Carolina beach plans got scrubbed by a nasty tropical storm moving up the coast.

"I reluctantly followed him to MACNA, going more for the after-conference nightlife than the conference itself.”

Once Navin arrived at MACNA, however, his latent passion for the hobby (not too many saltwater aquaria in Iraq after all) came surging to the forefront. “I was immediately re-captivated with the allure of the marine aquarium trade,” Navin says between bites of a Guacamole Bacon Six Dollar Burger.

“Going from booth to booth at MACNA, I bumped into a booth advertising sustainably collected fish from PNG. I got to talking to the people at the booth, and the next thing I knew, I was handing over my CV and boarding a plane for PNG.”

That first trip to PNG was a three-week internship with (and job interview for) Seasmart. When the internship came to an end, Navin was offered a job as the coral mariculture manager. “I took the job with Seasmart,” Navin continues, "because I had grown addicted in the army to the feeling of working to make a difference in the world and working to help people. When the opportunity came for me to work in PNG—helping local people to improve their earnings—all while working to protect the coral reefs--it was a no-brainer.”

PNG Ornatissimus Butterfly with unusual markings.

Looking Forward

When it comes to the current state of the marine aquarium trade in PNG, Navin prefers to look forward instead of rehashing the past. When pushed, however, he reveals some of his feelings about his time with Seasmart.

“I worked with some very talented people at Seasmart,” Navin says, “and the approach in terms of science-based management was sound. It’s unfortunate that mismanagement at the top resulted in the troubles with NFA, but the core principles are something I still believe in.

"NFA invested a lot of money and resources into the work carried out by Seasmart, and it would be foolish to throw that all away for issues that really don’t have anything to do with the fishery or the science-based management plan created during the trial period.”

In Seasmart's Footprints

It is clear in looking at EcoAquariums' business model that the fledgling company is building on much of the work accomplished by the joint NFA-Seasmart trial program. For example, the fishery management area (FMA) where EcoAquariums is operating at present was fully surveyed during the trial program, and EcoAquariums is operating with established total allowable catch numbers in place for each target species.

In addition, many of the same fishers who were trained under the trial program will be working for EcoAquariums. NFA, which poured almost five million USD into developing the fishery during the trial program, remains very supportive, Navin says, and NFA officials confirmed that.

“After the closure of the Seasmart program, we made it known that we wanted the private sector to work in partnership with us to further develop the aquarium fishery in a highly controlled and regulated manner,” says Leban Gisawa, PNG NFA Inshore Fisheries Manager.

“We decided that the best way to do this was to start off by issuing a single, one-year trial license to one company that we felt that we could work closely with to develop the aquarium trade into a profitable fishery.” In late June 2011, NFA issued that one-year trial license to EcoAquariums.
 
“After receiving proposals and business plans from multiple companies, we chose to award the trial license to EcoAquariums PNG, Ltd.,” Gisawa tells me. “EcoAquariums demonstrates a unique ability to be able to supply international markets with high quality aquarium animals, while maintaining equitable trade with the local fishers, and establishing a profitable business model.”

"Wow" fish galore in PNG's relatively unfished reef waters.

Progressive Fisheries

After some of the accusations levied by Seasmart against NFA, it seemed fair to ask Navin about his comfort level working with a government, which has not always been known for its stability and where corruption has been a serious concern.

“PNG’s National Fishery Authority is among the Pacific’s most progressive, sustainably-minded fisheries agencies,” Navin says.

He points, for example, to PNG’s tuna fishery. “NFA has poured millions into tagging programs and establishing one of the Pacific’s largest no-take zones.”

Navin is a strong proponent for marine aquarium fisheries to be managed in a manner similar to food fisheries which, among other things, translates to science-based management. “If you’re not managing the fishery based on data, I don’t know how you can know it is sustainable, and, more importantly, how you can sell a product that you claim to be sustainable.”

While instability and corruption may be a fact of life in a developing island nation such as PNG, Navin tells me he is absolutely certain PNG is committed to getting it right when it comes to its fisheries resources—even its aquarium fishery. “They want their aquarium fishery to be the most sustainable, equitable, and well-managed in the world,” says Navin.

