Papua New Guinea has long been a hotspot for biological diversity on land and especially in the Sea. Taxonomists of every discipline always find new species when they search PNG’s natural environments, birders marvel at the endemic birds of paradise, SCUBA divers are astounded at how abundant and diverse the marine life is, and saltwater aquarists have long pined for a chance to get some reef fish and corals from the region.
There’s been a couple ill-fated attempts at getting some kind of marine ornamental exports going from Papua New Guinea, but today we are excited to tell you that there’s a new venture starting up in Port Moresby, PNG’s capital. Golden Ocean PNG Ltd. will be designed and operated by the team at RVS Fishworld, the same talent which regularly brings us precious filipino fish, and a steady supply of fish exotic species from Madagascar including tiger angelfish and gem tangs.
We’ve been tracking the discoveries of Papua New Guinea from afar and are intimately familiar with the Tufi damselfish, Vanderloo’s Angelfish, Aurifrons dottyback, Michael’s Epaulette Shark and Milne Bay is an Ecoregion unto itself. Taking things a step further, we’ve already personally worked with local agencies to survey the reefs to scout for desirable aquarium species and strains, and while we were at it gave them a little feeding boost.
Unlike SeaSmart and EcoEZ which shipped a limited amount of marine ornamentals from very few places in PNG, Golden Ocean PNG Ltd. will be operated less like an NGO and more like a professional marine life exporter. A modern new facility is being built from the ground up to give the fish and corals the best care possible, and the substation model will be used to develop a strong, personal, lasting and sustainable relationship both with the communities of Papua New Guinea and the natural environments.
Even before the facility is completed, net training programs for collecting fish and coral farming workshop for maricultured corals will be held. This extended training is important in order to educate the current and future generations of local stake holders of the best practices and most sustainable methods for keeping their local reefs as productive as possible.
If you want some measure of how successful RVS Fishworld and its partner stations have been at starting up in new areas, you needn’t look any further than how the opening of Madagascar led to the availability of so many exotic reef fish and an almost commoditization of gem tangs. Having been to PNG before and seen firsthand the richness that PNG’s reef fish and corals have to offer we are beyond excited for what the future holds in terms of livestock from Papua New Guinea.
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