are tropical marine fish tank-bred nowadays?
David Wright
when I realized that buying wild-caught fish was financing the destruction of
coral reef ecosystems. But I remember that even then there was some progress
in captive breeding a few species (e.g., sebae "clowns"). I'd be interested in
starting up a tank again if I could do so with a clear conscience: are the
tropical marine fish that are sold nowadays tank-bred, or are they still
wild-caught? [I suspect the answer is "some of each"; if so, what are the
interesting tank-bred species?] And, on the same general topic, is there any
good info on impact of commercial collecting of "live rock"? Is there a FAQ
that deals with these questions?
David Wright
dwr...@u.washington.edu
Dustin Lee Laurence
>are the
>tropical marine fish that are sold nowadays tank-bred, or are they still
>wild-caught? [I suspect the answer is "some of each"; if so, what are the
>interesting tank-bred species?]
Unfortunately, almost no progress has been made. In the first edition
of Moe's book, he says that he thinks that within a decade the know-how
will be there for a viable marine breeding industry. In the second
edition, he says that the problem is now a matter of money.
Whatever the reason, there are only a few tank-raised fish available.
Percula and Ocillaris clowns come to mind. Unfortunately, few people
care.
We are still back in the dark ages, in that the real issue of importance
is the issue of cyanide capture methods. If we can ever deal with that,
then I suppose captive breeding would be the logical next item at the
top of the agenda.
I'm not optimistic.
>And, on the same general topic, is there any
>good info on impact of commercial collecting of "live rock"?
Little that isn't in the realm of fantasy, IMHO. There was the
infamous Audobon article a while back, where the author exercised his
authorial discretion and apparently made most of it up from out of
context quotes. Too bad that there isn't anything that I consider to
be above National Inquirer level.
>Is there a FAQ
>that deals with these questions?
Nope. There ought to be an environmental FAQ, and many people have
mentioned the idea, but no one has compiled one.
I will make an offer which applies to other potential FAQ files as
well. I will be happy to store all *.aquaria FAQ's on the archive;
I will also see that they are posted monthly if the author(s) wish
it. I will _not_ maintain them, but if it would help if I take care
of the monthly posting, I will be glad to do so. You might check the
archive and see what conservation-type stuff I already have there; I
wrote up some addresses once which I know are there.
Hey, Jason Rosenberg and I have gone around on this environmental
stuff enough times before. He ought to have some input on such a
FAQ.
Dustin
Dave Sheehy
: Unfortunately, almost no progress has been made. In the first edition
: of Moe's book, he says that he thinks that within a decade the know-how
: will be there for a viable marine breeding industry. In the second
: edition, he says that the problem is now a matter of money.
Well, it's not quite that bad (almost, but not quite). Several marine species
can presently be spawned and reared at the hobbiest level. When Moe wrote the
first edition of his book the only fish hobbiests could spawn and raise were
some clown fish and neon gobies. Today, hobbiests can rear most clown fish,
yellow headed jaw fish, royal grammas, and probably a few species of
gobies.
There are several commercial ventures working on fish which are economically
feasible to sell (clown fish are too inexpensive to make any money on). Right
now, these hatcheries are probably selling clown fish just to have some money
coming in the door but I'll wager that you'll soon be seeing royal grammas
and yellow headed jawfish since they're alot more profitable.
: Whatever the reason, there are only a few tank-raised fish available.
: Percula and Ocillaris clowns come to mind. Unfortunately, few people
: care.
There are at least a couple of species of tank-raised gobies available from
commercial hatcheries. Demand is so high that the hatcheries are starting to
ship fish which have barely finished metamorphosing in order to keep up.
: We are still back in the dark ages, in that the real issue of importance
: is the issue of cyanide capture methods. If we can ever deal with that,
: then I suppose captive breeding would be the logical next item at the
: top of the agenda.
Besides cyanide, there's transport issues. Spending 3 days in an unaerated
bucket without water changes is not the best way to get fish to the collecting
station but apparently that's common practice in the philippines and elsewhere.
: I'm not optimistic.
Neither am I. The exporters make too much money selling cyanide to the divers
to ever be convinced to stop. The bureaucracy is so corrupt in the P.I. that
the IMA's cyanide testing program will be ineffective.
: >And, on the same general topic, is there any
: >good info on impact of commercial collecting of "live rock"?
Well, there's a little bit of good news here. At least one permit to allow
farming of live rock has been issued (so presumably other pending permit
applications will soon be approved as well). There is apparently a vendor of
an artificial base material looking to hook up with some rock farming start
ups.
Dave Sheehy
Dustin Lee Laurence
>And, on the same general topic, is there any
>good info on impact of commercial collecting of "live rock"? Is there a FAQ
>that deals with these questions?
Hmm, how quickly we forget. I forgot that we'd gone around on this
just a little while ago. I archived the entire thread for exactly
this purpose--so the next time we could re-hash less and add more
to the periodic discussions on such topics. Others might be
interested, so I'll post this. You can find the whole thing on the
archive in conservation/jul93thread . (Hmm, I ought to give that a
better name.)
Whether that thread qualifies as good info, you will have to judge.
Dustin