Nobody is keeping people at collection sites all the time, they might visit once a year.

I'm curious about what you consider a "major" retailer as well. Some of the places that people think of as big are nothing more than fax machines that send orders to large wholesalers. The wholesale outfit drop ships directly to the customer, the retail op never even sees your livestock.

Uhhhh...how exactly have can you say "nobody"?

I was speaking of a specific retailer who I KNOW has at least one collector in the Solomon Islands that I know of (met) and I believe more. He is there year round. I also am pretty sure they have more than a fax machine :wink:

What's the name of the shop?

Wikipedia - Cyanide Fishing
 

Here is how Cyanide fishing works and it's impact for those who are interested.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanide_fishing

Naesco,

The Mandarins I used to buy were not caught with cyanide, they were speared. Next time your retailer gets a bunch shipped in have a closer look, might see a scar along the dorsal or caudal.

Greenspotted,

Don't you mean Vanuatu?

Yes I posted on this technique earlier. MAC taught it to the fisherman.
But, as we both know, the availability of MAC fish is very limited.

Reefers should gladly pay the additional cost for these mandarins.
Continue to get them in whenever possible.

Vanuatu? Are you talking about the collector I met?

If so, I met him in Singapore (where my father lives) at a local reef club. He had brought them some hand picked fishes, some of which my dad bought. Im talking some multi thousand dollar specimens, so he delivered them himself (Singapore is MADE of money ;) ). I talked to him for a while and learned he works for one of the largest retailers (mostly online but they have huge facilities on both the West and East coast US, so actually they are probably not "mostly" online) but lives in the South Pacific. He is actually employed by that US company though and if you look at their rare fish and the amazing specimens they get, it makes sense now. He said he had just come from the Solomon Islands collecting some very rare puffer color morphs that he had only ever seen maybe 7 ever in his life. He had one at the reef club that day along with the angels and whatnot he had imported.

So I guess I should have said he collects in the Solomon Islands at least seasonally but I don't know for sure if he lives there. He just said he works for a US retailer but lives year round in the South Pacific. My father has gotten almost all his fish through the guy now.

So there are no MAC wholesalers though here in Canada? What about the US?

I don't know much about it, but if I ever found a retailer/wholesaler who was buying/selling MAC fish, I would shop exclusively with them :)

There is one MAC certified wholesaler in canada (right here in BC) but no certified retailers