My Interview Onboard RV Heraclitus

[david]

I think we need to get chain fish stores out of the pic on salt fish My wife and I recently sent e-mails to "cooporate headquarters" of a pet store chain in the area.
Their salt tanks were full of dead and deseased fish dead and dieing yet every tuesday new stock would be added to the death camps!This mega store actually ran another lfs out of business and there live stock was well cared for but around vermont a pet stores bread and butter is dog/cat food and litter too have a lfs with salt tanks and a very rare reef tank is the owners love of the fish not a need.
I don't know if we were the cause but I notice the live stock stopped coming to that store and they have just a few turbos crawling around in empty tanks I never recieved an e- mail back from them?
I know this is more a global problem but stores that kill fish every week for no good reason and worst even sell these fish to people who know no better is just another good place to start and the U.N. should outlaw cyanide fishing all together
make all imported fish be from licensed vendors who have proved that it's net caught only!!Maybe this will solve that problem of ordering a yellow gobi and getting yellow damsels ? We can only hope!
LATER,
D.

[Matt Rogers]

Great story david.

FYI:

The 3reef / PCRF Donations Page is now online:

http://www.3reef.com/pcrf.htm

I hope all will help support the PCRF and their efforts and help 3reef become a PCRF 'Reef Protector.'

[smiley=2thumbsup.gif]

[Matt Rogers]

I have received word from Orla. As promised here are her thoughts on the impact of the Aquarium Industry on the World's Coral reefs.

Some may question my reason for posting such a thing on this site. I do so because I genuinely care about our Oceans and our World, and I made a promise to you and Orla that I would do so. [smiley=worried.gif]

Think twice before you fill your living room with a colorful aquarium. Think about the impacts of your actions on a very distant but very connected world – the world of the coral reefs. Think about the alternatives – a different source of aquarium fillers or another source of entertainment in your home. I write this as someone who has spent the last four years diving the coral reefs of the world, investigating and documenting their state of health and witnessing their devastation in front of my eyes.



In the Philippines, I dived on reefs that had been bomb-blasted weeks before – the dynamite blasts sufficiently stunning fish so that they can easily be caught by hand or scooped up in a net. The coral fields were pitted with craters and the corals smashed to rubble. I watched as dynamite fishermen worked ten miles down the island chain of eastern Palawan, creating a hundred foot water spouts from the ocean as their bombs destroyed the reefs below. Some of these fish will have ended up in fish tanks around the world.



In Indonesia, I discovered a new species of cardinal fish – very like the Banggai cardinal fish. But I kept this discovery a secret. For the population of its more unfortunate cousin a few hundred miles away is under attack daily, as the fish is sought to decorate the aquarium. Piscine exotica has become ultra fashionable, sadly.



In Indonesia again, I watched fishermen squirt cyanide into the coral rocks, in order to evict the more reclusive species from their hiding holes and again into the hands or nets of the fishermen. The coral habitats are fatally poisoned by these actions as the fishermen seek the more secretive reef species for aquaria etc.



These destructive fishing practices are not exclusively used for the aquarium industry – they are also used to feed the live-fish trade and fish markets of Asia. But realize the choice you are making in choosing to keep this industry alive. And know that you are contributing to the rapid increase in the demand on an ecosystem that can no longer cope with the impacts imposed upon it by us humans. In 1984, forty thousand coral colonies were imported into the USA. By 1991 that figure had reached two hundred and fifty thousand. In 1997, 56% of the live coral traded internationally was imported by the USA, with half of this amount plunging directly into aquaria.



Coral reefs around the world are dying – for many, many reasons and due to many, many impacts. But one thing is clear – the continued demand upon the reefs by the aquarium industry is not helping their plight, not in the slightest.

Orla

[Craig Manoukian]

That is very sobbering. *Would you please ask Orla what we can do to mobilze the hobbiests worldwide. *What I mean by this is, can we achieve something similar to what we have seen with migratory bird hunting.

In the late 1930's, as farming practices depleted the natural breeding grounds and urban sprawl claimed wetlands, the migratory bird populations plummeted. *Organizations like Ducks Unlimited pooled the resources of hunters and they began buying and restoring breeding grounds, as well as, improving and maintaining wetlands along the fly routes.

Today duck and goose populations are on the rise and hunting, through licenses and other fees, along with contributions to Ducks Unlimited remains a popular sport for thousands of participants. *

This is international in scope in that the breeding grounds are in the "pot hole" regions of Canada and there are the Pacific, Central, and Atlantic flyways in the US, with wintering grounds in Mexico and South America.

All wetland birds and animals benefit from these efforts, not just the game birds.

Conservation takes money and if all hobbiests chipped in with a little, we could generate resources to make a difference economically. *The most difficult part is the administration of such an effort and working with all the competing interests that are contributing to the current state of affairs. *Commercial fishing, deforestation, the aquarium trade, beach front development, and many other factors need to be addressed in a comprehensive fashion.

