Lateral Line October 2006.pub - Hill Country Cichlid Club

Volume 2, Issue 16 October 2006Inside This IssueHCCC Photo ContestFall 2006 AuctionLes Kaufman Interview

The Lateral Line Page 2BAP ReportOctober 16, 2006INSIDE THISISSUE:Photo Contest 3Fall Auction 2006 4Les Kaufman Inteview 7Event Calendar 19Upcoming Events:• Christmas Party Dec. 16thThe entries for September cooled down from the last two hot monthsfor the BAP. The month did start out with a class "C" spawn of Cyphotilapiafrontosa submitted by David (Dockusan). And the lastentry of the month was also submitted by David with the entry ofNeolamprologus brichardi. David donated the frontosa offspring andthe parents of the brichardi to Aqua Bid. Congratulations on thespawning and for donating to the FOTAS Fund.Two entries, both 1st of species, were submitted by Charles(Tangfish23). The spawns consisted of the Herichthys cyanoguttatusand Ptyochromis salmon. Congratulations Charles especially on theBrackenridge FO Texas Cichlid (Herichthys cyanoguttatus). You'llhave to write an article on breeding them, because I always thoughtthey were hard to breed and youcould share your secret watering holefor catching them. CongratulationsCharles.Diane (Gryhouse) also entered Septemberwith an entry of Cynotilapiaafra "Lumbila". CongratulationsDiane, keep up the good work. TheCynotilapia afra species seems to be one of the favorites of clubmembers. (Nick A just posted some pictures of his Afras and I seewhy they are a favorite, pretty fish.)Just a reminder that October 31st marks the end of the BAP year. Soget your last entries submitted before the end of the month.Cover Photo:Katria katriaby Dave HansenBAP standings on Page 11■ Jim Beck

The Lateral Line Page 3HCCC Monthly Photo ContestFirst PlaceDiane TennisonHeros efasciatus (Turquoise)Second PlaceLisa BoormanApistogramma viejitaThird PlaceDuc NguyenNeetroplus nematopus pairJudging by Bob Nuchols

The Lateral Line Page 4HCCC Event:Fall Auction 2006The annual fall auction held at the BrackenridgeMethodist Church on September 2, 2006was a tremendous success this year. Youwould believe I would suggest the successwas due to the amount of money theclub collected. The club did fare well inthe money category; however the successI lead to is the support the club received.The church supports our function byoffering us the use of reception hall at avery reasonable rate. This year the feewas donated by Dave's Rare AquariumFish which is owned and operated byDave (DS1196). Thanks Dave for thesupport.Photo by Jennifer PrinceOur auction would not be the same if Dave(Mullet) did not add his commentary to hisauctioneering skills. You did a great job again,Photo by Jennifer PrinceDave, thanks. Also thanks to Charles Jones fordonating his auctioneer talents again and drivingfrom Houston to help the club. They makeit look easy, but take it from me, first hand, itis not. Thanks again, Dave and Charles. Andif it was not for Greg (GAS) donating the audioequipment, the auctioneer's voices wouldhave not lasted long. Thanks Greg for the useof the equipment.Setting at the table just to the left of the podium,was Diane (Gryhouse) and Yvonne(Lemurtx). They were the two ladies whonever take a break and keep up with the mundanetask of entering all the data on the fishbeing sold. This task is not only boring but atedious one, making sure all the information iskept up to date. Thanks Diane and Yvonne fordonating your time to help out at the auctionagain.

The Lateral Line Page 5When you first enter the church you encounterour registration table. Here is where all theseller and bidder cards are issued, along withraffle tickets. This is also where the money issupporting our auction and you may have seenthem after passing the registration table. Atray load of "Specialty Chocolate Candy Fish"was available for samples and was made byMelody and Marty James. They weregreat and I only had one (not!). Also atthe table for sale were monogrammedHCCC shirts, made available by Doc(Dockusan) and his mother, VirginiaDockwiller, the seamstress. Thanks forthe support.Photo by Jennifer Princecollected during the auction. This year Duc(Bassic) had assistance from Jennifer(Princer7). They did a great job, thanks Ducand Jennifer and thanks to Nick (Nick A) whowas at the table for relief. He also helped Jenniferand Stacy, giving some relief to Lisa, byentertaining her children while she participatedin the auction. Also thanks toRobert (Ripple) who keeps up with all thesupplies: paper, pens and colored tags,and the registration sheets. He makes newbidder cards every year because the oldones don't make it back. Robert not onlytakes care of all of the club's printingneeds but also maintains our website.This year there were two new "venders"This year Nathan (Vaderjedi) took overthe task of re-bagging all the leakingbags that take place during the day.Thanks Nathan for you support and aspecial thanks to you from Dave(DS1196), who did not have to "man thetank" this year. The oxygen tank and fishbags were donated again this year by Jeff(JJOilrig). He also brought bags of fishfor the auction, so thanks Jeff for your supportagain this year.There were numerous members who broughtfish to sell and among those were others whobrought bags and bags and bags of fish to beRiver City Aquaticsa proud supporter of the HCCCMember discounts:20% off livestock10% off dry goods / 10% off aquariums12108 Roxie Dr., Suite DAustin, TX (512)219-7200

