Conservation: Is Captive Bred Fish The Only Way?

[Peace River]

Bringing a slice of the ocean into your home in a way that is supportive of coral reef conservation and is respectful to the fish and livestock is important to many of us. As I think about marine conservation, I am curious if you think that stocking your tank with captive-bred fish the only way toward appropriate fish conservation? Please share your thoughts in the discussion thread below.



To learn more about one approach to this topic, please check out a related article by clicking here or on the image above.

 

[nereefpat]

It's not the "only way." It is a good way in some cases, and it's not needed in some cases too. For me, it's a case-by-case basis. Examples:
Bangaii cardinal - Arguably endangered. Wild caught specimens aren't as hardy. Can be easily captive bred. Cheap as captive bred.
Orchid Dottyback - Natural range is only Red Sea, so expensive and hard to get wild caught.
Clowns - Hardier and cheaper as captive bred.

There are also lots of sustainable fisheries. And there are many species we keep that can't (yet) be captive bred.

 

[ScubaFish802]

I voted "when possible or convenient" - but one option I would be curious to see the numbers for is something like "I only buy non-captive bred fish". I commonly see threads where people want the tangs straight from Hawaii and are willing to pay more than the commonly available Biota bred YTs. I was always curious

 

[i cant think]

I think captive breeding is definitely one way forward however it’s not the only way forward. In reality, our hobby does very little damage to our reefs and more damage is caused through the fishing trade.
As for will I buy captive bred fish;
If I can find fish I like CB and I don’t mind the price then sure but let me say this, I’m not paying 200-300 for a yellow fish just because its CB when there’s many other yellow fish for sale for cheaper.

I prefer wild caught fish and if there is a way we can still have them and not need to have constantly captive bred fish then that would be good for me personally. The reason I like this is due to the colours you get in wild caught fish as well as their health.

P.S. I don’t support breaking our reefs, however I believe if they controlled other hobbies and not just this hobby (E.G. Fishing) then we wouldn’t have such a big issue.

 

[encrustingacro]

I remember Jake Adams had a take on this. He said something along the lines of "captive breeding doesn't support the communities that live on the reefs, and a better way to get fish is through sustainable collection."

My solution to that would be to place the captive breeding facilities on the communities that live on the reefs.

 

[davidcalgary29]

Conservation is only one facet of the conversation, though, isn't it? Captive-bred fish tend to be more...psychologically stable in the home aquarium than most wild-caught specimens. With more and more fish being bred by aquarists, there's little reason to stress out a wild-caught fish by capturing it for your tank unless you wish to maintain the fantasy that it will eat your aiptasia "colony".

 

[KQuillan]

I chose to only get captive bred. I am bias on this topic. Being in Parrot rescue, I see too many wild birds being captured for the pet trade. It is greed along with what people want. I cannot justify taking an animal out of the wild or a fish out of the ocean simply because of someone 'wants'. It's cruel and no different from putting an orca in a swimming pool for human entertainment. Sorry, rant over.

 

[Sharkbait19]

If I have the option for captive vs wild, I’d usually go captive. There are some fish, however, that simply do not yet appear as captive bred fish, and that won’t stop me from wanting said fish. Hopefully the day soon comes where all of our fish and corals are captive, but that can’t happen unless our wild ones breed for us.
Though, if all of our fish are irresponsibly bred (heavy inbreeding), there will be a large decrease in quality of our fish. You see this with many freshwater fish, especially livebearers and cichlids, where the captive strains often look worse and aren’t nearly as healthy as the wild individuals.

 

[davidcalgary29]

Though, if all of our fish are irresponsibly bred (heavy inbreeding), there will be a large decrease in quality of our fish. You see this with many freshwater fish, especially livebearers and cichlids, where the captive strains often look worse and aren’t nearly as healthy as the wild individuals.

Now don't tell me you won't be first in line for exotic "flowerhorn" tangs. And why bother with colour at all, when you can have a tank full of albinistic coral and fish? The new trend: the black-and-white tank.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Great topic!

 

[Slocke]

I'm thinking about writing an article on this very subject with my background in conservation.

