A few of weeks ago, I got to sit in on a MASNA Live talk centered around the anti-aquarium activists in Hawaii. It was discussed, at length, about what organization or individual might potentially take the reins of the fight and become the face of the aquarium industry. A few suggestions were tossed into the mix by participants of the talk, and the entire discussion had me thinking about one individual that we eventually wrote a piece on, Ret Talbot. Ret has made such an impact in the fight to preserve our hobby and battle the malicious and intentional misinformation being perpetuated by anti-aquarium activists in Hawaii, and we thought he would have to continue to be the one-man army to get the issues out into the broader public realm. Little did we know, MASNA was already in the process of creating an initiative to identify misinformation and educate the masses as to what is actually going on when it comes to statistical data on fish collection. Called HawaiiBanFactCheck.org, this initiative is handled by the MASNA board members and the group will both identify misinformation perpetuated by anti-aquarium activists and attempt to educate the masses by using scientifically collected data. Though the initiative only officially went live yesterday evening, it is already off to a great start. The website is full of information and articles, and we will turn to it as a valuable resource.
More information below, including a couple of links.
Here’s what HawaiiBanFactCheck is all about:
HawaiiBanFactcheck.org is a Marine Aquarium Societies of North America (MASNA) initiative created to assess statements made in regard to legislation seeking to ban or regulate the marine aquarium trade in Hawaii.
HawaiiBanFactcheck.org monitors the factual accuracy of information disseminated by individuals, anti-trade groups, politicians, and others seeking to close or regulate Hawaii’s marine aquarium fishery, as well as information put forth by individuals supporting the trade.
The goal is to assess the accuracy of the information and educate the public about the facts concerning Hawaii’s marine aquarium fisheries and trade. MASNA—which supports a robust and sustainable marine aquarium trade based on a combination of aquaculture, mariculture and sustainable aquarium fisheries—represents multiple marine aquarium societies across North America and thousands of aquarists worldwide.
If you want to become part of the discussion, be sure to visit their website and “like” their Facebook Page.
