Making Tank-Bred, Wild Caught Fish Illegal

[leebca]

I'm putting this issue to the reader in the form of a poll. Choose the statement that you most agree with.

[NOTE: I call Anemonefishes, Anemonefishes, not by their slang term, clowns.]

No one can deny the popularity of 'Nemo' in the marine aquarium hobby. Since the movie came out in 2003, it is the reason many have gotten into the hobby, which has (also undeniably) been loosing popularity as a hobby in the US. [Based on So. CA LFS sales of nano and other tank sales data.]

There has been a great increase in the availability of tank-bred Anemonefishes. It is one of the more-or-less less challenging marine fishes to reproduce in captivity.

Back to the fish's popularity -- It seems that wild populations of Anemonefishes which we are tank-breeding, are being significantly reduced. Some UK marine biologists are now warning that Anemonefishes are facing extinction in some parts of the world. This has been reported by the UK Times and can be found also at The Daily Record, Scottish Newspaper of the Year - Latest Scottish news & sport, Celtic FC, Rangers

It isn't fair to claim that the reduced wild population of Anemonefishes is due to just the hobby. There are of course many factors, the least of which include the climate and environmental changes affecting reef and marine life populations. However, the collection of wild marine fishes has some impact on the wild population.

We often post the suggestion to people getting into the hobby to acquire tank-bred Anemonefishes, when they express a desire to acquire these fish. Should hobbyists only be allowed to buy tank-bred Anemonefishes? Are we willing to make it the only ones available?

We also hasten to tell people that tank-bred Anemonefishes are hardier than their wild-caught siblings, and they are better suited to captivity since they have known no other life. Do we believe this?

If we are tank-breeding Anemonefishes, should those that are tank-bred still be caught, transported, and imported from the wild? That is the gist of this poll.

I wish to focus on a particular question only regarding the Anemonefish. Since we have the ability to offer tank-bred Anemonefishes, should that be the only fish allowed in home aquariums?

The concept of 'illegal' (as used in the poll questions) is meant to mean that the fish cannot be offered for trade, sale, transport, or capture. Obviously the USA can't control the capture of fishes not within its waters, but there would and could be import restrictions along with economic incentives put on countries that have no restrictions. Whatever the mechanism is, please don't debate this part of the question. Stick to the poll question.

Lastly, remember the poll is not about making the fish unavailable -- they will still be available, only the fish will be tank-bred, not wild caught. There is no intention of preventing the purchase and trade of tank-bred Anemonefishes. Also note when you respond to the poll -- the only fish under consideration here are the Anemonefishes which are being tank-bred now.

With the above in mind, please respond to this poll, which will remain open until the end of September. Choose the statement you most agree with, even if it isn't perfect. Post any opinion or tweaking of the response you see fit.

Avoid the pitfall of discussing enforcement and controls or the likelihood of the success of such restrictions. Please focus on just the question at hand.

Thanks for your participation!

[Lucid]

Voted for the 4th option, as it makes perfectly sense to me. If fishies are available through tank-bred, then we should stop wild collecting just to feed the "nemo" markets. Same with the anemones, if it was ever possible.

Laws should also be imposed for species that do not survive in the home aquarium at all. Like what? the blue linka stars?

JMHO

[Future]

I went with the last option mainly because the others don't make much sense at all. If a wild fish is being tank bred, then this means the ones still in the wild will continue to propogate while the home aquariest still is able to have the same type of fish.
It doesn't make sense to require a permit for tank raised and it doesn't make sense for tank bred to only go to breeders, research or the likes.

If the choises were reversed however, where it was the wild Anemonefishes that had the restrictions imposed, then there is a completely different matter at hand.

[leebca]

Sorry it didn't come across as intended, Future.

The first choice is "Wild caught Anemonefishes. . .should be made illegal. . ." Meaning that if the fishes are being tank bred, then the wild ones would be illegal to obtain.

The other options hinge on the first.

[charlie]

OK, it doesn't really matter how I voted, I have a question. I know that this type of fish is being tank bred, has been for years. Just for an FYI, what other types of fish are being tank bred Lee? You definitely don't hear much about any other type of fish being tank bred.

[leebca]

Good question.

I believe the total to date is about 67. There are 67 different species of marine fishes being tank bred. Of that number, I would say about 10 of them are 'on the edge.' By that I mean they have been tank bred, but just so recent that they are still in the learning curve.

Cardinals are one of the fishes being tank bred (3 species). You may have heard about the international debate on putting these fish on the list of animals to be restricted. If not, see this: Marine Fish & Corals on IUCN Red List

However, the country of export, lobbyists and other interests managed to keep these fish off the list. These fishes are tank bred.

