Page 111 - USA Semperfli Catalogue 2018

Page 111
CITES & Fly Tying Materials

The Risks

Sustainable fly tying is a responsibility for us all as fly tyers. Many think this
only affects classic Fly Tyers using Speckled Bustard, a Toucan or Indian
Crow skin, however CITES affects almost every fly tyer, we simply may
not realise!

Did you know that peacock is now covered by Cites? Yes! This is not
just about grey parrot or Jungle Cock it means that if we carry peacock
herl across international borders we risk confiscation and fines or Grey Junglefowl Gallus sonneratii illustration
worse. This could be in our fly tying materials or in a fly. It is serious. by John Gould (1804 – 1881)
Imagine… we or one of our colleagues are going fishing to an international
location and (for example) the Prince Nymph flies tied with Peacock herl is discovered at customs… or fly tyers going to an
International show and are caught with Peacock Herl in their fly tying kit!

As fly tyers we must prove the sources of materials if caught travelling internationally. However, even if we have purchased
Peacock Herl from a local breeder from bred stock and have a vet’s certificate proving its’ origins how can we prove
that the single feather wrapped around our Pheasant Tail Nymph came from that bird? The answer is simple we cannot.
Fly tying must move to more synthetic, bred or game related species. We all have responsibility for sustainable fly tying. The
use of exotic materials does not improve your tying skills and the list of substitutes is big enough for everyone to find his
or her happiness legally and at a much lower price than many illegal species used. Semperfli is committed to synthetics
and game species to support sustainable fly tying.

History

We look at species related to tying classic Salmon Flies, as the patterns
of the 19th Century contain a lot of such material which at the time
were not protected. It was a big surprise for us, when we read that the
Convention of International Trade of Endangered Species, CITES in short,
was established as a result of the fly tying community, bringing the Grey
Jungle Fowl to the brink of extinction. Before we read this, we were
genuinely not aware that fly tying could have such a massive consequence
on wild life. To us, this was and is shocking.

We look back in history and fly tying patterns and see an amazing array of
CITES recently announced the addition of mammals historically used in fly tying, including various squirrels, the
sixteen species to its list of controlled species, Diana Monkey, Chinchilla, Gray Fox, Brown Bear, Wolverine, Polar Bear,
Appendix III. Species under Appendix III are Coyote, Seal, Elk, White-Tailed Deer, and
subject to enhanced restrictions and require goat and feathers from birds as diverse as
additional documentation upon importation. Indian crow, Blue Chatterer, Golden
Included in the list of amendments are several Pheasant, Lady Amherst pheasant,
species of the Phasianidae family; two kinds of corncrake, toucan, Guinea Fowl, Ocellated
Asian pheasants, but most notably, Pavo Turkey, Merlin, Coot, Baikal teal,Wood Duck,
cristatus (Indian peafowl or blue peafowl) – and Scarlet Macaw. The list is endless.
i.e. peacocks.
In our different journeys we have probably
The peacock population is dwindling fast due been to exhibitions and seen companies
to habitat loss, contamination of food sources selling Jungle Cock, most of which is illegally
and poaching. The Indian Peafowl is harvested, Polar Bear, seal fur or other
endangered and the Green Peafowl is nearly, exotics, How often have you seen
if not absolutely, extinct. Peacock feathers are ‘specialists’ that have had a stock Semperfli Commitment
widely used in home decor and decoration, of Jungle Cock capes arrive?
mask making and millinery applications, Reality is these are almost all Semperfli Is committed to
costume and theater productions, wedding illegal, harvested for $1 in India, sustainability in all ways possible.
decoration and of course fly tying. send to the specialist retailer who From using solar panels to reduce our
is selling on Facebook and Ebay energy footprint in our premises,
Peacock Feathers originating from Pakistan for $80 to $250. We have a series using low energy lighting and massive
were already listed in Appendix III and of questions we must ask
therefore require a CITES export permit to be ourselves, is this sustainable, is it insulation to reduce our heating costs.

legally imported into the US. The change legal and are we doing what is In our range of materials we have
means that peacock feathers coming from right for the future of our hobby committed to synthetic materials
other regions will also now require a CITES and industry. production and use of sustainable and
certificate of origin issued by the CITES bred game fur and feathers.
enforcing authority of the exporting country.

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