Hawaii ban is official.

Zionas · Jan 15, 2021

Yes I’m sure they get exported from other places as well but Hawaii tendencies to export very high quality fish. But I’m sure others places do as well. How do they do for you in terms of hardiness?

tautog83 · Jan 15, 2021

"Whenever anyone insists upon only accepting information if it is supported by peer reviewed journals I immediately question this individuals sinserity.

Montiman said:
I have never seen a single studying showing any conclusive evidence that aquarium collection has led to any significant threat to Hawaiian reefs. I have spoken to numerous collectors who have collected at the same spots for decades and report finding the

Reminds me of the Rick James skits from Chappelle show . Heres a perfect example we've had technology for electric cars for years but we still rely on oil because its $$. Dont get wrong some people are going to lose the job in the collection industry and that does suck . However if your concerned about not being able to have yellow tang in your aquarium reach out to biota and ask them what they need to be able to breed more yellow tangs effectively . I get both sides I really do .

RedFrog211 · Jan 15, 2021

I’ve always wanted an Achilles tang, I’ve just never owned a reef big enough..

pasquale petrovia · Jan 15, 2021

I passed a yellow tang to my nephew and he passed him on to a friend. He died at the ripe old age of 31 years in captivity. I have had other fish live 15 to 20 years and believe that the trade has become more responsible in regards to ecology. Some people let there ideals get in the way of peoples happiness. The Hawaii fisheries have been under attack for a long time. Limits were set years ago. Too many extreme environmentalists with too much power. There are happy mediums. We all have to suffer the consequence. Ron Tubbs has been fighting this for years check him out on Youtube

OrionN · Jan 15, 2021

I think the Yellow tang also can be supply from Guam Island and the Mariana Islands and captive bred. Anybody know for sure?
The thing about the captive bred Tangs, I see deformities which really cause me to dislike them.

Zionas · Jan 15, 2021

31 years. That’s awesome! Which other fish of yours have lived 15-20 years?

How big was the Tang when you got him and how big was it when it died? Your friend’s tank size?

Very interesting. I’m currently doing a survey on fish sizes in captivity so would love it if you could tell me how big your old fish were when they died and when they were purchased.

Zionas · Jan 15, 2021

I don’t think so, if supplied from there not with any regularity. Guam’s got lots of military bases maybe Marianas too so perhaps more parts are off limits than Hawaii. We’ll see what happens but so far at least where I am I’ve never seen fish collected there.

OrionN · Jan 15, 2021

Zionas said:
I don’t think so, if supplied from there not with any regularity. Guam’s got lots of military bases maybe Marianas too so perhaps more parts are off limits than Hawaii. We’ll see what happens but so far at least where I am I’ve never seen fish collected there.

Guam is a large Island with a large civilian population. I do think that the air traffic to and from Guam is low, so logistic of getting the fish our of there is not as easy as Hawaii

Huskymaniac · Jan 15, 2021

oregongrownreef said:
It looks like you took a shallow water picture of some algae and a turtle and you're applying it to the entire reef. Do you have your diving license or were you snorkeling?

Zionas · Jan 15, 2021

Yeah..... I wonder whether they will open up more collection from there.

Huskymaniac · Jan 15, 2021

oregongrownreef said:
It looks like you took a shallow water picture of some algae and a turtle and you're applying it to the entire reef. Do you have your diving license or were you snorkeling?

I have over 1000 logged dives in more than a dozen countries and have been in every ocean. Outside of Puerto Rico Hawaii had some of the worst reefs I have seen. Not all were bad though. Molikini in Maui was gorgeous. The attached photo is from Qamea, a small Island in Fiji. This is what a shallow hard coral reef should look like. None of my dives in Fiji were really in more than 30 feet of water.

The situation in Hawaii is bad.

Huskymaniac · Jan 15, 2021

Nickthebarber said:
Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't believe Convict Tang will be off the list, we have HEAPS of them here in Australia.

Convict tangs are in the Indian Ocean as well.

Brew12 · Jan 15, 2021

Having done a few dive trips to Hawaii, I have to agree that the situation on some of the reefs is pretty bad. Protections need to be put in place.
My problem with the ban is that it seems to be misguided. As a proportion of fish removed from the reef the aquarium trade makes up a small fraction of it. The numbers I've seen say it is less than 1% of biomass removed, and probably much less than that.

If there was water building up behind a dam risking it's failure, this would be like pumping water over the dam while leaving the flood gates closed. It may make a tiny difference, but is unlikely to change the outcome.

OrionN · Jan 15, 2021

I stared diving in 1990, my last dive was in 2005 when my wife was 7 month pregnant with our last son. There have been Mickey Mouse dives since but nothing serious.
I can tell you that just over the 15 years or so the reef around Cozumel change tremendously. I don’t think that change does not have anything to do with fish collection, but due to human activity as a whole.
Don’t ask me for scientific evidence because I don’t have any. I don’t dive a huge amount. Just my experiences Ofer checking the same spot over 15 years.
over the last 15 years my family and professional life just got too hectic, and the children were too young to have diving vacations. They get first choice of destinations.

pasquale petrovia · Jan 15, 2021

I had a Majestic angel from a 1 1/2" juvenile to an 8 " adult over 18 years. The yellow tang was about 2" and died at about 5 1/2-6". I had a purple tang for 16 years from 2" to about 6". I had a Passer angel form 2" -12" for 16 years. 12 years on a hippo tang from 2" to about 9". The old days I had real live rock from Tonga, Sulewesi, Marshall islands. That was the secret sauce. No disrespect to man made rock, but it pales in comparison to the biodiversity of the real deal. When islands excavate for utilities or foundations there is an abundance of aquacultured live rock in these places. Someone should take advantage of this resource and help island economies.

Huskymaniac · Jan 15, 2021

OrionN said:
I stared diving in 1990, my last dive was in 2005 when my wife was 7 month pregnant with our last son. There have been Mickey Mouse dives since but nothing serious.
I can tell you that just over the 15 years or so the reef around Cozumel change tremendously. I don’t think that change does not have anything to do with fish collection, but due to human activity as a whole.
Don’t ask me for scientific evidence because I don’t have any. I don’t dive a huge amount. Just my experiences Ofer checking the same spot over 15 years.
over the last 15 years my family and professional life just got too hectic, and the children were too young to have diving vacations. They get first choice of destinations.

If you ever go to the Carribean again for diving to 2 best spots were Roaton and Margarita Island. I am not sure if US citizens are still allowed to travel to Margarita since its part of Venezuela. Luckily an old college friend and dive buddy lives out there.