The International Marine Aquarium Conference - 2007 Chicago

Tony Vargas

 

Mr. Vargas has been an avid aquarist since the age of nine.  He started with freshwater fish and invertebrates.  His introduction to saltwater began with under gravel filters in the 70's and became a coralholic in the early 80's.  Tony was one of the first individuals in North America, to successfully maintain and grow Acropora in the mid to late 80's. 

He is a regular contributor to numerous North American publications such as Freshwater and Marine Aquarium with a monthly column called "Feature Coral".  Also, a regular contributor in Europe with Marine World and writes articles on reef fish.  He has been acknowledge in Carden Wallace book, “Staghorn Corals of the World”, and numerous other publications.

Mr. Vargas is a successful SCUBA diver and an accomplished photographer, with many dives in the Indo-Pacific and the Caribbean.  His photos are sort after by many magazines and catalogs across North America.  A consultant, and frequent lecturer on corals, reef fish and reef keeping systems.

Mr. Vargas presentation will focus on the reefs of the Philippines and their amazing recovery. It will also emphasize the differences, on how some corals survive in their natural environment and how they should be kept in captivity.

Motto: Observation of these fascinating creatures in their natural environment will help us better to understand how to keep these extraordinary creatures successfully in captivity.

 


 

 

 

ABSTRACT

Tubbataha

Unexpected Paradise

There's no other country in the world that has received more negative press about their coral reefs than the Philippines . With many years of abuse from over fishing, dynamite fishing, waste runoff, and irresponsible aquarium fish collection, it's no wonder many were disenchanted.

With the destructive practice and detrimental actions from a few individuals many of the coral reefs in the Philippines were virtually destroyed. Added pressure from many concerned citizens the Philippine Government stepped in and implemented many new laws and created protected fish sanctuaries and marine national parks. This allowed them to protect their most valuable natural resource, their coral reefs. The misconception that the Philippines no longer have viable reefs is not in accordance with the reality of today.

Another misconception is that the quantity of corals, and species diversity, in the Philippines is not noteworthy. This is not so, Veron (2000, Corals of The World) clearly demonstrated that the largest concentration of species diversity of stony corals are centrally located in the Philippine Indonesian region. With up to 590 species of stony corals found in this region.

Tubbataha is the largest Marine Park in the Philippines . Located in the middle of the Sulu Sea , it is the only reef ecosystem, with the only two atolls in the Philippines .

In the early eighties over fishing, and the dynamite fishing destroyed most of this coral reef paradise. Despite the acres of rubble this reef has made a tremendous recovery.

One of the largest reefs I've ever visited, with scores of corals fiercely competing for real-estate. It is a struggle of life and death, and the coral that can overshadow its neighbor will in essences dominate the reef.