wild caught fish, is that right or not?

One problem is that not all species can breed in captivity. If its a common species I see nothing wrong with it.

I suppose if it can't be bred captive then we don't really need it?


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I don't keep wc Ornatum for bragging rights. I personally keep them to try to get them spawning so hobbyists won't need to source wc fish if they choose to keep them. Now, thanks to a few dedicated hobbyists, we have f1 Ornatum.
Sometimes wholesalers and farms won't have the time or means to provide the requirements of some of these fish. Mo Devilns Hogas come to mind as Rapps sells f1's from Mo's wc pair.
Many species need a lot of hands on to "unlock the code" so to speak and this is where hobbyists have an advantage. Ever try to monitor cichlid spawning behavior in a 5000 gallon vat on a farm? Much easier in a carefully monitored hobbyist setup most times.

I get the point as over harvesting is a problem, but without serious hobbyists like Rusty Wessell and Mo giving these species the time and space they really need, a lot of these species may cease to exist altogether in the wild. Lyonsi are in trouble as are labridens.


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Almost all of my natives are wild caught, by me. My process is that I'll seine and trap in a spot for an hour or two and keep track of how many ( approximately) of each I bring up and if I feel that the population is stable for me to take let's say a half dozen redside dace then I will. If I find that there aren't to many of a certain species in that area whether I want the fish or not I'll put them back and try to find a location with a more stable population.

justarn said:

Theres not many fish that cant be farmed one way or another if needs must. also how long will that common species be common for as the hobbie expands the threat to every common aquarium fish does.

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Again, there are many fish species that cannot be farmed due to their requirements to spawn. You can't expect them to reproduce if you just toss them in a pond. Many tetra species have to be imported because our waters are unsuitable for them to spawn even in Florida. And its probably holds true for other fish species as well. Neons and cardinal tetras are most common kept in aquarium yet they are wild caught. If we are talking about endangered species or a fish with limited distribution, then they needs to figure out how to get them spawning in artificial settings instead of over harvested them.

Wild caught doesn't mean endangered.


But if you have a list of which ones are only wild caught and endangered, it might be good to post it. I'd probably pass on those as others might. Certainly. My hope is to pass on the love of fish keeping to some of my family, so it would be great to not drive those fish to extinction.

justarn said:

in my opinion no, i am guilty of getting excited about f0 fish myself but we shouldnt be pushing the hobbie in that direction should we, many reptile keepers will only want cb specimens and i think that is how it should be, you should need to be someone with credentials like rapps or coa to get f0's then they should breed from that pair for profits, its wrong for the fish to be carted around the world from tank to tank for bragging rights of f0 and pure strains not to mention the destruction of species due to our own ignorant desires... rant over!-)

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Your heart is certainly in the right place in that you're worried about the conservation of species. But you may also be happy to learn that in many cases the sustainable harvest of many wild species is actually beneficial to the environments they come from. Take the cardinal tetra for example, this species is harvested by local fisherman in the Rio Negro basin in Brazil and serves as the primary driving force for the economy in that area.Providing income for thousands of people. In addition to this because of the cardinal's life cycle in the wild (massive population explosions during the high water season and equally massive die offs during the dry season) it is possible to harvest millions upon millions of these fish annually with zero affect on the population. Finally, the cardinal tetra is also an indicator species, meaning that in order to have a healthy cardinal population the surrounding environment needs to be healthy, and the fisherman know this. As a result, they protect the river and the surrounding forest from things like logging, mining, and cattle ranching creating a massive tract of pristine tropical rainforest that is safe as long as there is a market for wild cardinal tetras.

Check out Project Piaba, it's a nonprofit that promotes this amazing fishery.

As others have said, there are ups and downs of wild caught specimens. The thing I really don't like as others have mentioned is catching endangered fish for the aquarium hobby. The species is endangered and should not be targeted at all. Now the upside, in my personal opinion is the quality of the fish. In the wild it's the survival of the fittest and only the healthiest, strongest and best looking males are going to reproduce, this is especially true for fish like firemouths, it was before my time but I've heard many stories about how when firemouths were new to the hobby they were much better looking then they are now. These are just my thoughts but overall, I'm not a fan of wild caught fish.