Impacts Of Aquarium Trade In Hawaii

[Sakura]

I'm doing a presentation on this for a Zoology class, and I thought you guys might find this video as interesting as I did.

[Julie]

How terrible. I had absolutely no clue that all this was happening to saltwater species. Especially that 98% are wild caught! And piercing their swim bladder made me a little sick. I thought Hawaii had very strict laws on messing with their reefs and wildlife?

This was a very intersting video, Sakura, I definitely learned alot!

Edited October 31, 2010 by Commis

[caitie]

Great video Sakura. More people need to be aware that if you want to keep a small piece of the ocean in your home there is a way to do it in a responsable way that won't harm nature.

That's why a lot of responsible reefers now try to buy only aquarium bred marine fish. I know here in Montreal we can get more and more of them. There are also quite a few clubs/forums where we can exchange corals that are multiplying in our tanks instead of getting wild caught fish or harvested corals from the wild. The advantage is that these aquarium bred fish and corals are also much hardier than the wild caught ones, who often suffer consequences of the way the were caught or harvested.

[blackteles]

Good one, Sakura! I learned a lot from this video as I'm sure most of us will. Hope you ace your presentation!

[Captain Findus Goldfish]

:doh11:

Poor fish. I also thought Hawaii had much more strict laws. I could never buy wild fish - imagine they were taken from a gorgeous reef in Hawaii and you stick them in your tiny tank.

[Sakura]

Here's another good informative one:

[Wendy]

Interesting that "they" recommended public aquariums, but public aquariums are taking fish from the wild too. Whales and dolphins particularly do not belong in captivity. Check out the heart wrenching documentary The Cove.

[Sakura]

Yeah that's true. But I think the idea was that if we all just went to public aquariums rather than needing to have our own reef tanks, then the impact on the reefs would be so much less. I will definitely look into that documentary, thanks! So far researching for this presentation has been really interesting.

[number20121]

I didn't know that most of these fish are wild caught. That is terrible. Maybe I am too humanizing them, but unlike fish that were bred in captivity, the wild caught ones know freedom. The huge reef they used to live in, swimming around as far as they could, and then they end up stuck in a tank. Even if it is a big 300 gallon tank, that is nothing compared to living the way they did before.

Another reason why I probably will never get a reef tank.

I rather stick with my goldfish and some tropicals.

[Sakura]

Yeah I agree, it's really sad for the individual fish. I saw a video on youtube of a marine fish bought at pet*smart that was just spiraling in circles, completely out of control, because it was suffering the affects of the cyanide poisoning that was used to capture it. But the bigger issue is definitely the irreparable damage these collection methods are doing to the reefs.

[number20121]

Oh of course! This is terrible in every aspect. Next time I go to the LFS and see all these marine fish I'll fee SO bad...

[jhortensius]

Thank you Sakura! The more people who know about this, the more likely something will be done about it.

[Captain Findus Goldfish]

Interesting that "they" recommended public aquariums, but public aquariums are taking fish from the wild too. Whales and dolphins particularly do not belong in captivity. Check out the heart wrenching documentary The Cove.

Oh yea The Cove is awesome! I am not setting foot in any SeaWorld or such place EVER again after seeing that.

[Wendy]

My town has a small rescue zoo. Most of the animals are former pets or "zoo excess". I am sad that I should not go to the big zoos anymore, but I think it is true. In San Antonio I saw a mountain lion (cougar,puma... panther) in a very small enclosure pacing. Very sad and I gave them my money just so I could take pictures.

I saw a t shirt that said

ZOO

where the used to be wild things are.

[Captain Findus Goldfish]

Yea I also don't go to zoo. The pacing is so depressing. I do like 'petting zoos' for kids tho. I think those are a great idea - you know with the goats, pigs and all the other farm animals.

Some Zoo are also an exception, the ones which have huge land and just let the animals 'roam' free. I remember one in california which was like this, don't remember the name tho.

I also don't go to Circuses which have wild animals.

[EGJ]

I go to my local zoo becasue the enclosures are huge- for instance, there is an African plains exhibit that is 100+ acres All the other exhibits are big, too.

[koko]

One reason when i did have a SW tank, I would ask the LFS if the fish I was interested in was wild or tank raised. I always bought tank raised fish... Same thing with the corals...

[Sakura]

There are plenty of good zoos in the U.S. for each zoo that is not so good. And also, zoos are very important because they do lots of research and education to preserve the animals that are in the wild as well. Zoos are instrumental in conservation. I think without zoos where people can go to see the wild animals, they wouldn't care as much about preserving them. Actually getting a job at a zoo is one thing I might do with my degree (fisheries and wildlife) someday.

I don't feel bad for the animals I've ever seen at zoos. The ones I've seen have had adequate cages. In reality it's probably a better life than being in the wild anyways, because they always have a guaranteed meal and they don't have to worry about predators or any other dangers. I won't go to circuses though. Those animals are worked, abused, and kept in poor conditions.

[caitie]

One reason when i did have a SW tank, I would ask the LFS if the fish I was interested in was wild or tank raised. I always bought tank raised fish... Same thing with the corals...

So right Koko, there is a way to keep reefs responsibly. I also never get wild caught anything. We have to keep a balanced point of view on all of this. Some people have had their reefs going for years and they are not harming the environment because they are responsible when they buy their corals and fish. All the corals in my tanks come from a friend who has a reef tank that was set up over 15 years ago. The corals he gave me and the ones he trades in to the stores were all "born" in his tank. He hasn't added a new coral in his tank in over 10 years and even then he would exchange corals with other reefers instead of buying newly harvested corals. If all the reefers in the world dismantled their reef tanks we would have to literally kill tons of corals and fish that are living and in most cases thriving in our tanks presently. I do agree though that there is a lot of abuse in the industry but then there always is when men start making money with animals.

Sorry if that sounds preachy.

[Sakura]

One reason when i did have a SW tank, I would ask the LFS if the fish I was interested in was wild or tank raised. I always bought tank raised fish... Same thing with the corals...

So right Koko, there is a way to keep reefs responsibly. I also never get wild caught anything. We have to keep a balanced point of view on all of this. Some people have had their reefs going for years and they are not harming the environment because they are responsible when they buy their corals and fish. All the corals in my tanks come from a friend who has a reef tank that was set up over 15 years ago. The corals he gave me and the ones he trades in to the stores were all "born" in his tank. He hasn't added a new coral in his tank in over 10 years and even then he would exchange corals with other reefers instead of buying newly harvested corals. If all the reefers in the world dismantled their reef tanks we would have to literally kill tons of corals and fish that are living and in most cases thriving in our tanks presently. I do agree though that there is a lot of abuse in the industry but then there always is when men start making money with animals.

Sorry if that sounds preachy.

Not preachy at all Edith! But maybe that's because I agree with you!