The Lateral Line Page 6(Tangfish23) and I (Bristlenose) who participatedin the bag transportation. Thanks to allwho helped with this labor.I saved a very special group of people for lastto give my thanks and the thanks of the club.You couldn't miss them, even thoughthey were not as tall as the podium.These were the boys and girls who presentedthe fish for viewing. They traveledup and down the center isle, showingthe fish and then presenting the fishto the lucky winner. They were relentlessand never tired and even though Itried to give some a break, they wouldn'thear of it. Thanks to the parents for allowingyour children to participate andlet them know how much we appreciatetheir help.Photo by Jennifer Princeauctioned and helped make the auction a success.Marvin England and John Hansen notonly brought a huge amount of fish but traveledfrom a great distance to get here. Marvin isfrom Texarkana and John is from Percey Arkansas.Not only the gas money and lodginginvolved but because of the time involved intraveling, the fish were given a resting spot atDRAF. Then the next morning the fish werebagged again for the auction. Thanks toboth of you for your time and support.Also Dave's Rare Aquarium Fish (San Antonio)and River City Aquatics (Austin)made large quantities of fish available.Appreciation to the members who transportedthe fish from the preview tables tothe auction table. There were many whohelped with this and most likely I will forgetsome. However, thanks to Greg (GAS),and his daughter, Karli, to CharlesThanks to all who support the club duringthe year and a special thanks to eachand everyone who participated in anymanner to help make the auction a success.Amazonia Internationala proud supporter of the HCCC■ Jim BeckMember discounts:20% off Fish & Live Plants10% off Tanks, Stands, Eheims & Eclipses25% off Filters & Powerheads4631 Airport #116 Austin, TX(512) 451-0958

The Lateral Line Page 7HCCC Dialogue:Interview with Les KaufmanIt is with great pleasure that I present this dialogueI conducted with my mentor Dr. LesKaufman in September of 2006. As my interestin the cichlid flock of Lake Victoriaevolved, it became evident that there were veryfew people who could provide a first hand accounton native aspects of these fish. I firstapproached Dr. Kaufman in the late 90's withwhat I now realize were most mundane questions.He graciously took the time to answerall my queries and has continued to present.Much of my education in regards to these fish,has come directly from Dr. Kaufman. The timehe has spent relaying his knowledge to me cannever be repaid or forgotten. I hope you enjoyreading this interview with one of the nicestpeople in all fishdom.Greg: I first began corresponding with youduring your tenure at the New England Aquarium.Could you touch on your life and influencesbefore this time?Les: I was born in Brooklyn New York wheremy dad, a machine tool and die guy and plantmanager, brought a stream of tiny frogs andturtles home from vacant lots and pet stores.We moved to southeast Queens when I was 8,and there I became a marsh rat in the JamaicaBay Wildlife Refuge gathering snakes, plants,and other stuff for mysterious and unknownpurposes. Did music. Got into birds and butterfliesthen continued with snakes and lizards.At 12 I got my first freshwater aquarium.Cichlids came soon after and bit hard. I beganworking in the pet department of JJ Newberry'sin Valley Stream, NY at 16, thengraduated to high-end pet store running saltwater section at around 17. I centered highschool science projects on cichlids. In the latesummer and fall I would snorkel Far Rockawayfor marine tropicals.I attended college at Johns Hopkins in Baltimorewhere I was introduced to orchid culture,protozoology, astronomy, and lacrosse.These all seemed to be legitimate reasons toignore classes. I began hanging out in woodseating nuts and berries, tending my advisor'sorchid collection, and staying up all night doing19th century astronomy on a magnificentAlvan Clark 9.5" refractor telescope with abrass, mechanical governor. I taught astronomyfor walking around money, while specializingin evolutionary ecology in the Earthand Planetary Sciences Department.

