Can you elaborate on what you've seen in the industry? I was very disturbed at my LFS the other day seeing several fish and anemones in distress. I have been wondering how it is possible to ship live fish humanely. It seems insane.
What are the real options for captive bred fish and corals? Do we consider mariculture a good option due to climate change? Think for example how much electricity artificial lights and systems use...
First let me give you a link to a documentary about what is happening to our coral reefs -
https://www.chasingcoral.com/
Shipping fish or coal is not the problem, it is the manner in which or why they were collected in the first place. Many fish and coral are collected with the knowledge that they have a zero survival rate in captivity but they are collected and sold anyway, that is what I call pure waste. Some coral when collected have an impact on the surrounding reef because of collectors are disturbing the coral bed from the use of shady collection practices, in turn this harms many species in a given area.
Back in the day many fish were caught by using the cyanide squirt method -https://
www.scientificamerican.com/article/cyanide-fishing/
It is still being done today as demand for more exotic animals does not stop the use of very bad practices used in obtaining these wonderful creatures.
I will say this before the hate mail starts coming (not all collectors are the same!!!)
Many aquaculture ocean farm are throughout the world and maintain a healthy alternative to reef collecting so we must commend those that have taken great care in keeping coral growing away from the main reef.
Most all fish and coral hit one spot when entering the United States and that is (wholesaler row) in Los Angeles where almost all the fish and coral when bought by you local lfs come from. Spend one week here and you will see what is good and what is very bad to the industry .
Before more hate mail arrives(not all wholesalers promote bad practices)
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What can we do to stop this stuff from happening?
Only buy fish that can be captive bred like many Blenys,clowns,pygmy angels, and yes and even the mandarin goby. Stop buying fish that have no place in an aquarium environment as they can't live.
(
https://www.spc.int/DigitalLibrary/Doc/FAME/Reports/Nahacky_14_FP_Black_List.pdf) pg14 is a good list of fish.
Like if I want a clownfish and blenies I go here:
http://sustainableaquatics.com/
Only buy coral from people who have captive coral colonies that are thriving and frag them to make starts of new colonies.
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Climate change is happening and all we can do, is try to slow it's impact on our reefs. Yes mariculture is a great option, but not enough as we need more captive raised animals whether it is from little suzy and her father to big business farms, as we all must do our part.
I hope that I answered you questions, sorry for such a long winded answer.
I am also sorry for those of you who came to see pics of a build - THAT WILL BE SOON!!!
