Here's a good article on Clown Loach export, and also a bonus on clown loach patterns. Definitely worth reviewing:
The Trade of Clown Loaches
Clown loaches are harvested from the wild for food and aquarium trade. Approximately 20 million fish are exported annually. Due to their popularity, many small (preferably 2 - 8cm) loaches are captured every year and dispersed world wide. Interestingly, Indonesia has posed a ban on the export of fish larger than 10cm. This policy is hoped to protect breeding adults and make captive breeding by external groups more difficult. Larger specimens are considered to be unsuitable for aquarium life (due to their carnivorous nature and adaptability difficulties) hence large breeding populations are generally left intact. Young fish are only caught during the high water seasons whilst they are abundant and highly concentrated in one area. This makes trapping easier and the economics of such programs are therefore viable during this time. Juvenilles adapt easily to prepared foods and captivity.
Collection procedures differ slightly between Borneo and Sumatra. In Sumatra, clowns are caught by using perforated bamboo poles stuck into the river bank substratum. This allows loaches of a preferred size to enter the cavities of the bamboo poles. The poles are set at a pre-determined distance apart, where they are later collected by boat. The contents are emptied directly into the bottom of the boat that is filled with water. The loaches are then taken back to a holding facility where they are sorted according to size and sold to a wholesaler.
In Borneo, a slightly different collection method is implemented. Bamboo poles are bundled and tied together then sunk with stones. Rope is used to attach the trap to stakes that are driven into the river bed. When the trap is retrieved from the river, any loaches that have taken refuge inside the bamboo configuration are shaken into a collection vessel. This shaking action is more detrimental to the well-being of the loaches than the method adopted in Sumatra.
Most fish caught in Kalimantan are used for food and few numbers are exported for aquarium trade.
Although the clown loach trade has heavily exploited numbers in the wild, relatively large populations still exist. This is mainly due to the efforts of the individual governments to control numbers that are caught and the fickle nature of the market.
Although some fisheries in Thailand have capitalised on the artificial breeding of these fish, generally this practice is not viable at this point in time. Before the pressure is taken off wild populations, huge technical advances in the field of aquaculture must be reached. Hopefully this is in the “not too distant future”. It would be disasterous to lose this fish from the wild. Environmental disasters (natural and human induced) continually threaten the clown loach in the wild. We don’t need fisheries mis-management also contributing to their demise.
Andrea Watts
Credits for this article include:
http://www.loaches.com/index.html
http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/biodiversitii/bio/a…more.html#clown
Article from:
http://westerncichlids.com.au/clown-loaches/
The Trade of Clown Loaches
Clown loaches are harvested from the wild for food and aquarium trade. Approximately 20 million fish are exported annually. Due to their popularity, many small (preferably 2 - 8cm) loaches are captured every year and dispersed world wide. Interestingly, Indonesia has posed a ban on the export of fish larger than 10cm. This policy is hoped to protect breeding adults and make captive breeding by external groups more difficult. Larger specimens are considered to be unsuitable for aquarium life (due to their carnivorous nature and adaptability difficulties) hence large breeding populations are generally left intact. Young fish are only caught during the high water seasons whilst they are abundant and highly concentrated in one area. This makes trapping easier and the economics of such programs are therefore viable during this time. Juvenilles adapt easily to prepared foods and captivity.
Collection procedures differ slightly between Borneo and Sumatra. In Sumatra, clowns are caught by using perforated bamboo poles stuck into the river bank substratum. This allows loaches of a preferred size to enter the cavities of the bamboo poles. The poles are set at a pre-determined distance apart, where they are later collected by boat. The contents are emptied directly into the bottom of the boat that is filled with water. The loaches are then taken back to a holding facility where they are sorted according to size and sold to a wholesaler.
In Borneo, a slightly different collection method is implemented. Bamboo poles are bundled and tied together then sunk with stones. Rope is used to attach the trap to stakes that are driven into the river bed. When the trap is retrieved from the river, any loaches that have taken refuge inside the bamboo configuration are shaken into a collection vessel. This shaking action is more detrimental to the well-being of the loaches than the method adopted in Sumatra.
Most fish caught in Kalimantan are used for food and few numbers are exported for aquarium trade.
Although the clown loach trade has heavily exploited numbers in the wild, relatively large populations still exist. This is mainly due to the efforts of the individual governments to control numbers that are caught and the fickle nature of the market.
Although some fisheries in Thailand have capitalised on the artificial breeding of these fish, generally this practice is not viable at this point in time. Before the pressure is taken off wild populations, huge technical advances in the field of aquaculture must be reached. Hopefully this is in the “not too distant future”. It would be disasterous to lose this fish from the wild. Environmental disasters (natural and human induced) continually threaten the clown loach in the wild. We don’t need fisheries mis-management also contributing to their demise.
Andrea Watts
Credits for this article include:
http://www.loaches.com/index.html
http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/biodiversitii/bio/a…more.html#clown
Article from:
http://westerncichlids.com.au/clown-loaches/