Oculus Aquatics presents Ret Talbot at ReefStock 2012 in Denver Colorado

We are pleased to announce our third speaker for the ReefStock 2012 marine conference in Denver Colorado will be Ret Talbot, presented by Oculus Aquatics. Ret Talbot will be joining our other illustrious speakers, Tony Vargas author of the Coral Reef Aquarium and Colin Foord of Coral Morphologic. Ret Talbot is the embodiment of the kind of socially-aware journalism that the marine aquarium hobby desperately needs in order to be up to date to the threats to our trade, and to be better stewards and consumers of resources of natural reef environments.

Ret Talbot will be speaking on Reefs to Reef Tanks – Sustainability and the Marine Aquarium Trade, which is precisely the kind of presentation that educates all manner of aquarists on how their participation in the local aquarium hobby has an impact on the global aquarium trade. We are extremely proud to have Ret Talbot joining the trifecta of powerful speakers who will be presenting at ReefStock, it’s going to be a heavy-hitting suite of presentations.

Bio – Ret Talbot is an award-winning freelance writer and photographer who frequently reports on the marine aquarium industry. Most often addressing topics at the intersection of the hobby, science and conservation, Talbot is a strong advocate for a robust and sustainable marine aquarium trade where aquarists serve a critical role on the front line of reef conservation. As a marketing consultant and editor, he has worked with many leading marine aquarium companies to promote that vision. When he isn’t writing about saltwater aquaria (or tending to one of his five tanks), Ret is often fly fishing in either salt- or freshwater and writing about conservation issues related to angling and healthy fisheries.

Trained as a writer, Ret holds degrees in writing from both Wheaton College (Massachusetts) and the University of St. Andrews (Scotland). He has travelled the world as a mountaineering and fishing guide, as well as a writer seeking out stories in some of the most remote and inaccessible regions on the face of the Earth. His aquarium-related books include The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Saltwater Aquariums (September 2009) andCoral (forthcoming). His aquarium articles can be found in print publications such as Coral Magazine, where he is a senior editor. Ret and his wife Karen, an artist known for her scientific illustrations of fishes, split their time between Laguna Beach, California and Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Abstract- Reef to Reef Tank: Sustainability and the Marine Aquarium Trade – This talk lifts the veil and gives the aquarist a glimpse into what goes into bringing a sustainably-collected fish, coral or other invertebrate from the ocean to the home aquarium. Based on Talbot’s travels across the Pacific reporting on marine aquarium fisheries for CORAL Magazine, this talk looks at the environmental and socio-economic impacts of the marine aquarium trade on developing island nations and gives aquarists interested in using their purchasing power to support sustainability some hands-on tools they can start using right away.

The talk is also a primer on the state of the marine aquarium trade within the context of legislation and litigation intent on closing marine aquarium fisheries and even the hobby in the United States. While this talk addresses some important issues head-on, it is not short on beautiful images and compelling stories about the animals marine aquarists love and how they reach aquaria around the world from some very remote corners of the globe. Some of Ret’s photography featured in the presentation will be available for sale after the talk, as will Karen Talbot’s reef-related scientific illustrations and fine art.

Jake Adams

Jake Adams has been an avid marine aquarist since the mid 90s and has worked in the retail side of the marine aquarium trade for more than ten years. He has a bachelor’s degree in Marine Science and has been the managing editor of ReefBuilders.com since 2008. Jake is interested in every facet of the marine aquarium hobby from the concepts to the technology, rare fish to exotic corals, and his interests are well documented through a very prolific career of speaking to reef clubs and marine aquarium events, and writing articles for aquarium publications across the globe. His primary interest is in corals which Jake pursues in the aquarium hobby as well as diving the coral reefs of the world.