The Lateral Line Page 8I was turned onto Lake Victoria haps by SteveStanley, one of my profs. I fell in love, thenmade deal with Jeremy Jackson to whip myacademic ass into gear in return for going toJamaica and did so. I spent two summers as aplant geographer helping to map trees of Maryland.I then got invited on 5-month explorationof algal and coral reefs in eastern Caribbeanwith Walter Adey of the Smithsonian. Thisevoked some life changing experience. Jeremymade good on his promise in spades, and I enteredgrad school at Johns Hopkins beginningmy thesis work in Jamaica on determinants ofcoral reef fish community structure. I finishedmy thesis on damselfish-coral interactions.From there I spent 2 years in Baltimore (whilefinishing up my Ph.D.) as a Research Scientistwith the Chesapeake Bay Institute, leadingbenthic surveys in Chesapeake Bay usingSCUBA.I shacked up with a medical student (not firsttrue love, that's another story) who wanted tomove to Boston. Meanwhile I'd met KarelLiem, the cichlid guy of Harvard. We agreedto collaborate. My wife got placed in Bostonresidency, but Karel and I did not get our grant.Karel offered me a post-doctoral research coverageoffice, Harvard appointmentthough no salary. We moved to Bostonin 1980. I spent 3 lovely years immersedin cichlid-dom and became friendly withHumphry Greenwood who visited Cambridgeregularly. I married the medicalstudent; Karel and Humphry danced atour wedding. Humphry taught me aboutLake Victoria haps.A large hurricane hit Jamaica devastating reefstructures and Jeremy called the DiscoveryBay regulars back to study hurricane effects. Ibegan to get small grants which led to the firstsaturation mission Hydrolab in 1981, studyingreef fish community structure. I continuedcichlid research with Karel and we publisheda few papers. My career hit overdrive but mymarriage hit the rocks because I was not makingmoney. I had begun consulting for theNew England Aquarium in 1980. I entered adark period of continued post-doctoral workwhile teaching part-time at four universities(up to 3 at one time) and got a part-time positionat UMass in Boston. I separated from myfirst wife in 1981. In 1982 I met my current(hopefully last) wife through a bizarre connection.I began doing nature cinema with PeaceRiver Films in Cambridge, under contract toWGBH Television (NOVA). This continuedthrough 1983, when I was hired full-time atthe New England Aquarium as Curator ofEducation and Senior Scientist. I startedworking with Lake Victoria cichlids again in1987. I moved through several positions atAquarium until becoming Chief Scientist in1989, same year as Lake Vic cichlid programDave’s Rare Aquarium Fisha proud supporter of the HCCC5121 Crestway Drive Suite 300San Antonio, TX 78239 (210) 599-9444Member discountswww.DavesFish.com

The Lateral Line Page 9became an official studbook, and later an SSP(species survival program). 1989 was my firstexpedition to Lake Victoria.Greg: Many of us have enjoyed your articlesthat have graced the pages of National Geographicover the years. It is evident that youare passionate regarding the ecology of theplanets coral reefs. You have widely noted thedecline of these complex eco-systems in manyareas but especially the Caribbean. Most recentlyit would seem that the exploration ofFijian reefs have captivated you.How did your relationship withThe National Geographic Societycome about and can we expectfurther writings from you inthis prestigious publication?Les: Tim Laman, a renownedNational Geographic photographer,happens to be a friend ofmine. We met in westernUganda, when his wife CherylKnott, a famous primatologist,was working on reproductivecycles in chimpanzees (catchingpiss from the trees). I was at the camp in KibaleNational Forest with my colleagues Laurenand Colin Chapman, where we had a projecttogether called "Fish and Chimps". It wasreally just an excuse to work and to help eachother with our respective studies of haplochromines(me originally, now all of us),swamp fishes (Lauren and Karel), chimps,monkeys and parrots (Colin), and tropical trees(Colin and my obsession, for different reasons).Tim and Cheryl were visiting for Cheryl'swork, and Tim I think was after hornbills.Some time later, Tim and Cheryl came overthe house to show my wife Jackie and mesome underwater pictures that Tim had taken.I'd worked with a couple of the world's finestunderwater photographers, and Tim's workwas their equal, really fantastic! I told Tim heabsolutely had to expand out from rainforeststo coral reefs in his National Geographicwork. I'm sure he'd already thought of that.Tim kindly insisted that he would only do it ifI wrote to his pictures. Now,that is not how National Geographicworks; normally theydo not sanction photographerwriterteams. Tim writesbeautifully himself, and is anaccomplished scientist, anexpert on strangler figs andbirds-of-paradise, among otherthings. Tim went to bat for meat Geographic, with the ideathat I would help him out on astory about biodiversity hotspotsin the Pacific. By thattime, I was already beingcalled on occasion to help out the story researchersand editors at Geographic, and mycolleague Greg Stone had featured my work inDarby’s Tropicalsa proud supporter of the HCCC10% off Livestock & Plants5514 IH 35 SouthNew Braunfels, TX 78132(830) 625-1122