“We at EcoAquariums are fortunate to be building on very solid work,” says Navin in a recent EcoAquariums press release. “Having said that, we are approaching the fishery in a far more market-driven fashion [than Seasmart],” he goes on to say.

“We believe there is a market for equitably-traded, sustainably-collected and maricultured marine aquarium animals, and we’re looking to target that market, while being both fiscally responsible and inventive in our approach.”

A New Approach

So what is EcoAquariums really all about?

EcoAquariums PNG, Ltd. is a PNG company, formed in PNG. Navin is the director, and investors in the United States are primarily financing the company. The community of Fisherman Island owns 15 percent of the company in exchange for providing the land use for the export facility currently under construction on Fisherman Island. Iga Ware, who worked with Seasmart and is from Fisherman Island, also owns an additional 10 percent of the company, which he acquired by investing with his boat, time, and experience.

“By allowing the village to own 15 percent of the company,” Navin explains, “I get to use 900 square meters of beautiful seaside land, plus I get an entire village that has a vested interest in the company's success.” In addition, Navin tells me, “that 15 percent will get pumped strait back into a community development fund, which will focus primarily on funding the school, youth sports leagues and adult education on the island.”

In addition to the other “town-and-gown” initiatives outlined above, the contract between EcoAquariums and Fisherman Island states that the export facility will be open for use as “an educational facility,” where students and community members from the island can receive an education about the marine life surrounding their island. Navin tells me he plans on building a touch tank, although he admits that first the facility itself needs to go up.

“We are in the process of erecting a 21-meter by 10-meter open-air warehouse on Fisherman Island,” Navin tells me via a Skype interview. “This will serve as our fish-holding and export facility.” Navin believes that EcoAquariums can be far more efficient operating out of an open-air facility located on an island adjacent to where collection occurs then in a Port Moresby-based, state-of-the-art facility like the one Seasmart operated. As this article goes to press, timbers—sustainably harvested and equitably purchased from a nearby village—are being transported by boat to the building site. “We have already transported many glass aquariums, which are just waiting to be set up,” Navin says, adding that the entire set up should be complete in the next two months.

“Simultaneously,” Navin continues, “we are working with the 100 plus NFA-trained aquarium fish collectors to get them ready to begin collecting in the coming months. We, along with a seven-man NFA team, are re-training the fishers on sustainable and gentle collection techniques, re-equipping them with essential gear, and re-exciting them about the prospects of earning an income form the ‘otherwise worthless’ tiny reef fish.”

In addition to its direct support in training the fishers, NFA is also planning to conduct follow-up surveys in all collection areas where EcoAquariums will operate. “These surveys will be re-affirming TACs, and also adjusting those TACs for deeper water collection.” Navin tells me that EcoAquariums will have a few select collectors using SCUBA to reach deeper water fish, something that was never part of the Seasmart model.

WOW Fishes in Abundance

Those who have followed the PNG story for the past year and a half may recall the name Fisherman Island. This island, located adjacent to the capitol city of Port Morsby, is home to the fisher who collected the lightning maroon clownfish, and Navin says that, for whatever reason, there appears to be “an unusually high percentage of unique fishes in the waters around the Island.”

For example, EcoAquariums released a photograph today of a very uniquely patterned Ornate Butterflyfish spotted in the Fisherman Island FMA, as well as a picture of a Percula Clownfish with an interesting color morph.

“Rare fishes like this butterflyfish and some of the unique clownfish morphs we are seeing will, I think, reignite excitement for PNG’s marine aquarium fishery,” says Navin, who adds his fishers will not target obligate corallivores like the Ornate Butterflyfish unless it is for a very specific client who is prepared to meet the animal’s husbandry needs.

“The point is that we have some pretty amazing and unusual fishes here in PNG, and our fishers are keen to begin collecting for aquarists desiring uniquely beautiful, incredibly healthy and sustainably collected animals.”

When will we see those fishes? Navin tells me that PNG fishes will begin hitting North American markets before the end of the year.

Ret Talbot is a CORAL senior editor living in Laguna Beach, California.