wilson Posted April 7, 2008 Report Share Posted April 7, 2008 well on the weekend i had a look at redwood to fint there tank selling corals has been drained talked to the guy in charge who said that there isnt enough money in marines and they wont be stocking corals anymore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markoshark Posted April 7, 2008 Report Share Posted April 7, 2008 Weren't redwood importing as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fmxmatt Posted April 7, 2008 Report Share Posted April 7, 2008 They were, and I had a similar conversation with him. Because they were importing they had to have their own QT facility obviously, and from what I gather it needed quite a bit of money spent on it to bring it up to new standards or something like that? He also made a good point in that each Marine fish requires individual attention, and with losing a staff member the job has become far too large and the money isn't there to support continuing. He did say to me though, that in time, depending on a number of things, he may look at starting up again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted April 7, 2008 Report Share Posted April 7, 2008 I talked to Bob Ward last week and he has been importing freshwater tropicals and marines as well as plants over many years. He has given up the plant because the Maf could not get used to the fact that he grew them emersed so made the conditions tougher and tougher until it became impossible. The Maf found algae in his marine quarantine tanks and got very excited (not surprising since he uses a biological filtering system). He and other importers I have spoken to are sure that the Maf are determined to make it that tough that there will soon be little or no importing. There are now different people supervising importing and premises and proceedures that have been used for years are now being questioned and all sorts of requirements asked for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilson Posted April 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2008 yes he also sid about not enough staff know about the marine side of things dose anyone know if they will be takeing down their display tanks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted April 7, 2008 Report Share Posted April 7, 2008 He is not wholesaling anymore so I guess he will get out of marines. If it is too difficult with importing I would think it would be worse to buy in and retail only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilson Posted April 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2008 christchurch has lst alot of fish shops with marines pet world, critter kingdom and now redwood now its just organism and bubble and squeek (was critter kingdom stanmore road but has changed name) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fmxmatt Posted April 7, 2008 Report Share Posted April 7, 2008 I talked to Bob Ward last week and he has been importing freshwater tropicals and marines as well as plants over many years. He has given up the plant because the Maf could not get used to the fact that he grew them emersed so made the conditions tougher and tougher until it became impossible. The Maf found algae in his marine quarantine tanks and got very excited (not surprising since he uses a biological filtering system). He and other importers I have spoken to are sure that the Maf are determined to make it that tough that there will soon be little or no importing. There are now different people supervising importing and premises and proceedures that have been used for years are now being questioned and all sorts of requirements asked for. Thats right, he mentioned the algae thing to me aswel. Said that the girl that was doing the check had absolutely NO IDEA WHATSOEVER about what she was doing or what was what. MAF are really starting to XXX me off. Government departments make their own rules and there aint nothing you can do about it. Just like the Police Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tHEcONCH Posted April 7, 2008 Report Share Posted April 7, 2008 Redwood is kind of like a time capsule - unfortunately they forgot to get everyone out before they sealed it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tHEcONCH Posted April 7, 2008 Report Share Posted April 7, 2008 christchurch has lst alot of fish shops with marines pet world, critter kingdom and now redwood now its just organism and bubble and squeek (was critter kingdom stanmore road but has changed name) I'd rather have two shops doing it properly instead of what we've had up till now - and you never know, there might be a new entrant into the market soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilson Posted April 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2008 and you never know, there might be a new entrant into the market soon. hopefully there is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob73 Posted April 8, 2008 Report Share Posted April 8, 2008 Must B hard down there ...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tHEcONCH Posted April 8, 2008 Report Share Posted April 8, 2008 ...IDEA WHATSOEVER about what she was doing or what was what. MAF are really starting to XXX me off. Government departments make their own rules and there aint nothing you can do about it. Just like the Police I don't think it is so much about them making their own rukes as much as it is about having some pretty ordinary staff on the ground trying to interpret and apply them. Unlike a few others, I actually think MAF is trying to do the right thing in a general sense, but they just aren't very good at it. I know a little bit about their recruitment practices and training and I think it would be fair to say that they tend to take pretty much anyone who got a C in high school biology - or knew someone who did. A lot of the inspectors have a pretty thin grasp the areas they are supposed to know about and what they are looking for, and tend to hide behind the rules rather than appear incompetent - and like all government departments, they tend to have some pretty onerous paperwork attached to the simplist of processes. It is just a pity that they don't actually have knowledgable staff who are empowered to make some decisions 'on the ground'. That way the whole process would be a lot faster, fairer, and more transparent. Don't hold your breath though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fmxmatt Posted April 9, 2008 Report Share Posted April 9, 2008 Its funny you say that, because my brother did work experience with them while he was in High School, and they stated time and time again that "University Biology" was a pre-requisit for getting a job with MAF, unless you had very high marks in 7th form Bio. My opinion of "Certificates and Degrees" is that they are a waste of time, money and effort and it would appear even with a piece of paper that says they passed Uni Bio, half the people they employ wouldn't know a garden weed from an aquatic plant, even if 1 was in the garden and 1 was submerged in a fish tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camnbron Posted April 9, 2008 Report Share Posted April 9, 2008 Sounds like someone from here needs to go and work at MAF - specialising