Garden Grove Man Accused of Smuggling...

[Galantspeedz]

There's more than enough supply at the hobbyist level to meet the demand here, prices will come down but remember they are still not cheap so your average fish keeper will still not be willing to spend on one.

I am not sure if that statement is accurate considering only limited countries and farm are breeding arowana

Also price may or may not go down in your country depending on availability but I am quite sure prices will go up in Asia

 

[Eatsomekiwis]

I’m talking about the states, prices will def go down as they become legal. Profits margins will go down once you no longer need to risk smuggling them in.

 

[DN328]

The farms would go out of business. How's that you ask? Because the "farms" would soon be mostly USA based, and world-wide the prices for Asian aros would plummet. Asian aros are only expensive due to how they are currently controlled and marketed.

This is what I tend to think would happen. The Aro farm owners are behind all this...a conspiracy I say?

Anyone Economics pro? Perhaps not only supply/demand but enough to cause the curves to shift. It's been way too long since I had thise classes but Im thinking applicable?

 

[RD.]

I believe it was Dr. Loiselle that mentioned the cost of "red devils" when first imported to the USA - $500 per fish. Probably $1,500 or more at todays value. Once that species hit mass production, and the market became saturated, the costs have now been reduced to a small fraction of that amount, even for wild caught specimens.

Not to say that breeding aros is as simplistic as A. labiatus, but still, supply and demand, and the overall rarity of an item (including fish) most certainly dictate price. Obviously it is in the best interests of the farms in SE Asia, and those who distribute this fish, to keep this species status as is - forever.

This is an excerpt from the Nat Geo article.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/07/dragon-fish-most-expensive-arowana-emily-voigt/

But it is an apex predator and a slow-reproducing fish, so it ended up on this list of protected species and was banned from international trade. That backfired, though, because it created the perception of rarity, which spawned a market for this fish in the aquarium trade. It became a hot commodity.

 

[krichardson]

I believe it was Dr. Loiselle that mentioned the cost of "red devils" when first imported to the USA - $500 per fish. Probably $1,500 or more at todays value. Once that species hit mass production, and the market became saturated, the costs have now been reduced to a small fraction of that amount, even for wild caught specimens.

Not to say that breeding aros is as simplistic as A. labiatus, but still, supply and demand, and the overall rarity of an item (including fish) most certainly dictate price. Obviously it is in the best interests of the farms in SE Asia, and those who distribute this fish, to keep this species status as is - forever.

This is an excerpt from the Nat Geo article.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/07/dragon-fish-most-expensive-arowana-emily-voigt/

Ah,Dragon Behind the Glass.
I have been meaning to get that book.

 

[RD.]

Yes, it looks like it would be a good read. I have 4 editions of Indo Dragon, but should really add that book to my list.

 

[krichardson]

Nice display of aro books.

 

[jsodwi]

Dragon behind the glass is an awesome book. But I'd really like to see what a $150k aro looks like

 

[Toiletcar]

No fish is worth that much money or breaking the law. I understand people want what they want and when they want. I believe there are good reasons some species are and should be illegal. Laws are in place for a good reason. People are irresponsible and it is unfortunate that many can't have something because of a few. But the impact of invasive species or other reasons is more important than selfish wants.
There are plenty of cool legal fish. That's good enough for me.

 

[DN328]

No fish is worth that much money or breaking the law. I understand people want what they want and when they want. I believe there are good reasons some species are and should be illegal. Laws are in place for a good reason. People are irresponsible and it is unfortunate that many can't have something because of a few. But the impact of invasive species or other reasons is more important than selfish wants.
There are plenty of cool legal fish. That's good enough for me.

I agree with you. But as with other things it's about exclusivity and bragging eights. The price exists because there is demand...just like jewelry, cars, exotic animals...