freedive43
New member
To clarify, I have no issue with the collector/wholesaler/retailer chain of operation. I do, however, have an issue with companies acting as if they already have a peppermint angel in their possession when they did not even bother to contact us. It gives the wrong impression that these fish are becoming commonplace. Companies such as Blueharbor who actually brought in nine C. Boylei, should be the ones reaping the recognition for their investment. That is all.
The bulk of our company's business is on the wholesale end and consists of both common and rare fish. As a general rule, we rarely deal directly with the end consumer to avoid conflicts with our wholesale buyers. It is not our intention to compete with them. This issue, however, is a bit different. The majority of peppermint angels that we collected are going to wholesale companies - although there is a tiny amount of them going directly to select hobbyists. The reason for this is twofold. First, we care about these fish and have become quite attached to them - wishing that they get the best care possible. If we ship directly from our facility to the end consumer it eliminates a potentially stressful transit though a wholesale shop. Secondly, some of these hobbyists are our friends so of course we're going to hook them up.
There are a lot of misconceptions about the amount of $$$ that some people think we are making off these fish. 90% of the peppermints collected are sold at wholesale cost. We have a team of 6 people (three divers and three surface support) working 7 days a week for two weeks in order to make this expedition a reality. The equipment needed is a bit expensive, and this particular trip is the end result of five trips over the course of the past five years spent scouting, figuring out logistics and so on.
Different people have different values. I cannot fault a person for spending thousands of dollars on a fish or thousands of dollars on a shiny Rolex. Whatever makes you happy. We are just trying to provide a service to those who find happiness in a little candy striped fish that lives at the bottom of the ocean.
These fish were collected between 350-485 feet at an average temperature of 76 degrees. They are extremely delicate during the collection process but seem to stabilize once they settle into captivity. Good luck to those who end up getting these fish. We enjoyed collecting them and hope that they live fat, healthy lives for many years to come.
The bulk of our company's business is on the wholesale end and consists of both common and rare fish. As a general rule, we rarely deal directly with the end consumer to avoid conflicts with our wholesale buyers. It is not our intention to compete with them. This issue, however, is a bit different. The majority of peppermint angels that we collected are going to wholesale companies - although there is a tiny amount of them going directly to select hobbyists. The reason for this is twofold. First, we care about these fish and have become quite attached to them - wishing that they get the best care possible. If we ship directly from our facility to the end consumer it eliminates a potentially stressful transit though a wholesale shop. Secondly, some of these hobbyists are our friends so of course we're going to hook them up.
There are a lot of misconceptions about the amount of $$$ that some people think we are making off these fish. 90% of the peppermints collected are sold at wholesale cost. We have a team of 6 people (three divers and three surface support) working 7 days a week for two weeks in order to make this expedition a reality. The equipment needed is a bit expensive, and this particular trip is the end result of five trips over the course of the past five years spent scouting, figuring out logistics and so on.
Different people have different values. I cannot fault a person for spending thousands of dollars on a fish or thousands of dollars on a shiny Rolex. Whatever makes you happy. We are just trying to provide a service to those who find happiness in a little candy striped fish that lives at the bottom of the ocean.
These fish were collected between 350-485 feet at an average temperature of 76 degrees. They are extremely delicate during the collection process but seem to stabilize once they settle into captivity. Good luck to those who end up getting these fish. We enjoyed collecting them and hope that they live fat, healthy lives for many years to come.