The Lateral Line Page 10a story he wrote about the Aquarius underseahabitat. Tim must have been very persuasive,because the story was approved and I was assignedas the writer. At the time I was in chemotherapyand although it at first appeared thatI could go on the Fiji trip, I wound up in thehospital for a respiratory infection just beforeeverybody had to leave. So Tim went off withhis photography partner Zafer Kizilkaya (awell-known Turkish photographer), andboarded the dive vessel Nai'a for a terrific trip.I recovered, and amazingly, our editors at NationalGeographic approved a second trip toFiji in October, which allowed me to go at last.That was when Tim, Zafer and I became ateam. While in Fiji we quietly began on anotherpossible story about why coral reef organismswere so brightly colored.Tim pitched a couple of new stories includingour color story, it was approved, and we wereoff to Indonesia together on another adventure.We worked in Bali, Flores, and Komodo,mostly. We really fell hard for Komodo andhope to go back there to do some more work.I hope to do more work for National Geographic,especially with Tim and Zafer, butthis is up to my editors and the magazine, notme! I seem to be entering a good remissionfrom my bone marrow transplant, and if thatholds, I look forward to being back in thewater and writing for Geographic again.Like so many of us, I grew up with themagazine and think of it as one of America'sgreat institutions.Greg: While at the New England Aquariumyou invoked the Lake Victoria SpeciesSurvival Plan. This involves various institutionsaround the country housing founderstocks of cichlids. It is my understandingthat many species collected for this programmay now be extinct in their native waters.You also initiated the traveling "Nyanja"exhibit displaying the animals from LakeVictoria. How did these programs evolve andcan you measure their success?Les: You are giving me too much credit. Idid launch the effort at AZA (American Associationof Zoological Parks and Aquaria) toestablish SSP's for fishes, but I had the verygood company of Paul Loiselle, Doug Warmoltzof the Columbus Zoo, Roger Klocek ofthe Shedd Aquarium, and many other finecolleagues and advanced hobbyists, all ofwhom played equal and crucial roles in thebirth of that program. Some of the top priorityspecies in the program have no recent recordsfrom Lake Victoria. The zooplanktivoreYssichromis argens is one of those, although

The Lateral Line Page 11there is a chance it may have been spottedagain in Tanzanian waters. Another is Platytaeniodusdegeni. A few have reappeared sincethe program began, such as Macropleurodusbicolor, now apparently regular along the Tanzanian-Kenyanborder. Some we found closerelatives of in satellite lake refugia; a speciesvery like Lipochromis parvidens, from theLake Kyoga system, is one. We now have permissionto begin reintroduction experiments inreservoirs and some naturally species-poorsatellite lakes, but at the moment the funding isnot there to continue much biodiversity work inthe Lake Victoria region. Our hopes are withour students, such as Dr. William Ojwang, whois heading out of my lab and back to Kenya atthe end of this week.Although I frequently stir the pot at New EnglandAquarium, it is the staff there who initiatesnew exhibits. The "Nyanja!" effort was spearheadedby Dr. Mark Chandler, who is now withEarthwatch. There is some goodnews about "Nyanja!". CynthiaLee of Toronto Metro Zoo has Namesucceeded in leading the jointLV-SSP effort to secure fundingto reproduce the exhibit for ourAfrican partner institutions. Wehave waited a long time to bringit all home!The news from Lake Victoriaitself is not entirely good. Despitemassive expenditures by theEU and the World Bank, the severalhundred million dollars ayear generated by the Nile perchCurrent BAP StandingsGreg S. 360Charles 350David D. 165Jim 120Diane 120Nick A. 105Jennifer 90Lisa Bo. 55fishery, and the Lake Victoria EnvironmentalProject that my colleagues and I helped theWorld Bank to fashion in order to addresslocal problems in lake ecology, economy, andpublic welfare, are still doing very little- notnothing, but little to help in alleviating poverty,malnutrition, and suffering around thelakeshore. Anybody who is interested in thisproblem should see Hubert Sauper's awardwinningfilm, "Darwin's Nightmare". Thefilm has been lambasted by the TanzanianGovernment and the Lake Victoria FisheriesOrganization for being one-sided and untruthful.Well, it is entirely and almost only aboutthe grave regional problems aggravated byglobalization of the Nile perch fishery. So theone-sided part is true. But the stuff about thefilm showing untruths about that side of thesituation, are way, way, way off base. It isalways easier to deny unpleasant realities thanit is to do anything about them.Current Standings (cont)NameYTDDave H. 50Greg W. 50Robert 50Greg W. 30Eric 40Duc 25Walter 20Lisa Bl. 15

