Once the club gets involved in singling out members for special treatment
e.g.this one will get fish and that one won't then Harro's observation
tends to become obvious. It is hard enough to walk a track between member's
egos and preferences for information as it is without choosing who will get
fish, who is a more reliable breeder and so on. Also if the club was
involved in the finances of aquiring and distribution of these fish then we
would be subsidising some members benefit with the funds that rightly
belong to the whole membership.
I think Andrew is so right - the association provides the focus and the
information and the members themselves can arrange informal networks of
exchange and/or sale. if the breeders involved wish to list their spares in
the publications for the benefit of the wider membership all the better.
I see the RML as the perfect venue for ideas like this which should
hopefully be a win-win situation as long as other members don't feel left
out. In some ways it highlights some of the problems of trying to establish
a species maintenance program - organisation, commitment and the human
factors!
regards
Bruce