What is the current status on Hawaiian collection?

[Zionas]

Will it be secure and here to stay for the foreseeable future? How hard are the advocate groups pushing to ban collection of aquarium favorites like the Yellow and Kole Tangs, Potter’s Angels etc altogether? Have they backed off a bit?

I really don’t want it to end, doomsday scenario is once I have my tank I’ll end up getting a Scopas.

Not sure what the situation is like for you guys in the States and elsewhere but in Asia (China) where I am we’re not getting as many Yellow and Kole Tangs, nor as frequently. Is it because of COVID (which I hope is the case) more than anything else?

 

[hds4216]

It appears to be ever tightening. Hawaii is a very liberal state with a strong environmentalist bent. Here's the most recent news I could find:

Court ruling closes loophole for commercial aquarium collection - Hawaii Tribune-Herald

Court ruling closes loophole for commercial aquarium collection - Hawaii News | Hawaii Tribune-Herald

www.hawaiitribune-herald.com

 

[Zionas]

If they complete the ban, no more Z. Flavescens and C. Strigosus, C. Potteri for future aquarists.

Welcome Z. Scopas and C. Tomini?

 

[hds4216]

At least Yellow Tangs are being tank bred (not enough for demand, but still). Biota has some atm.

 

[Zionas]

Do you guys think in the future (relatively soon) we will no longer be able to get fish from Hawaii while Captive Breeding still hasn’t caught up?

 

[andrewkw]

Do you guys think in the future (relatively soon) we will no longer be able to get fish from Hawaii while Captive Breeding still hasn’t caught up?

Yes. Despite studies showing yellow tangs population going up in collection zones, these bans still somehow end up happening. The anti aquarium people cannot be reasoned with on any level. If you look at threads on reef2reef there are even a good number of reefers who support bans without any kind of background or numbers to support it.

Recently someone posted a direct link to the fight, but you can learn more here https://pijac.org/aquatic

 

[Zionas]

Once that happens, which species of Zebrasoma and Ctenochaetus do you think will become the most utilized in people’s tanks?

 

[Casket_Case]

It appears to be ever tightening. Hawaii is a very liberal state with a strong environmentalist bent. Here's the most recent news I could find:

Court ruling closes loophole for commercial aquarium collection - Hawaii Tribune-Herald

Court ruling closes loophole for commercial aquarium collection - Hawaii News | Hawaii Tribune-Herald

www.hawaiitribune-herald.com

But the thing is we support the ocean more than anyone else. If anyone is hurting it it’s the seafood market. Why don’t they back off us lol.

 

[Zionas]

Yes exactly. Far more fish are exploited and killed, harvested in unsustainable numbers for some fancy seafood restaurant in Hong Kong than for our hobby.

 

[andrewkw]

Yes exactly. Far more fish are exploited and killed, harvested in unsustainable numbers for some fancy seafood restaurant in Hong Kong than for our hobby.

You can also get Achilles Tangs by the pound frozen, but keeping one alive for years and years in your aquarium is no good. Also the live value is what 100x more maybe more. I am not at all an expert and just read what other people have to say and a few articles but I think probably the best hope is if more fish collection comes out of Christmas Islands and other neighbouring places. However those orders are usually piggybacked on Hawaiian shipments, and if there is no Hawaiian wholesalers the cost and possibly feasibility will change drastically.

 

[Zionas]

I worry about the future of the Zebrasomas in our tanks, Ctenochaetus too for the Koles. Which species could you see replacing the frequency of Yellows for Zebrasoma and Koles for Ctenochaetus?
Worst case scenario is by the time I’m able to go home in 2021 and start my tank, I’ll be having a Scopas instead of a Yellow (or maybe Purple if I can come across one).

 

[FishDaddy]

I for one hope they further restrict Hawaii collection, and we see more captive bred fish. The Hawaiian reefs are in extremely bad shape. A lot of factors from pollution, difficulty regulating fishing (commercial, sport, etc), and development. HPU's research estimated about 400,000 yellow tangs were taken annually from Hawaiian reefs. There is definitely impact as tangs naturally eat algae, and we have an increase of nutrients in the shallow waters where reefs are found. I had studied Oceanography at HPU years ago, and was happy to see them take the lead on this. The yellow tang is only one example.

We should all be honest with ourselves where the fish and corals we love are coming from, and try to find a balance of enjoying the hobby with the most sustainable fish and corals.

Oceanic Institute of HPU Publishes New Yellow Tang Research Findings

Chad Callan, Ph.D., OI of HPU director of the Finfish Program, and research colleagues had their paper entitled “Development of Improved Feeding Methods in the Culture of Yellow Tang (Zebrasoma flavescens)” published.

www.hpu.edu

 

[hds4216]

I agree that it's not necessarily a bad thing that the bans are tightening. Hopefully this spurs increases in captive-bred innovation.

 

[Zionas]

Yes I totally agree with seeing more Captive Bred fish. However if the Kole and Yellow are indeed no longer accessible as wild caught from Hawaii, which species could you see replacing them for their respective genuses until CB ones are widely available?

 

[FishDaddy]

In the U.S. all of these are widely available including wild caught tangs. Things did slow down due to COVID, and prices went up a little bit. But likely things will normalize.

 

[vetteguy53081]

There is an ongoing ban in which PETA is challenging but the council in Hawaii is stating no collection of any kind for now especially after mainly 233 tangs most lavender were found by an illegal collector and really tightened the rules thereafter.

 

[Zionas]

How much should we be worried about this? If assuming Yellows and Koles are really banned, what would be the best alternatives for their respective genuses in your opinion?

 

[MarshallB]

I was in Hawaii on vacation 2 weeks ago and I heard on the radio that they will not be issuing any new aquarium fish harvesting licenses ( different from harvesting for food apparently ) and the plan is to let the current ones expire. I didn't hear the whole story, but something about the on going environmental study was not conclusive enough. This also brought fear that those who still have a license will do all they can to collect as many fish as they can before their licenses run out.

When we went snorkeling our guide was telling us about the illegal harvesting going on that does way more damage than legal collection. Apparently its pretty common that a boat captains will just up and leave divers out in the water if they get spooked. So yeah if they dont even care about their own people, then I can't see them having any care for the reefs.

IMO captive breeding is the way to go. However, outright banning collection instead of regulating it will just make illegal harvesting more lucrative.

 

[FishDaddy]

Even with the ban on newer licenses things always change. These come in waves. Change with politics too. There are strict penalties with illegal collection, which usually results in confiscating the boat and if a truck was used to put the boat in the water, plus fines/jail. I doubt the stories of leaving divers in the water, it's possible they would leave the site and come back. Not sure on the illegal collection end, but also worked as a scuba instructor in Hawaii for years. So it would be possible to have a plan to take off and return. Especially if they are using fishing/diving buoys it would be easy to have the divers wait at the buoys, use GPS coords to find the way back.

Anyways there are plenty of tangs around now, sorry China not sure about there, and hopefully the increase with regulation includes more tank breeding. It seems now they are working on wrasses, and I'm hoping to see more types of anthias. The HLLE issues with the yellows also seem to be getting better as they captive bred more and more. The first several batches didn't seem so great, and still hit or miss.

 

[Zionas]

Ahhh what kinds of wrasses are being worked on being captive bred? Which kinds of anthias?

How much longer do you see us being able to get Yellow Tangs, Kole Tangs etc. like we do now?

I’m totally supportive of Captive Breeding and very much believe it is the future but yeah it would be sad to see us no longer being able to get such great aquarium classics before Captive Bred specimens are available in large enough numbers.