Short Supply Chain - SSC
We'd like to invite you to spend some time and travel down the wormhole that is this website. We've got tons of articles on everything from the basics of setting up new tanks, to the esoterics of skimmate production. In addition to this, there are hundreds of species profiles and livestock listings to browse through. If you've already dug around here a little bit, you've definitely seen the acronym SSC which stands for Short Supply Chain and is our designation for anything that reaches its point of export within 24 hours of collection. To understand exactly why this is a big deal, we need to get a bit into the weeds (again)!
The fish in your LFS don't just appear there out of nowhere, in fact, many of the fish and inverts you see in your favorite public aquarium also have a journey to endure. The collection, export, import and distribution of these marine critters is a complex and multi-tiered process. The moment one of these fish is caught, or an invertebrate is collected is the start of a chain of custody. A chain that ultimately ends in your aquarium!
This process isn't standardized in any way, and the fishermen and collector groups that catch these fish all operate differently. In many places these fisher-folk are indigenous people who become professional collectors. Some are professional collectors who are exporters themselves. Traditionally, most of them were coastal people who were also sustenance fishers that broadened their catch to include things they can sell to exporters for the aquarium trade. They live and work in extremely remote places and the sale of their live fish likely included middlemen, who might then sell to a conglomerator, who might sell to another one, who then might sell to an exporter. There are innumerable variations on this theme, but most often, they started with collection by indigenous peoples and then got handed from person to person in a chain of custody that might have taken weeks to get to the point of export. Obviously, this happened without much in the way of technology, so the livestock was often held without the benefit of climate control, or in the worst cases, even food. The pace and longevity of this process resulted in transit times and conditions that were not conducive to survival, let alone livestock that was in good condition upon their arrival in your Local Fish Store.
We've seen wild increases in costs at every stage of this process, with an increase in global supply making margins tighter than ever for every participant along the chain of custody. When the distance traveled increases, and the costs also increase without a corresponding hike in price to pay for these things, the husbandry of the animals is often sacrificed to make up the margin, and there wasn't any way to cut costs from an already bare-bones supply chain.
This is NOT how we do business here at Quality Marine. Since our inception the better part of half a century ago, we've been leading the way in how to do pretty much everything better in our industry. It's a constant process and we'll never stop striving for better or looking for ways to improve the way fish and invertebrates are collected, transported and kept. In this time, we've seen hundreds of new species become available, and hundreds more being aquacultured, including aquaculturing some ourselves!
In order to take aim at this chain of custody and correct the myriads of problems it causes, we support the most sustainably harvested and managed collection sites, and we source livestock from collectors and collector groups directly rather than middlemen whenever possible, regardless of the designation we give the animal we're importing. This core philosophy reduces transit times to a matter of hours, or perhaps days instead of weeks. It further eliminates inconsistent levels of care and increases survival rates dramatically, and in so doing, reduces pressure on the environments these animals are harvested from. Building these direct relationships allow us to offer resources and support to these collectors, enabling them to better care for the animals they catch during their (already shortened) holding and transport times). In instances where we can guarantee the collection point to the export point took less than 24 hours, you'll see that animal get an SSC label.
Not only is this the right way to get our fish and invertebrates, but it also results in a healthier animal. These fish will arrive here with a feeding response that is still intact and be looking for food. They'll still be robust and well fed with immune systems that are not stressed from long periods of high temperatures, low oxygen and no food. Invertebrates will show the benefit of proper handling and limited time away from light and food. Both fish and inverts arrive here and are carefully acclimated in a species-specific process we've tuned for decades and are fed twice a day for the entire time they are here. These are all reasons why we confidently say we are able to sell your Local Fish Store the highest quality livestock in the world. All the fish and invertebrates we sell are sourced as sustainably as is possible, and the SSC ones are the best of the best.
If you're looking for the absolutely highest quality fish and invertebrates for your home aquarium, look for the Quality Marine labels at your favorite Local Fish Store or ask them about sourcing you Short Supply Chain fish from us. After all the time and effort and money you put into your passion, you owe it to yourself and the fish you buy to get the best livestock available; SSC fish and inverts are just exactly that.