in the importation of Freshwater and Marine species :bounce: Go on, hands up who wants to quit their current job and go do that job. Who's going to "take the bullet" so to speak! Bags not me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted April 9, 2008 Report Share Posted April 9, 2008 The previous inspections were done by border security Maf people but the problems now are coming from vets as I understand it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fmxmatt Posted April 9, 2008 Report Share Posted April 9, 2008 I used to be quite keen, and was looking at a job as a dog handler due to my experience with the breeding and training of beagles (incl 2 of them which are/were MAF dogs at CHC airport). However to do that job required being in the job for 2 - 3 years working in a totally unrelated department. Sort've lost interest after finding that out, and of course, being a government department there wasn't going to be any flexibility due to my current experience. Also with recent dealings with them through my current job, and now seeing what their policies are with the marine hobby, I dont think I want anything to do with them. They may aswel turn into Greenpeace and try and ban an element on the periodic table. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tHEcONCH Posted April 9, 2008 Report Share Posted April 9, 2008 Yep, it certainly has become, along with the Conservation Department, a refuge for the ideologically driven but completely ignorent. That isn't to say there aren't any knowledgable people in there, but they are in a minority. Both departments are kind of like giant work schemes for otherwise useless 'people who like animals'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fmxmatt Posted April 9, 2008 Report Share Posted April 9, 2008 Reminds me alot of my current place of employment Was just discussing with my partner at lunch about handing in our resignations at the same time and watch as the place falls to pieces after we've gone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tHEcONCH Posted April 9, 2008 Report Share Posted April 9, 2008 Reminds me alot of my current place of employment Was just discussing with my partner at lunch about handing in our resignations at the same time and watch as the place falls to pieces after we've gone You both work a the same place? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted April 9, 2008 Report Share Posted April 9, 2008 I don't think it is so much about them making their own rukes as much as it is about having some pretty ordinary staff on the ground trying to interpret and apply them. Unlike a few others, I actually think MAF is trying to do the right thing in a general sense, but they just aren't very good at it. I know a little bit about their recruitment practices and training and I think it would be fair to say that they tend to take pretty much anyone who got a C in high school biology - or knew someone who did. A lot of the inspectors have a pretty thin grasp the areas they are supposed to know about and what they are looking for, and tend to hide behind the rules rather than appear incompetent - and like all government departments, they tend to have some pretty onerous paperwork attached to the simplist of processes. It is just a pity that they don't actually have knowledgable staff who are empowered to make some decisions 'on the ground'. That way the whole process would be a lot faster, fairer, and more transparent. Don't hold your breath though... sorry but this is totally incorrect, you require either a university degree in horticulture, biology, zoology or relevant experience in these areas, MAF jobs are actually highly sort after, the last intake they had over 200 applications, most ppl that make it through to the first cutoff possess a university degree or horticulture experience. although i understand everybody's frustrations regarding importing i think MAF is too often blamed. You have to remember that MAFs primary responsibility is to keep unwanted organisms out of New zealand, sure that means there are a lot of hoops to jump through but NZ is primarily an exporting country, if we want to protect our economy and our environment then regulations must be put in place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tHEcONCH Posted April 9, 2008 Report Share Posted April 9, 2008 sorry but this is totally incorrect, you require either a university degree in horticulture, biology, zoology or relevant experience in these areas, MAF jobs are actually highly sort after, the last intake they had over 200 applications, most ppl that make it through to the first cutoff possess a university degree or horticulture experience. although i understand everybody's frustrations regarding importing i think MAF is too often blamed. You have to remember that MAFs primary responsibility is to keep unwanted organisms out of New zealand, sure that means there are a lot of hoops to jump through but NZ is primarily an exporting country, if we want to protect our economy and our environment then regulations must be put in place. Like I've said in an earlier post, I think they are trying to do the right thing and I do think that they have an important job to do, but my experiences with them suggest a large gap between their intentions and the quality of their decisions. The girl I know who works for them majored in Music, and had a job picking apples! I'm not suggesting for a minute that anyone should be allowed to import anything anytime, but I do think some of their inspectors wouldn't know a barnacle from a beanbag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fmxmatt Posted April 9, 2008 Report Share Posted April 9, 2008 Yeah we work at the same place Get this, just received an invoice from MAF for their Audit they did on our facility. For 15 minutes they charged us $88.88, and also charged us a $40 "outside 10km radius" zone fee, when the guy rang me from the place over the road and said "I'm just over the road, can I pop in and do the Audit now?" Felt like ringing up to complain, but then I remembered its a Government department and they dont care Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted April 9, 2008 Report Share Posted April 9, 2008 The whole approval and inspection control is now being done by a different section of Maf and I believe the problems are coming from highly qualified vets not apple pickers. Premises and proceedures which have been accepted for years are now not being accepted (eg biological filtering at redwood and another premises which has been running for years which has had to make substantial alterations to the premises to get approval again) These people are well qualified but seem to have more interest in having their arm up the rear end of a cow than being involved with tropical fish. The three people I have spoken to (from different facilities) are sure their ultimate aim is to heavily reduce or eliminate importing of fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fmxmatt Posted April 9, 2008 Report Share Posted April 9, 2008 :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: No emoticon can express my feelings for MAF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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