The Lateral Line Page 12Greg: As of late you have been involved in aproject dubbed "MMAS". What exactly is thisall about and is there a possible relation withthe African Lakes?Les: During the time that I have workedaround Lake Victoria, it's been in varied capacities.On my first trip I was just sort of ascience tourist. When one of our lead scientists,Peter Kilham of the University of Michigan,died in Kisumu on that expedition, I wasasked by Peter's close friend from MichiganState, Dr. Bill Cooper, to take over for him asleader of Lake Victoria Research Team, thenunder NOAA funding. We were all veryshook up, but I did eventually do as Bill suggested.In 1992, the National Science Foundationfunded me to lead a lake-wide workshopon what was happening to Victoria, its fishesand fisheries, and that got a lot of attentionfrom the scientific community, the media, andThe World Bank. The Bank asked me if Iwould be willing to assist in putting together,on behalf of the east African region, a requestfor support from the Global Environment Facility(GEF). These things work in slightly oddways, yes. I spent several months of visits toAfrica over about a year and a half movingabout the lake and soliciting the assistance ofmy scientific colleagues and government ministers,to put this proposal together. In thistask, I was lead for "Biodiversity, Fisheries,and Exotic Species", and my colleague BobHecky held a similar role for "Limnology andWater Quality".What the scientific community collectivelywanted for Lake Victoria was a system ofadaptive management. Adaptive managementis a term whose meaning was formalized bythe great senior ecologist "Buzz" Holling. Itdraws heavily upon the philosophies put forwardby Aldo Leopold. The basic idea is thatwe really never will fully understand nature,and certainly can not imagine that we are incontrol of it. However, things that people doto the environment are now promulgated onsuch a huge scale that they have very greatimpacts, not only on nature, but on all of thepeople dependent upon it. Due to all this uncertainty,our activities that impact the environmentshould be conducted as experiments.That is, in a controlled fashion and beginningon a small scale. If they work, great, scale up.If they do more harm than good, then weshould obviously abandon that particular gambit.Adaptive management became the primaryobjective of the Lake Victoria EnvironmentalManagement Project (the GEF project). Weconceived a program with all the necessarycomponents: an education and outreach effortto promote a vision for the ecological andeconomic health of Lake Victoria, a monitoringcapability in the lake for both native andintroduced species and water quality, water-Lisa’s Lair BookstoreOnline BooksVarious Discounts forHCCC Memberswww.lisaslairbookstore.com

The Lateral Line Page 13shed restoration and monitoring, and fisheriesrestoration and monitoring. We also advancedthe notion of protected areas, to serve as indicatorsof what the lake ecosystem might look likeif a particular management action were notcarried out. Many of the specific ideas for investmentcame from stakeholder groups whomet all around the lake during the preparatoryphase of the grant. I was greatly emboldenedin all this work when I was honored with a specialaward from the Pew Charitable Trusts formy work in Lake Victoria. This was called the"Pew Scholarship in Conservation and the Environment",and I was the first aquatic biologistto get one, in the first class of Pew Fellows (in1990). However, the award has since becomea marine program and is now known as thePew Fellowship in Marine Conservation.LVEMP was funded to the tune of about $77million US to the three east African nations,and it went on to do many good things. However,nearly every scientifically important provisionin the original plan was ignored, andwhat exists now can hardly be considered adaptivemanagement. It is more like a fisheriesmining enterprise.I was very disappointed and frustrated by thisexperience. Apparently it would take time tomake all this work in Africa. However, thatdidn't stop me from trying elsewhere. I feelstrongly that environmental science has an importantrole to play in society, specifically tohelp society go gently on our life support system,and to anticipate and adapt to changesbeyond our control.So, as one step I started working in earnest inthe Gulf of Maine, right at home around Boston.With two close colleagues, I establisheda new graduate training program called "TheSeaing Eye". Students in this program arerequired to craft a thesis that is equal partstheory and modeling, experiment, and undersea(or underlake) exploration. The otherrequirement, the most important, was thatthese students would join me in working sideby side with local fishermen, whenever possibleon their own fishing boats. I also becameactive on several committees of the New EnglandFishery Management Council and theStellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary,always trying to advance the principles ofadaptive management, here in the New Englandregion.I'm still active in that, but that hasn't gonevery quickly or well either. Lately there ismuch greater hope around the Gulf of Mainebecause there are new policy initiatives afootthat are very promising.So, I shifted my most enthusiastic energies toCalifornia, where it seemed things were a bitmore progressive. There we have had somereal success, or at least the beginnings of success,but once again as part of a very largeteam. Out of nowhere in 2000 I lucked outwhen colleagues from the University of Californiaat Davis dubbed me "DistinguishedResearch Fellow", and my family and I tookoff for a summer stay at the Bodega MarineLaboratory north of San Francisco. Whilethere I studied up about rockfishes (whichhave a lot in common with cichlids, actually).

