reefwade
Community Member
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Time: 1:00 P.M. - 5:00 P.M. (EST)
Where: North Bethesda Middle School, 8935 Bradmoor Dr. Bethesda, MD 20817
Speaker: Chris Turnier (coral guru)
Agenda
1:00 - 2:30 Sign-in / socialize
2:30 - 2:45 Club business
2:45 - 3:00 Break
3:00 - 4:15 Speaker: Chris Turnier
4:30 Raffle!
Miscellaneous
- food & drinks provided
Coral Farming in the Islands of Fiji
The mariculture of corals is a science that has come a long way. It requires an amazing amount of coordination and time to do it correctly. From site and broodstock selection to fragging and planting techniques, parasite prevention, site and system maintenance, government fishery meetings, and export documents and so on... you are part weatherman, human-seal, inventor, hunter/gatherer, janitor, gardener, politician, plumber, artist and packer extraordinaire. Most believe farming corals is done to take pressure off of the wild populations of corals on the worlds reefs, and for re-populating damaged reefs. It is this and much more. Allow me to take you into the processes and ideals that drive those to farm corals in an incredibly unpredictable ocean
Bio of Chris Turnier
Chris Turnier isn't a house hold name in the aquarium hobby, but his contributions to this hobby have been significant nonetheless. He along with others at Flying Fish Express were the first to create the online craze of WYSIWYG corals and fish, in addition he was the first to attempt identifying corals being sold online down to a species level. He also made quite a few mariculture advancements to further the success of coral farming in Fiji. Chris has worked in every aspect of the aquarium industry from retail and wholesale to distributor and supplier and has loved every minute of it! Chris is always striving to keep the hobby what it should be - educational, environmentally responsible and fun!
Chris grew up with art in his blood and a love for fish in his heart. He spent his childhood keeping various fresh water aquariums, fishing with his grandfather and free diving and spearfishing off the Southern California coast. Earning a Bachelor's degree in fisheries from Humboldt State University in Northern California, he graduated and took a job that moved him back to Southern California. There he worked for the very first online tropical fish store, Flying Fish Express. After 5 years at Flying Fish Express, he and his family moved to Colorado where the humble beginnings of Reefer Madness took place. The success of Reefer Madness took him back to Southern California and for 5 years the company sold the most amazing sustainably collected wild corals, maricultured and aquacultured corals the industry had seen up to that point. It was right about that time when a dream job became available in the islands of Fiji. And so in 2007 he and his family moved to Fiji and managed Walt Smith International coral farm. Four wonderful years went by in Fiji and he was then offered a position at Sustainable Aquatics in TN. After several years as the VP of Sales and Marketing at this burgeoning aquaculture company he then moved onto something that has been pulling at him for his entire life - art, Fish Eye Fine Art to be exact. There he takes his knowledge of all things fishy and creates underwater watercolors, and takes 120 year old barnwood and transforms it into animals of all shapes and sizes.
Directions:
- NOTE: The school is just inside the north edge of the beltway near Old Georgetown Road.
Here's a map from Mapquest
Special thanks to theses sponsors. Please support them & say thanks next time you shop with them. You can find their website address by visiting their forum or the sponsor page on the WAMAS website.
WAMAS Gold Sponsors
- Air, Water & Ice
- Avast Marine
- Blue Ribbon Koi
- Dr. Mac's Pacific East Aquaculture
- Exotic Reef Creations
- Pimped Out Aquariums
- Reef eScape
WAMAS Silver Sponsors
- Artfully Acrylic & Incredible Corals
- Charm City Corals
- Cobalt Aquatics
- FishnReef.com
- LRS Reef Frenzy
- The Marine Scene
- Petland
- Premium Aquatics
- Reed Mariculture (Reef Nutrition)
- Quantum Reefs
- Reed Mariculture
- Supreme Reefs
* Save your receipts from our sponsors and get raffle prize tickets
Vendors on site
WAMAS Members selling/trading (table display)
Raffle Items include:
Premium Aquatics Gift Certificates
Avast Marine Gift Certificates
Tunze 9002 nano DOC skimmer from Quantum Reefs
Fish food from Cobalt Aquatics
Time: 1:00 P.M. - 5:00 P.M. (EST)
Where: North Bethesda Middle School, 8935 Bradmoor Dr. Bethesda, MD 20817
Speaker: Chris Turnier (coral guru)
Agenda
1:00 - 2:30 Sign-in / socialize
2:30 - 2:45 Club business
2:45 - 3:00 Break
3:00 - 4:15 Speaker: Chris Turnier
4:30 Raffle!
