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The Norwalk Aquarium Society's

BREEDERS AWARD PROGRAM

Purposes: The purposes of the NAS Breeders Award Program (“BAP”) are:

• to encourage the breeding of aquarium fish;
• to encourage the maintenance of endangered fish species; and
• to recognize achievement in the breeding of aquarium fish.

BAP Committee: The BAP program is administered by the BAP Committee. The Committee consists of a chairman and a minimum of two additional NAS members. Its duties include:

• distribution of this document, BAP entry forms and related BAP materials;
• review of BAP entries and the awarding of points in accordance with the requirements contained herein;
• maintenance of an accurate and complete record of individual point standings and other criteria required to earn BAP awards;
• periodic reporting of up-to-date point standings and breeder activity to the NAS membership;
• presentation of awards earned by BAP participants;
• resolution of questions raised respecting the BAP program to include complaints about the number of points awarded specific entries; and
• meeting, as needed, to consider program revisions and adjustments to the point classifications of fish species.

Revisions to the BAP program and adjustments to point classifications require the approval of the NAS Board of Directors prior to implementation.

BAP Rules:

• The participant may be an individual or, if a family membership is held, the family.
• The participant must be a member in good standing of the NAS.
• If the participant is delinquent in the payment of required NAS dues for more than a year, the participant will be removed from active BAP status. The participant may reactivate his BAP status at any time, without penalty, by paying the NAS dues owed.
• The fry must be produced by fish in tanks maintained by the participant.
• The fry must be raised in tanks maintained by the participant.
• The participant must donate a suitable quantity of the fry to the NAS for auction by the NAS for its benefit. Generally, a minimum of six fry is required. The BAP Committee may, however, in its discretion, accept a lesser donation under appropriate circumstances.
• The fry donated must be of a sufficient size and age to enable identification of the species. In this regard, two months of age is generally considered to be sufficient.
• The participant must submit a duly completed BAP for to the BAP committee.
• The participant will not receive BAP credit until both the donation and entry form requirements are satisfied.

Entry Limitations:

Non-Fish Entries: BAP entries are limited to fish. Shrimp, crabs, snails and other forms of aquatic life will not be accepted in the program.

Hybrids: Credit will not ordinarily be awarded for hybrids – the offspring of parents of different species. Credit may, however, be awarded for descendants of such offspring which have gained widespread acceptance in the hobby. Examples would include (i) maculates platys and helleri swordtails – the many color varieties of which have been derived from interbreeding the two species and (ii) lyretail mollies – the result of interbreeding latipinna and sphenops mollies. Any such entry must identify the species under which the entry is made. If, for example, a lyretail molly entry identifies the species as “sphenops”, a subsequent entry by the participant of Poecilia sphenops would not receive credit.

Fish Species: As a general rule, a participant may only be awarded points once for a particular species. A subsequent submission by the participant of the same species will receive no credit. Several very limited exceptions of this rule are detailed below.

• Subspecies: For purposes herein, a “subspecies” is defined to be a “subdivision of the type species which differs so substantially from the type species that it has been classified by the scientific community as a valid subspecies”. Examples would include: (a) Aulonocara maylandi maylandi and Aulonocara maylandi kandeensis and (b) Melanotaenia splendida splendida and Melanotaenia splendida australis. While factors such as color and geographic distribution may have been considered in reaching that scientific classification, these factors alone are not determinative. Mere color morphs or fish designated by different collecting sites will not be awarded points in subsequent submissions.
• Race: For purposes herein, a “race” is defined to be a “subdivision of the type species which differs from the type species in certain regards but not to the extent that would warrant its classification as a subspecies”. BAP credit for a race is solely within the discretions of the BAP committee and will rarely be granted.
• Endangered Species: Subsequent entries of a species which is considered to be endangered in the wild may be submitted once each calendar year for half credit. It is the responsibility of the participant to provide convincing evidence to the BAP committee that the species is endangered.

Classes of Fish:

Breeding – Degree of Difficulty: A number of different factors are considered in determining the points to be awarded species entries based upon the degree of difficulty in breeding the various species and raising their fry. These include the following:

• Is the species difficult to obtain?
• How easy is it to obtain a compatible pair?
• Are special water conditions required?
• Is special conditioning required prior to spawning?
• Are pre or post spawning aggressions problems to be considered?
• Is spawning difficult?
• What is the nature of parental care for the eggs and/or fry?
• Is artificial hatching of the eggs essentially required?
• Do the fry require a special diet?
• Are the fry particularly sensitive to water conditions?
• Based upon the particular species, other factors may sometimes come into play.