The breeding of Cardinals poses an economic disadvantage to the breeder. As I understand it, the Cardinal has a much smaller brood than Anemonefishes and can't reproduce as fast (needing time between broods). The Anemonefishes are very prolific (two egg batches per month) and large egg clusters (200+) and can be bred in enough quantities to fill the demand. The Cardinal fish breeders cannot fill the demand.

On the other hand, outlaw the wild Cardinals, the price will go up and there may be a greater incentive for more breeders to take on Cardinals. In fact that is one of the other debates -- if hobbyists could only buy tank bred species, would that 'force' the resources into the area of tank breeding? Right now, as things are, there are no monetary incentives to tank breed marine fishes. Wild fish are easy to catch and ship and pose much less trouble than trying to raise them from birth. (Sorry. I digress).

Gobies are another group being tank bred. The Neon and Gold being primary.

There are I believe 3 Angelfishes on that list, too.

Others reading this may be able to fill the gap on the other fishes that are on that list.

[charlie]

Thanx Lee, Unfortunately it looks as though we are almost painting ourselves into a corner here, huh?

[leebca]

I think you're getting close to my 'hidden agenda' for the poll. It is good to see so many thinking there should be some restriction in place if the fish can be tank-bred. "Good" because I think this is a likely event in the next 10 years.

It's a battle between conservation and profit. I think that conservation is going to get a big boost soon. I just hope it won't be something 'stupid' or drastic that will negatively impact the hobby in a BIG way.

[charlie]

I think you're getting close to my 'hidden agenda' for the poll. It is good to see so many thinking there should be some restriction in place if the fish can be tank-bred. "Good" because I think this is a likely event in the next 10 years.

It's a battle between conservation and profit. I think that conservation is going to get a big boost soon. I just hope it won't be something 'stupid' or drastic that will negatively impact the hobby in a BIG way.

Well, let's see,if the government has anything to do with it, it isn't gonna be good. JMHO

[Ninong]

Apparently Indonesia has promised to regulate the collection and export of the Banggai cardinalfish in exchange for the United States withdrawing its request that this species be red-listed. This species has been over-collected for the past several years and it's about time Indonesia did something. It is one of the easiest fish to breed, if not the easiest, so there is really no reason to allow 700,000 to 900,000 fish to be collected each year when the wild stock is dwindling.

I would love to see something done to protect this species and anemonefishes. And the same goes for Entacmaea quadricolor, too. It's a disgrace that this species is still being harvested when it reproduces like crazy by cloning in home aquariums. The collection and distribution of any species than can be tank-bred should be strictly regulated and limited to persons having permits for research and breeding purposes only. This would put a halt to more drastic measures favored by the PETA types.

Whatever happened to that company in Hawaii breeding Centropyge loriculus? I remember seeing those available about three years ago at Drs. Foster & Smith for $85 (1" size) but I haven't seen them lately anywhere. At the same time Drs. F&S was offering wild-collected Flame Angels (2"-3" size) for only $45.

[LCP136]

They should be available to research as research could save species on the brink, and breeders, as (and I know this is highly unlikely to impossible), if somehow they have an epidemic and run out of tank bred fish, the fish could come close to disappearing from the hobby.

[sober_pollock]

I voted for number three, wild caught for research only!

If it is being tank bred and raised then there is absolutely no need to capture wild ones!

[godnok]

if it is facing extinction, why is so many voting "breeders" should be allowed to catch them? - If it is serious for the anemonefishes, we should not bother them _at all_ unless you are aiding in any kind of research (will be alot of anemone fish "scientists" I guess then..)

[leebca]

I think it goes something like this, at least in my mind. . .If the capture stopped to supply hobbyists, the fish population would grow back. It may or may not reach original levels. That might depend on other factors, like how much reefs are changing, being destroyed, or created.

Breeders will eventually lose their breeding pairs (sickness, old age, etc.). If tank-bred fishes replace the breediing stock decline, the fish strains could be weakened or become distorted (a lot of inbreeding). Collecting some wild fishes to replenish breeding stock that has been taken to a certain number of generations, may be a means to maintain the strength of the genetic codes in future tank-bred fishes. I'm not that much into captive breeding or genetics. I'm sure others know more than I do. However, I did leave this in there as a voting option.

[panda2]

I think we should try to have as little negative impact on nature as possible, so I do feel that the general population should only be allowed to purchased tank-bred fish, if available. I do agree that exceptions would have to be made to approved and verified researchers as well as breeders (to maintain the quality of the tank bred fish)