The Lateral Line Page 14After that, along with my fellow Pew FellowsBurr Heneman, a policy expert, and Rod Fujita,a vocal marine conservationist and Boston Universityalum, we worked with Tom Barnes ofthe California Department of Fish and Gameunder funds from the David and Lucille PackardFoundation, to create a management planfor California's near-shore fisheries that wouldbe in compliance with a new law called theMarine Life Management Act. The MLMAgave us the authority needed to create a newkind of fishery management plan, one based onthe entire ecosystem and not just one species ata time. We also wrote into the regulations thatestimates of the numbers of fish that could becaught must eventually be based upon monitoringthat compares otherwise similar habitatthat is under protection, versus open to exploitation.The struggle in California has had itsups and downs, but incredibly, our movie starGovernor Schwarzenegger has gone whole hogfor ocean conservation and has been one of ourbiggest allies. So there is great hope for California.With California moving along, I wanted to getback and try this same stuff out on coral reefs.A few years ago I was asked to help ConservationInternational to organize a conferencecalled "Defying Ocean's End". I co-chaired aworking group for this conference with my oldgraduate advisor, Jeremy Jackson. The workshopwas called "Restoring and MaintainingMarine Ecosystem Function". We published abook out of the DOE conference, and ourworking group has a chapter in that book ifanybody is curious. To anybody who had followedmy peregrinations from Africa to NewEngland to California, it would all look very,very familiar. We basically advocated adaptivemanagement of near shore tropical ecosystemsas the best way to ensure marine conservation.After the DOE conference, friends from ConservationInternational approached me to helpin writing a grant proposal to actually do someof the stuff that we talked about in the workshop.So I did. Thus, we created the MarineManagement Area Science program proposal(MMAS). The proposal was put before theGordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and itwas funded for about half of what we requested,still a great deal of money. I becameSenior Principal Investigator, and we hired aSenior Director, Dr. Leah Bunce (formerly ofNOAA), to administer the project.With a lot of help from our ten-member ScienceAdvisory Committee, MMAS has nowbeen planned out and it is now ramping upabout 30 different projects or "activities" asthey are called. But the bottom line, rightacross the board, is science for adaptive management.The project is basically in two parts.One is to set up a global observatory of siteswhere MMA's have been established. Ateach site, the MMA system is turned into asort of ecological telescope to observe humanimpacts on the marine system, and to find outhow well management and conservation effortsare working. The four initial nodes arein Brazil, Belize, the eastern Pacific, and Fiji.The other half of MMAS is to do basic researchin natural and social science that allows

The Lateral Line Page 15us to run the global observatory better. We areinvestigating new monitoring methods, informationtechnology for decision tools to helpmanagers, deep sea exploration to better understandhow marine habitats are linked, and studiesin biotechnology to develop new ways todiagnose the health of coral reef, sea grass andmangrove creatures and their communities.Our hope is to know when things are goingwrong long before the corals, sea grass, ormangrove trees turn sick and die, by whichtime it is often too late for this generation.I am working very hard on this project now.Meanwhile, I am hoping to return to Lake Victoriaand help to put adaptive management intoplace there, at last, for the benefit of everybodyliving around the lake.Greg: What can Joe Q. Hobbyist do to furtherconservation efforts involving their favoriteanimals?Les: There are several things that all of us cando to promote conservation of our charges intheir wild homes.The first, and the easiest, would be to worktogether to reshape the tropical fish industry sothat the benefits of our purchases in wealthycountries flow maximally to the peoples whoare the environmental stewards of aquariumorganisms in the wild.There are many ways to do this. First, we caninsist that a significant percentage of every fishand piece of related gear that is sold, go to aspecial conservation fund. PJAC could organizethis, or it could be done any number ofother ways, closer to the grass roots. But towork big, it must ultimately scale up to thefull extent of the aquarium industry. Thefund could also attract philanthropic donationsfrom a variety of publicly shared companiesand private sources. These funds should belarge enough to establish an endowment. Theinterest from the endowment should go toimproving the lot of local communities designatedas partner environmental stewards. Theexpenditures could be on anything, from education,to health, to setting up protections forlocal reserves. Imagine turning the LakeKyoga Satellites into a national park to protectremnants of the Lake Victoria haplochrominefauna! Imagine new schools and public healthclinics going up, with a haplochromine astheir insignia! Imagine locals having greatpride in their tiny, colorful fishes, and becomingthe guardians of clear, healthy waters.This kind of project could work very well as apartnership on the US side between the aquariumindustry and the public aquariums, but Iwould recommend that rank and file hobbyistsremain front and center in the effort, to keep itclose to the heart. Want inspiration? Look upProject Piaba, and its effort to turn the Amazoncardinal fish trade into something goodfor local residents in Brazil.Want to do something just as an individual?Become a pen pal to a schoolchild in Uganda,Kenya, or Tanzania. Help that kid get throughschool, meanwhile learning all he or she canabout Lake Victoria, its treasures, and how toensure that he or she can continue to dependupon the lake. Remember, even at worst, thekid will eventually know more than you will,