Point Classes: The following five point classes predicated upon breeding degree of difficulty have been established under the program for the various fish species. The BAP Committee maintains a master list which provides examples of fish families, genera and species which fall within each class. The list is not all inclusive and is periodically revised.

• Class A: 5 points
• Class B: 10 points
• Class C: 15 points
• Class D: 20 points
• Class E: 50 points

A fundamental principle of the program is that all participants who have bred and entered a particular species will receive the same species points for the submission. For example, assume one participant encountered great difficulty in breeding a particular Class C fish while another participant had the good fortune of a very easy breeding experience with the same species. Both participants would still receive the same amount of species points – i.e. the 15 points awarded for Class C species. This principle is applied in the following manner to reclassifications.

Classification Upgrades: If the BAP Committee determines a species should be upgraded in a Class, the upgrade will be applied immediately and retroactively. All participants who had previously submitted the affected species will receive the full benefit of the upgrade – i.e. both the additional points involved and credit for the higher Class entry.

Classification Downgrades: If the BAP Committee determines a species should be downgraded in a Class, six months prior notice of the pending downgrade will be provided to the NAS membership. At he end of the six month period, the downgrade will be applied retroactively to all participants who had submitted the affected species. Their respective accumulated point totals would be accordingly reduced. Should such a reduction cause a participant's point total to no longer meet a BAP award point threshold, that threshold will still be considered met. Similarly, for BAP award purposes, affected participants would continue to receive credit for the original Class. For example: it the downgrade was from Class D to Class C, participants would submitted the entry prior to the downgrade would still receive credit of the class D entry.

BAP Points:

BAP points will be awarded on the following bases:

1. Species Points: A BAP participant will only be awarded species points once for each particular species, subspecies or race entered by the participant. The points awarded for an entry will be for the amount applicable to the Class within which the entry falls. Notwithstanding the preceding, if an entry involves a species considered to be endangered in the wild, subsequent entries of the endangered species may be made. The subsequent entries are limited to one per calendar year. The points awarded for each subsequent entry will be one half of the points for the Class within which the species falls.
2. Bonus Points: A BAP participant will be awarded an additional ten bonus points for an entry which is the first entry of a particular species, subspecies or race in the BAP program.

Plateau Awards:

Plateau awards are premised upon:

• achieving specified point levels (“plateaus”) and, in certain instances,
• breeding one or more species of specified levels of difficulty and
• submitting articles to the Wet Pet Gazette for publication.

The requirements are detailed below.

1. Breeder Award ------------------------------------------- 50 points

2. Senior Breeder Award --------------------------------- 100 points

at least one Class C species

article on breeding and raising fry of one of the species bred

3. Master Breeder Award -------------------------------- 200 points

at least one Class C species and one Class D or E species

article on breeding and raising fry for each Class D or E species bred

4. Grandmaster Breeder Award ------------------------ 300 points

at least one Class C species and two Class D or E species

article on breeding and raising fry for each Class D or E species bred

5. Expert Breeder Award --------------------------------- 500 points

at least one Class C species and four Class D or E species

article on breeding and raising fry for each Class D or E species bred

Breeder, Senior Breeder and Master Breeder Awards come in the form of achievement certificates and are presented at the NAS membership meeting following the one in which the plateau was met. Special awards, the nature and timing of which are determined by the Board, are awarded for reaching the prestigious Grandmaster and Expert plateaus.

Breeder of the Year Award:

The plateau awards, by their very nature, tend to recognize long term achievement. Current and active achievement is recognized by the NAS through its Breeder of the Year Award program. For a given calendar year, each BAP participant receives credit for each valid BAP entry submitted. The participant with the most entries will receive the Breeder of the Year award at the following January NAS meeting.

NEC BPP Program:

The Northeast Council of Aquarium Societies (the “NEC”) conducts its own Breeder Participation Program (“BAP”). Basically, it permits a breeder to simultaneously receive regional credit for his local BAP entries. To participate, the breeder, in addition to the usual donation of fry and submission of the BAP Entry Form, is required to submit an NEC Credit Form to the BAP Committee Chairman for verification and forwarding to the NEC. Copies of the NEC BPP rules and blank NEC BPP Credit Forms can be obtained from the BAP Chairman.