We all love fish and most of us like to research our new specimens before we buy them. However, this should entail more than simply seeing in what sort of habitat it thrives and how big it gets. The aquarium hobby has been around for a long time, but now--more than ever--we should all be thinking about the ecological sustainability of wild fishy populations. "Wild caught" seems to be less of a description these days and more of a selling point. This is all fine and good if wild fish communities can handle the added burden of hobbyist harvesting.
Cardinal tetras are small little buggers with a simple life cycle and high reproductive capability (Because of its rapid and abundant reproduction, the cardinal tetra serves as a great natural renewable resource for the people of Barcelos and other fishing communities. Each year, 40 million fish are exported). Like most other aquarium fish, they naturally inhabit the Amazon river basin. Each year, along with many other Amazonians, they experience huge strain due to changing seasons. The dry season kills off many individuals as oxygen levels shrink and waters dry up. Harvesting just before these dry-outs occur actually increases the surviveability of the remaining communities (Dowd, 2011).
Siamese tigers (D. microlepis), however, do not share the same fate. The Siamese Tiger originates from the Chao Phraya river basin in the center of Thailand. Unfortunately the fish is completely extinct in the wild. The last know sighting was over 5 years ago. The fish has been [edit]: highly over fished for the aquarium trade. The Department of Fisheries in Thailand(DOF) has a captive breeding program, however success is limited as of yet (Alderson, 2005). Other sorts of tigers are still being caught from the wild and sold to hobbyists. It raises the question of what will happen to remaining species if people continue to keep fish like these without stable wild populations. Asian arowanas, ST's and others are being kept but cannot keep up with the trade while their habitats are being destroyed. This is a reality that has already happened to even more prolific fish, so what's stopping the future extinction of some of our favoriite fish?
The endlers guppy, and lake Eacham rainbow are already extinct in the wild as well and only kept alive via aquarium farming. Their gene pools are threatened by hybridization and inbreeding. The aquarium trade may be the only hope these fish have to repopulate their wild ranges, ironically.. We don't want this to happen to others though.
Saltwater aquaria are just as responsible:
"The Banggai cardinal fish's popularity as a pet for the home aquarium has landed it on the 2007 IUCN Red List.
In the wild, the striped fish is only found in the Banggai Archipelago off Indonesia. Human pressures such as the aquarium trade are the main reason for the fish's decline, with habitat loss and climate change also posing major threats. Fish stocks are in free-fall all over the world, both from overfishing and the aquarium trade. Scientists estimate current extinction rates are at least a hundred to a thousand times higher than natural rates (Nat geo, 2007).
I feel that there needs to be a movement towards sustainability of wild fish stocks if our aquatic trade is to survive alongside mother nature. Less harvest, selective harvest, and predominantly RESEARCHING WHAT WE'RE BUYING are all neccessary!! This may lead to higher prices for what used to be more common fish in the market, but if we respect fish enough, we should be able to sacrifice a little more money to ensure that our pets' cousins are secure and unendangered.
If any of you would like more information, you can PM me or do a simple scholar search.
If any of you would like to ammend or supplement this statement, please feel free to comment and leave any references or personal experience. MFK is about learning and sharing as a hobbyist-community.
Cardinal tetras are small little buggers with a simple life cycle and high reproductive capability (Because of its rapid and abundant reproduction, the cardinal tetra serves as a great natural renewable resource for the people of Barcelos and other fishing communities. Each year, 40 million fish are exported). Like most other aquarium fish, they naturally inhabit the Amazon river basin. Each year, along with many other Amazonians, they experience huge strain due to changing seasons. The dry season kills off many individuals as oxygen levels shrink and waters dry up. Harvesting just before these dry-outs occur actually increases the surviveability of the remaining communities (Dowd, 2011).
Siamese tigers (D. microlepis), however, do not share the same fate. The Siamese Tiger originates from the Chao Phraya river basin in the center of Thailand. Unfortunately the fish is completely extinct in the wild. The last know sighting was over 5 years ago. The fish has been [edit]: highly over fished for the aquarium trade. The Department of Fisheries in Thailand(DOF) has a captive breeding program, however success is limited as of yet (Alderson, 2005). Other sorts of tigers are still being caught from the wild and sold to hobbyists. It raises the question of what will happen to remaining species if people continue to keep fish like these without stable wild populations. Asian arowanas, ST's and others are being kept but cannot keep up with the trade while their habitats are being destroyed. This is a reality that has already happened to even more prolific fish, so what's stopping the future extinction of some of our favoriite fish?
The endlers guppy, and lake Eacham rainbow are already extinct in the wild as well and only kept alive via aquarium farming. Their gene pools are threatened by hybridization and inbreeding. The aquarium trade may be the only hope these fish have to repopulate their wild ranges, ironically.. We don't want this to happen to others though.
Saltwater aquaria are just as responsible:
"The Banggai cardinal fish's popularity as a pet for the home aquarium has landed it on the 2007 IUCN Red List.
In the wild, the striped fish is only found in the Banggai Archipelago off Indonesia. Human pressures such as the aquarium trade are the main reason for the fish's decline, with habitat loss and climate change also posing major threats. Fish stocks are in free-fall all over the world, both from overfishing and the aquarium trade. Scientists estimate current extinction rates are at least a hundred to a thousand times higher than natural rates (Nat geo, 2007).
I feel that there needs to be a movement towards sustainability of wild fish stocks if our aquatic trade is to survive alongside mother nature. Less harvest, selective harvest, and predominantly RESEARCHING WHAT WE'RE BUYING are all neccessary!! This may lead to higher prices for what used to be more common fish in the market, but if we respect fish enough, we should be able to sacrifice a little more money to ensure that our pets' cousins are secure and unendangered.
If any of you would like more information, you can PM me or do a simple scholar search.
If any of you would like to ammend or supplement this statement, please feel free to comment and leave any references or personal experience. MFK is about learning and sharing as a hobbyist-community.
