Biography
Jim Cumming hails from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and is a lifelong fish keeper, having been involved in this wonderful hobby for over 50 years. Other than a fifteen year sojourn into the world of killifish (his online name is ‘notho2000’) he has kept and presently keeps mostly Central and South American cichlids, but he currently devotes about one third of his 40 aquarium fish room to Madagascan cichlids and the Etroplus genus from India. Jim has given presentations on Madagascan cichlids and their plight to the Winnipeg and Saskatoon Aquarium Societies, the New England Cichlid Association, the Bermuda Aquarium Society, the Dead Fish Order, the Ohio Cichlid Association, the Greater Chicago Cichlid Association, the Durham Regional Aquarium Society, the Great Salt Lake Aquarium Society and the Rocky Mountain Cichlid Group in Denver. Later this fall, he will be in Edmonton for a ‘workshop’ weekend with the Aquarium Club of Edmonton, and in San Francisco and Sacramento in November. Jim has also had extensive collecting experience in Mexico, Belize, Cuba, Brazil and the southern U.S.
He maintains a very active YouTube channel with around 540 videos at last count, highlighting the fish he keeps or has kept, with the emphasis on maintenance and breeding. Jim is also a moderator for several Facebook forums, contributes regularly to other on-line forums as well (CRC, ACA, MFK, and the Winnipeg Fish Forum) and has had articles published in Amazonas and Cichlid News magazines. He is also a Species Specialist and a speaker for the CARES program. He looks forward to enthusiastically spreading the word on this magnificent group of fishes.

"The Cichlids of Madagascar – A Land in Crisis"
Talk Outline
• Where Madagascar is located.
• How large it is, comparatively speaking.
• How it got to where it is.
• Its importance in global distribution of all cichlids.
• State of the land– ‘the good, the bad, and the ugly’.
• Described genera of the endemic cichlids
• Species that I have experience with.
• A more detailed look at some species
• The people behind the cichlids
• Saving a species from extinction and conservation.
• The future of the endemic fishes, and fauna in general.