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Walt Smith |
Walt Smith has been a hobbyist for the past 36 years starting off with his first tank in 1970 while in college. Although his dreams to become an Architect at the University of Illinois (Chicago Circle) were strong, they could not match his love of the ocean and the interesting critters that live on its reefs.
Soon a move to California was impossible to avoid to be near the Sea. Walt moved his family to the west coast in 1972 and soon after started his first wholesale business in tropical fish importing. After trying to juggle an architectural career with the demands of the tropical fish business it became clear that the later would win his heart and devotion.
After 16 years as a Los Angeles wholesaler an opportunity came up to move to the South Pacific and help establish the first export station in the Kingdom of Tonga. From this station Walt helped the emerging reef tank business along with his many discoveries in Tonga that were best suited for this market. After a couple of years the demand for Live Rock increased and this soon became a significant part of his export and air space out of Tonga became a limiting factor.
In 1995, at the invitation of the Fiji Government, Walt expanded his operation to Fiji and Live Rock from the South Pacific soon became an industry standard.
In 1998 Walt developed the worlds largest coral farm and the first ever man made cultured live rock.
Walt Smith International now employs over 350 people in two countries shipping Live Rock, Live Coral and Live Fish and his many cultured products.
Today both Walt and his wife Deborah reside in Los Angeles with their two daughters Kaelyn (Kaelyni rock) and Brittany (Buna branch) and make frequent trips back to their home in Fiji. The companies are attended to daily by both Walt and Deborah as they insist on a “hands on” operation. They both dream of the day when their daughters are grown and they can once again take up residence in their lovely Fiji home.
ABSTRACT
The life and death of a coral reef, who should we believe, what have we learned?
For decades now we have been hearing about dire threats to the coral reef. It has been stated by the “experts” that soon there will be no living coral on our planet due to the irresponsible behavior of man. Our industry has been put at the center of this controversy since its inception in the late 60's.
Who makes these threats and what is the credibility backing them?
How can our industry play a role in helping to prevent the doom and gloom that is predicted?
What have we really done to satisfy the outburst of our critics and communicate the message of conservation and awareness to the world outside of our hobby?
Is coral farming a viable option to save the coral reefs of the world or just a placebo to satisfy some level of guilt inspired and instilled by the “experts”.
What role can we play in sifting through “media hype” and “expert testimony” to better communicate the facts in order to bridge the gap and create awareness regarding the actual impact of our hobby?
Are we passionate about what we have learned and do we share the passion with others as our hobby evolves from a piece of home décor to bio-sphere of experimental success.
Walt Smith has been in this hobby for some 35 years at all levels. He has lived and worked on the coral reef in the South Pacific for the past 16 years. Through the coarse of his career there has been many developments and changes generated by the passion we all share.
Let's take a look at the questions surrounding our hobby today in the hope of developing and nurturing a better understanding of our precious environment.
Directly after the talk let's have a little fun and go down to the South Pacific with a unique cultural experience!