The Lateral Line Page 16especially once he or she has the benefit ofconnectivity and information that you can provide.That kid will eventually become an influentialcitizen or leader at lakeside, holding andpromoting a vision of health for the lake and itspeoples.You can also simply support an organizationdoing good work around Lake Victoria. Checkout Partners for Health, and see what they aredoing in the Great Lakes region- the countriesof Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Democratic Republicof Congo, Zambia, Malawi, Burundi,Rwanda. Find out what the human healthproblems are out there. If you want the fishesto survive, the people must be secure first.My recommendation is to make the first thinghappen. It would take a lot of work and commitment.But....you asked!Greg: You have mentioned William Ojwangwith immense respect many times. Now thathe is returning to Kenya, what is he working onthat has held him in such esteem? Are therecontemporaries to William in Uganda and Tanzania?Les: Ask William for yourself. He is here fora few more days. Also, Mbabazi Dismas andWilson Mwanja in Uganda. There are others.All students or beneficiaries of LVEMP's trainingprogram. I suggest William as your firststop.Greg: You have collaborated with Ken Malloryon a wonderful booked titled "The LastExtinction. You have countless scientific publicationsto your credit along with variousmagazine articles. What projects are youpresently involved in and what lies in wait?Les: "The Last Extinction" was actually ananthology, so in reality we collaborated withfive other authors, as well. And my publicationsare hardly countless- I haven't countedthem lately but they're rather average forsomebody at my stage of career. What isodd, but I seem to have gotten away with it,has been my range of interests and strong centerin natural history. My current researchprojects include continued work on cichlidsand studies of food webs and forage fishes inthe Gulf of Maine. I'm continuing my collaborationstracking fishes in and out of protectedareas on the Florida reefs using acoustictelemetry. Most of my time, though, is dedicatedto the MMAS program, with my sleevesrolled up on several of the research activities.I'm also working with my National Geographicbuddies on a popular book about coralreefs and if I'm lucky will get to do more articlesfor the magazine. I love to teach and

The Lateral Line Page 17look forward to returning from medical leave toa new course on the ecology of StellwagenBank National Marine Sanctuary, and a revampedgraduate course, called "BiologicalDesign for Sustainable Development" featuringAfrican case studies, among others. Above allelse, however, I'm getting more interested inthe links between the health of marine ecosystems,and human health and welfare. I'mdeeply entertained by the study of nature, butam feeling the shortness of time, and wish totranslate my knowledge into wisdom that canhelp people lead better lives. And personallyI'd like to get back to having fun as an exploreragain, though I think I can pull off both in onestroke.Greg: Recently you were rediagnoised withthe CLL form of leukemia. I can imagine thatthis year has been trying for you and your family.Would you update your condition? Do youhave any thoughts to share with others that arebattling similar foes?Les: It's called CLL (chronic lymphocyticleukemia), and I was first diagnosed back in1997 and given five to seven years to live. It'snine and one half years now. As a statisticallyinclined biologist, I knew that it was hard toapply that statistic to me as an individual, but itwas still a shocker. I was treated once withchemotherapy and monoclonal antibodies, andgot more than two years of freedom from illness,but then the disease came back (as indeedexpected) and I went through chemo again beginninglast October. This time, it was recommendedthat I go for the bone marrow transplant,which I did, with my sister as a perfectmatch. I am now more than two months outand feeling well, though of course out ofcrowds, trains, planes, buses, sushi, kids,dogs, teaching, and alas, Africa and the tropicalocean, for about a year. It is a miracle anda gift that I can do so much of my work froma computer now.It was strange to be diagnosed with this cancerthat was thought more typical of folks twentyor thirty years my senior. But a few yearslater, my mom was diagnosed with it, and twoyears after that, it killed her. I've benefitedfrom several advances in treatment that probablyjust saved me, and being in Boston, a centerfor CLL research, is fortunate as well. Myadvice to anybody facing the same kind ofchallenge is to read my colleague StephenSchneider's book, "The Patient From Hell",and to be a strong and knowledgeable advocatefor themselves. A powerful spirit andstrong will to live, which I happen to have,can only help. A loving and dedicated spouseor friend may not be essential, but I could notimagine going through this without my wifeand lover, Jackie Liederman, by my side, andregret the impact that this has had on her andon my 19-year-old son, Justin. Along theway, I've been greatly comforted by family,students, by other friends and colleagues includingseveral from Africa and Europe,members of my department at BU, and especiallymy associates of more than a quartercentury from the Harvard Museum of ComparativeZoology and the New EnglandAquarium. I've received many kind wordsfrom acquaintances in the aquarium hobbyand appreciate them all. It is important not to