Miscellaneous
- food & drinks provided
Coral Farming in the Islands of Fiji
The mariculture of corals is a science that has come a long way. It requires an amazing amount of coordination and time to do it correctly. From site and broodstock selection to fragging and planting techniques, parasite prevention, site and system maintenance, government fishery meetings, and export documents and so on... you are part weatherman, human-seal, inventor, hunter/gatherer, janitor, gardener, politician, plumber, artist and packer extraordinaire. Most believe farming corals is done to take pressure off of the wild populations of corals on the worlds reefs, and for re-populating damaged reefs. It is this and much more. Allow me to take you into the processes and ideals that drive those to farm corals in an incredibly unpredictable ocean
Bio of Chris Turnier
Chris Turnier isn't a house hold name in the aquarium hobby, but his contributions to this hobby have been significant nonetheless. He along with others at Flying Fish Express were the first to create the online craze of WYSIWYG corals and fish, in addition he was the first to attempt identifying corals being sold online down to a species level. He also made quite a few mariculture advancements to further the success of coral farming in Fiji. Chris has worked in every aspect of the aquarium industry from retail and wholesale to distributor and supplier and has loved every minute of it! Chris is always striving to keep the hobby what it should be - educational, environmentally responsible and fun!
Chris grew up with art in his blood and a love for fish in his heart. He spent his childhood keeping various fresh water aquariums, fishing with his grandfather and free diving and spearfishing off the Southern California coast. Earning a Bachelor's degree in fisheries from Humboldt State University in Northern California, he graduated and took a job that moved him back to Southern California. There he worked for the very first online tropical fish store, Flying Fish Express. After 5 years at Flying Fish Express, he and his family moved to Colorado where the humble beginnings of Reefer Madness took place. The success of Reefer Madness took him back to Southern California and for 5 years the company sold the most amazing sustainably collected wild corals, maricultured and aquacultured corals the industry had seen up to that point. It was right about that time when a dream job became available in the islands of Fiji. And so in 2007 he and his family moved to Fiji and managed Walt Smith International coral farm. Four wonderful years went by in Fiji and he was then offered a position at Sustainable Aquatics in TN. After several years as the VP of Sales and Marketing at this burgeoning aquaculture company he then moved onto something that has been pulling at him for his entire life - art, Fish Eye Fine Art to be exact. There he takes his knowledge of all things fishy and creates underwater watercolors, and takes 120 year old barnwood and transforms it into animals of all shapes and sizes.
Directions:
- NOTE: The school is just inside the north edge of the beltway near Old Georgetown Road.
Here's a map from Mapquest
Special thanks to theses sponsors. Please support them & say thanks next time you shop with them. You can find their website address by visiting their forum or the sponsor page on the WAMAS website.
WAMAS Gold Sponsors
- Air, Water & Ice
- Avast Marine
- Blue Ribbon Koi
- Dr. Mac's Pacific East Aquaculture
- Exotic Reef Creations
- Pimped Out Aquariums
- Reef eScape
WAMAS Silver Sponsors
- Artfully Acrylic & Incredible Corals
- Charm City Corals
- Cobalt Aquatics
- FishnReef.com
- LRS Reef Frenzy
- The Marine Scene
- Petland
- Premium Aquatics
- Reed Mariculture (Reef Nutrition)
- Quantum Reefs
- Reed Mariculture
- Supreme Reefs
* Save your receipts from our sponsors and get raffle prize tickets
Vendors on site
WAMAS Members selling/trading (table display)
Raffle Items include:
Premium Aquatics Gift Certificates
Avast Marine Gift Certificates
Tunze 9002 nano DOC skimmer from Quantum Reefs
Fish food from Cobalt Aquatics
