Why??

[Freshwaterfishlover]

So I have 2 questions. Instead of making 2 post I will post them both in one topic.

1. I was watching videos on YouTube and was wondering why they don’t have Aquarium fish markets in the USA like they do in Thailand and China?

2. How come back in the Early 2000’s when I started in the hobby and even 5 years ago every store sold Motoro and reticulated Freshwater Stingrays and less often you found pure Black Diamonds. In the past 2 years it’s like Motoro and Reticulated Stingrays are non existent and now all you find is Hybrid Black Diamonds, Pearls,Albino and less often Scorbinos and Marbles. Its very hard to even find a Freshwater Stingray in stores and usually they must be bought online from a specialized breeder or importer Why is this?

 

[Gpdriftwood]

Simple answer to me is demand for the sexy/smaller, more popular rays far outweighs the demand for rarer, larger, or harder to keep species. Easier money. Also, the quantity of supply in the last 5 yrs for albinos and bds has gone crazy. Everybody is breeding them. Not saying I am correct, as I am not an importer or commercial retailer. Look forward to other answers from someone who does import and sell commercially hopefully. Valid thread to me. Thanks. ?

 

[FLA]

Supply for wild rays got harder to get when they got CITES listed. You can still get them, but it added a layer of complexity. Farmed hybrids increased in availability.

As for why we don't have fish markets like Thailand and China is a mix of culture and regulation. Most of the country doesn't live near fish producing areas so having a farmers market style fish shop is challenging to say the least. Then there is the animal rights side. While we know the fish in these markets are generally healthy, having fish sitting in bags would not be accepted. Look at all the backlash retailers take for keeping bettas in cups, even if they do a good job taking care of them. We have already had some municipalities try to ban sales of pets. I don't think reducing life support systems would increase acceptance of this hobby.

The demand comment is another good point. There is also a lot of labor in that if the fish don't sell you have to tack them back and rebag them. I don't think most stores sell enough fish each day to have the confidence to prebag them. Very few American cities have the population density of fishkeepers to support a market like that. As hard as it is to admit sometimes we are a very small part of the overall pet market. So small that less than half of the top 25 largest pet retailers in North America see a reason to carry fish. Many don't even offer aquarium products. Check the list. The Top 25 Pet Retailers in North America | Archives | petbusiness.com