I think the major concern for me is the lack of known practices in wild caught vs captive bred. Wild caught can be fully sustainable if done correctly but it is highly doubtful that it is done that way in many of the countries from which we collect. In a weird way the Hawaii ban was awful for conservation because Hawaii has the resources's and knowledge to do it sustainably and if we were to support markets like that it would pressure other markets to improve their collection.

I voted for try and do captive bred for that exact reason, captive bred has their problems but better the devil you know. Along with that I do believe that captive bred fish with difficult care requirements like mandarins, cleaner wrasse, sand sifting gobies, etc will be more likely to do well in an aquarium.

 

[davidcalgary29]

Along with that I do believe that captive bred fish with difficult care requirements like mandarins, cleaner wrasse, sand sifting gobies, etc will be more likely to do well in an aquarium.

Damsels. Don't forget the damsels. I've heard (and seen the pictures) of endless horror stories about ugly behaviour from nasty, biting things caught in the wild and plopped down in peoples' tanks. On the other hand, my captive-bred yellow and lyretail damsels have been delightful tank inhabitants.

That being said, I don't think that the devil can ever be bred out of clownfish. Skunks excepted.

 

[Slocke]

Along with this I think Jay's recent piece: https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/sourcing-marine-fishes-and-invertebrates.875/ is very important. If we as a community would buy from better sources, if just to get healthier fish we don't have to replace as often, then we would pressure markets/collectors to improve.

 

[Ef4life]

If the hobby keeps growing, captive breeding is the only way to make it sustainable long term for the majority of fish we keep in our aquariums.

I will also not support bans on harvest of wild fish.

if I had a choice I’d choose captive bred over wild caught if prices are close to similar.

 

[Reefer Matt Verified Media Partner]

This is a missing piece of the reefing puzzle. Fragging coral has become so easy that most reefers will have a frag tank at some point. It is not common for hobbyists to breed fish, though it does happen a lot with clowns. If the cost of fish rearing becomes lower, I can see this becoming more common.

 

[Reef Outfit]

One day, ALL wild caught marine life will be banned. Captive bred EVERYTHING is the future of the hobby.

 

[KrisReef]

Marine conservation? Get in line!

(Good article link in the initial post.)

 

[Dr. Jim]

Captive breeding is an excellent advancement to our hobby as long as fish are not inbred which is unfortunately happening way too much, like with all the fancy-colored clownfish. I foresee in the future the same problems that have been created by inbreeding many freshwater fish like guppies to get the fancy tails. They are beautiful fish but their lifespans are greatly shortened. Or, the common parakeet (budgerigar) that has been inbred (mostly unintentionally) in the U.S over the past 70+ years. As a result of inbreeding, they have one of the highest rates of cancer of any animal on earth and their average lifespan is only 5-6 years when they can live 15+ years in the wild.

Fish breeders are providing a great service to aquarists and to conservation as long as they take responsibility and care not to inbreed.

 

[vaguelyreeflike]

Bringing a slice of the ocean into your home in a way that is supportive of coral reef conservation and is respectful to the fish and livestock is important to many of us. As I think about marine conservation, I am curious if you think that stocking your tank with captive-bred fish the only way toward appropriate fish conservation? Please share your thoughts in the discussion thread below.



To learn more about one approach to this topic, please check out a related article by clicking here or on the image above.

How I see it is if you are buying wild caught specimens, you should do your best to get a pair and attempt to breed them. This creates more captive bred populations within the hobby to reduce the amount of fish we take from the wild. It would be nice to one day no longer need any wild caught fish.
wild caught fish are usually not as hardy, and can have long term health issues from the manor they were caught depending. Such as wild caught anthias, they almost always have cyanide poisoning.
If you dont plan to breed them at all, do you really need that wild caught specimen or can you find captive bred ones?
The only reason we should be taking wild fish is to breed or attempt to breed regardless of species. (Nothing is impossible to breed in the hobby, we just have to figure out their requirements, and the more people trying to breed the “impossible” fish, the higher chance of success).

 

[mwilk19]

Captive bred fish are the future of the hobby. Wild caught fish are available now but that may not be the case forever. Indonesia shut down for a number of months a few years ago and then reopened. There's no guarantee that it will remain open. I don't think the Hawaii fishery will ever reopen. Over time more species will become captive bred and the numbers produced will grow exponentially. That will bring the price down.