The Lateral Line Page 18feel singled out or persecuted. We all haveproblems, we are all mortal, and we can helpeach other through it until that moment whenneither personal pain nor gains are issues anylonger. Fortunately the problems of this worldand lately our own political leadership arehighly distracting.Greg: I really appreciate your time. Your lifethus far has been a fascinating ride and I thankyou for sharing. The Hill Country Cichlid Clubmembership is very hopeful that circumstanceswill allow you to be our feature speaker whenwe host FOTAS in September of 2007. Wehave been honored by your judging of ourphoto contests and insightful comments. Perhapsour club could take the lead in implementingsome of the suggestions you havemade in regards to cichlid conservation. Youhave truly been a bridge between science andthe aquarium hobby and on behalf of all cichlidhobbyists, thank you for your devotion tothe fish we all love.Les: I hope so too!Photo credits:Mike Ratunamasa - NAI'A - DIVE FIJI & BE-YOND - PACIFIC ISLANDS TRAVELThe Pacific experts. explore@naia.com.fjBoston University - http://www.bu.edu/biology/Faculty_Staff/lesk.htmlSpecial Events:F.O.T.A.S. 2006The Houston Aquarium Society proudly bringsyou F.O.T.A.S. 2006. The event will takeplace October 22nd—24th. The host hotel willbe:The HOTEL SOFITEL425 North Sam Houston Parkway EastHouston, Texas 77060281-445-9000Speakers for this year’s convention will include:Heiko BleherRusty WesselJeff SenskeSchedule of EventsFriday October 20th:3:00 p.m. Registration Opens4:00 p.m. Show Room Opens10:00 p.m. Registration Closes11:00 p.m. Mystery SpeakerMIDNIGHT Fish TriviaSaturday October 21st :8:00 a.m. Registration Opens9:00 a.m. Speaker #1 - Brett Rowley10:30 a.m. Speaker #2 - ADG's Jeff Senske12:00 p.m. Lunch - on your own2:00 p.m. Speaker #3 - Heiko Bleher3:30 p.m. Speaker #4 - Rusty Wessel7:30 p.m. Awards Banquet - Heiko BleherpresentationSunday October 22nd:9:00 a.m. Auction Check In10:00 a.m. Auction Begins

The Lateral Line Page 19Event Calendar:Upcoming Events in TexasThis is a new feature we hope to include periodicallyin future issues of the Lateral Line.All of the information has been obtained fromother club’s websites. I have not confirmedany dates and times. Please check with eachclubs if you plan to attend any of their events.This list may not be complete so don’t assumeevery event is included here. If anyone has anyinput or knows contacts from other cichlidclubs in Texas, please let me know. I wouldalso like to include contact information foreach club.details to be worked out.With the upcoming events like F.O.T.A.S.2006, the Hill Country Cichlid Club Christmasparty and the recent Texas Cichlid AssociationFall Workshop, event listings areshort. Hopefully in the next few months wewill see things pick up.October:October 20-22ndThe Houston Aquarium Society is hostingF.O.T.A.S. 2006. Speakers will include HeikoBleher, Rusty Wessel and Jeff Senske. The 3day event will be held at The Hotel Sofitel. Formore information visitwww.HoustonAquariumSociety.org andwww.fotasonline.com. Information has notbeen updated on these sites, but visit as theevent date gets closer for more information.December:December 16thTime: 5 P.M.— 9 P.M.Hill Country Cichlid Club Christmas Party.Our year end bash. We will be holding it at thesame place as last year (Bracken United MethodistChurch Fellowship Hall). Open to clubmembers and their families only. Additional

The Lateral LineOfficial Publication of theHill Country Cichlid Club