| Greetings. I’m proud to say that our summer issue features a contribution
from one of the premier, though undeservedly unsung, “movers-and-shakers”
in the cichlid industry, Mireille Schreyen. Mireille has spent virtually
her entire working life on Lake Tanganyika and, since the passing of her
father, Pierre Brichard, has been the driving force behind the export company,
Fishes
of Burundi, that he started in Bujumbura in the early 1970s. In what
I hope will be the first of a series of articles, Mireille recalls their
first step toward exploring the northwestern coastline of the lake in Congo
(formerly Zaire) in her account of their safari to the Ubwari Peninsula.
Her story reflects the very tenets upon which the success of her family’s
business is based — forethought, thoroughness, coordination and hard work
— the combination of which has resulted in perhaps the most comprehensive
working knowledge of the fishes of Lake Tanganyika ever assembled. And
their efforts are ongoing. For example, recently Mireille and her husband,
Jackie, have been able to assemble and grow out large quantities of young
Benthochromis tricoti for export, providing for the first time one of the
true jewels of Lake Tanganyika to the aquarium public at large. The hobby
indeed owes Mireille a huge debt of gratitude for her continuing passion
for what to her has always been much more than just a business, and we
look forward to hearing more in the future about her adventures on the
lake.
Not to shortchange the rest of the issue! In reviewing its overall contents,
if I had to summarize it in a single word that word would be “passionate.”
Sure, that’s easy to see in reflecting on Mireille’s story, but as I thought
about the remainder of the issue, it struck me that this adjective could
be applied to every single contributor herein. First, there’s a trio of
“adventurers” — Ad Konings (no doubt), Eric Genevelle and Charles Kacirek
— whose passion for cichlids has taken them to the very “source”. All three
have stories to tell about hands-on encounters with cichlids “where they
live”; and the sheer joy all three have experienced as a result shines
through clearly in their accounts. And the same can be said for Sonia Guinane
and Brian Scott in their husbandry accounts. Surely such dedication bodes
well for the future of the hobby. Enjoy your summer.
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