[Matt Rogers]

Craig - Ducks Unlimited is the perfect example. You nailed it. If the locals around these beautiful reefs are taught that they can prosper more in the long term with their preservation, that is a major win. To me, it's that and supporting the efforts of the people like Orla out there studying the reefs and giving us accounts firsthand.

You asked what Orla would tell us to do to help ... *as with her email, I got the sense when speaking with her that she would rather we not have them at all.

Now I may be a bit biased * , but I hope it hasn't come to that yet.

Perhaps we at 3reef can flesh this out and set the example.

What I am thinking is we need to, beyond raising *awareness of great things like the PCRF, is start doing and promoting some serious frag swapping here, just off the top of my head, maybe get a network going where we all benefit and get it to the point where we can give every new member a coral as an introduction to 3reef! *[smiley=vulcan.gif]

[Craig Manoukian]

Great idea on the FRAG thing! Let's start getting the word out to members and see if we can create the resources to have the necessary "inventory", eh?

[Gresham]

In the Philippines, I dived on reefs that had been bomb-blasted weeks before – the dynamite blasts sufficiently stunning fish so that they can easily be caught by hand or scooped up in a net. The coral fields were pitted with craters and the corals smashed to rubble. I watched as dynamite fishermen worked ten miles down the island chain of eastern Palawan, creating a hundred foot water spouts from the ocean as their bombs destroyed the reefs below. [glow=red, 2, 300]Some of these fish will have ended up in fish tanks around the world[/glow].

Wo wo wo, wait a minute, thats just not true. Blast fishing IS NOT a method in collection for the MOI (marine ornimental industry), thats a food fish collection method. Many divers participate in both collections (food,Aquarium) at the same time, so I could see how a outside observer such as her would get it confused though.

[ReefLady]

What a great post, thank you for sharing this, and also thank you for your honesty & straightforwardness in conveying her opinion of the aquarium trade.

One comment I'd like to offer (maybe it is more of a question) is this ...

In the many years I have personally kept reef aquaria, I have always felt that in a small way, keeping cative reefs benefited the reefs - because of the increase in awareness. Someone who might previously not have cared about the reefs steps into my livingroom, and the reef is no longer "out of sight - out of mind". Is this awareness not considered even a small benefit?

I've also heard people blame the Scuba industry for reef destruction. However, before I became PADI certified and started diving, I was never a member of the Coral Reef Alliance, and ReefRelief.

Yes, the uneducated consumer does harm. However, how many advances have been made toward preserving corals and marine fish (education, awareness, propagation, captive breeding, etc.) because of the aquarium hobbyist?

As of this post, I have 78 different corals in my reef tank. 77 of these were obtained as frags from other reefers. Of the 78 total, I have fragged/traded/sold 71 of them several times - some of these corals I have personally fragged and passed on over 20 times. IMO, this is not a "feat", or something which deserves "bragging rights" per se, but something that every reefer should seek to do...we should look at it as an ethical "requirement" of reefkeeping. ;-)

Also, forums such as these, and our contributions to such forums are, IMO, extremely important. Back when I started SW & reef tanks (1989 - 1990), there wasn't much of an internet to speak of. I relied on the literature which was available at the time (not good), and the advice of the LFS. Needless to say, I made many mistakes. I believe now, that I "owe" it to the oceans to "give back". That's why I spend a good part of my time on aquaria forums on the internet. If I can help one person frag a coral, save a fish, or maybe offer advice that will prevent someone from buying something they should not -- than that is a bit of success.

Sorry for the long-winded post, just my "slant" on things.

[Matt Rogers]

[quote author=ReefLady link=board=General;num=1066288235;start=15#17 date=12/04/03 at 06:05:48]As of this post, I have 78 different corals in my reef tank. *77 of these were obtained as frags from other reefers. *Of the 78 total, I have fragged/traded/sold 71 of them several times - some of these corals I have personally fragged and passed on over 20 times. *IMO, this is not a "feat", or something which deserves "bragging rights" per se, but something that every reefer should seek to do...we should look at it as an ethical "requirement" of reefkeeping. *;-)[/quote]

Right on ReefLady!

This makes me so happy.
What a model for people to follow.
If we all get even half as successful as ReefLady I think we could really turn some trends around!

I hope we all will take a little something from her post and this thread and do what we can to further this hobby and the conservation of our reefs.

[smiley=thumbs_up1.gif]


(Oh and thanks for joining 3reef!)

[omard]

Salutations "Reeflady" -

Please see topic "Risky Coral Mix" I just posted over in the "Corals" section of forum...

Sounds like you just may be able to provide some insight to my coral problems.

THX

OmarD

PS - I STRONGLY concur and feel same about your comments on benefits of keeping "captive reefs" - Om