Tropical Fish industry

[alhalabi]

Hello everyone,
I am an MBA student and I am writing an assignment about this industry. I was wondering if you can help me with a few questions

1- Do you know what is the size of this industry in terms of annual dollars spent?

2- Do you know how much it costs to open up a store and what it takes?

3- How do LFS get their fish supply? Are there easily accessible wholsalers?

Thanks

 

[Poorcollegereef]

Hummm... I don't know the answers to those questions but I can help you on your search.

First of all, take a trip to your local LFS and have a chat with the owner so you can have an idea of more specific questions to ask other owners/industy folks.

Secondly, here is a link to waltsmith which has a few links

http://www.waltsmith.com/news/walts_opinion.html

while these documents are NOT independent, they should give you a direction in where to proceed.

Secondly (part 2) here is a link to MASNA

http://www.masna.org/iloc/index.php

which also has some information and has a 'better' connection with the industry than maybe this particular "Advanced Forum" They sould have some industry information

Thirdly, you should be asking a specific question. I don't know the specific nature of your masters program as compared to mine, but you should be looking to solve/identify/project a certain finding. So what are you trying to find exactly?

 

[GreshamH]

FWIW this forum can yield the most informative "industry" information out there, besides reef dot orgs "Industry Behind The Hobby". You won't find much on MASNA, that's not what they do really. The most up to date info on the industry size can be obtained from industry publications like "Pet Age".

I'd be willing to talk offline (email only) but I don't have the time to keep coming back to this thread right now.

 

[billsreef]

The Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council (PIJAC) will have the statistics your looking for. Cost of starting up a store will vary depending on location and how high end you choose to go with your set up and initial stocking. For live stock there are plenty of wholesaler, less so for dry goods. Take up Gresh's offer to chat via email, he'll be a wealth of info

 

[GreshamH]

You know, if you could get a hold of some one at Central Pets and Garden Supply and get them to talk they'd have probably the best handle on the dry good trade

Thanks Bill, PIJAC slipped my mind. I'm still a bit ticked at them over their seemingly "pro-cyanide" stance of the 80's. George Blasiola, PIJAC president at the time stated he didn't find any real sizable cyanide use in the Philipinnes when he and others "conducted" a "fact finding" mission. They also had some articles released that sure seemed to be in support of the problem.

In the mid-1980s, Mr. George Blasiola, then PIJAC president, headed a cyanide fact finding mission in the Philippines. The mission was composed of several wholesalers and dealers. They were assisted by Richard Ty, the first PTFEA president. The mission found that there were generally no cyanide use in the Philippines. Although, there were isolated cases of cyanide users who were either food fish fishermen or fish suppliers to non-member exporter

from: http://ptfea.org/about.html

what a joke

 

[billsreef]

Seeing who assisted them, it's no wonder they didn't find the cyanide use that was being hidden from them

 

[GreshamH]

:lol: Yup, that's for sure.

Hmmm, the Ty family sure likes to put on shows. Here's Lolita showing her token roll of incorrect netting :lol: Great for keeping the birds out of your ponds but stinks for MO collections.... Just look at the divers reaction