The dark hobby

[Niki_up]

There is a documentary called “the dark hobby” it is about the affects of collecting marine fish from the wild, specifically Hawaii, for the aquarium trade. It does not look to be a pleasant documentary about the cute fish and the lives they live but rather a glimpse of the devastating problems caused by the aquarium hobby.

I have not watched it yet so I cannot give any reviews yet. I wanted to share in case anyone else is interested in watching it.

My bf said he downloaded it for me bc I keep aquariums and that he thought I might enjoy it (not an entire lie). I do believe he he thinks I will enjoy it but I have a sneaking suspicion it may be one of his ways to guilt me out of the hobby and get rid of some of my tanks…what he doesn’t know is I have been thinking about a saltwater tank for a while now…he may have successfully stopped/halted that tank addition ?

 

[Rtc/tsn]

There is a documentary called “the dark hobby” it is about the affects of collecting marine fish from the wild, specifically Hawaii, for the aquarium trade. It does not look to be a pleasant documentary about the cute fish and the lives they live but rather a glimpse of the devastating problems caused by the aquarium hobby.

I have not watched it yet so I cannot give any reviews yet. I wanted to share in case anyone else is interested in watching it.

My bf said he downloaded it for me bc I keep aquariums and that he thought I might enjoy it (not an entire lie). I do believe he he thinks I will enjoy it but I have a sneaking suspicion it may be one of his ways to guilt me out of the hobby and get rid of some of my tanks…what he doesn’t know is I have been thinking about a saltwater tank for a while now…he may have successfully stopped/halted that tank addition ?

What are you using to watch it on? I’m interested in watching it

 

[Niki_up]

What are you using to watch it on? I’m interested in watching it

I’m not sure where my bf downloaded it from. When I googled it, google said both YouTube and google play has it available for streaming.

 

[celebrist]

Those kind of things are the main reason why I will never do a salt tank.

 

[..puSkar..]

Those kind of things are the main reason why I will never do a salt tank.

Yup me too . I believe that anything wild caught should not be kept in a confined space. Be it fish, bird or for that matter any living organism we keep as pets.
If I ever do a saltwater tank I'm only keeping maybe a pair of designer clowns born and brought up in a tank.

 

[phreeflow]

Lots of corals are now farmed as well. Many people start entire reef tanks with just tiny cuttings or plugs from fellow reefers who frag them. There’s also tons of fish being bred now also

 

[tlindsey]

I don't want to sound like a hypocrite because I have purchased wc freshwater fish but now feel different about buying a wc marine specie now. With the exception of the Great Barrier Reef some Reefs are being destroyed from pollution and the aquarium trade.

 

[Niki_up]

I don't want to sound like a hypocrite because I have purchased wc freshwater fish but now feel different about buying a wc marine specie now. With the exception of the Great Barrier Reef some Reefs are being destroyed from pollution and the aquarium trade.

I didn’t post this as a shaming tool, it was not my intention.

my intention was for educational purposes (based on the fact that I haven’t even watched it yet).

I’m in the boat of having owned wild caught fish for sure freshwater fish that is…but I am a believer of “when we know better we do better”. So my intention when and if I do go to saltwater will be to only support hobby produced fish.

I read the description and it seems some of the residents of Hawaii are in a battle to ban harvesting wild fish for the aquarium trade…I’m not sure it will work in their favour. I think it could end up making the black market smuggling bigger like with zebra plecos. It might be smarter to have a harvesting quota for the aquarium trade with harvesting dates permitted like they do with the fisheries. Maybe a temporary ban on all harvesting to allow the fish populations to rebound before they are permitted to harvest for export again?

A total ban won’t work and open unlimited harvesting isn’t sustainable

 

[esoxlucius]

These methods of collecting fish from reefs aren't exactly new.

In a way you can use these vile methods of collection and almost put a positive spin on it. If hobbyists realise that the fish have been through hell to get to the the LFS in the first place, then it might make them appreciate the fish more, and make sure the remainder of their lives are comfortable.

But for that to work hobbyists have got to first realise just how the collection process works, and I don't think many do.

 

[Rtc/tsn]

These methods of collecting fish from reefs aren't exactly new.

In a way you can use these vile methods of collection and almost put a positive spin on it. If hobbyists realise that the fish have been through hell to get to the the LFS in the first place, then it might make them appreciate the fish more, and make sure the remainder of their lives are comfortable.

But for that to work hobbyists have got to first realise just how the collection process works, and I don't think many do.

What you said is beyond true. I’ve seen many times how pet stores, even high quality places treat their fish and other than feeding them on a decent schedule I’ve only ever seen one place actually treat their fish like they deserve to be treated ( place I got my FH at) when I was trying to rehome my fish I called them about it and they actually set up a whole new tank for the pacu because they didn’t have the room. Costed a bit for them to set it up and they used water stored in the place for their aquariums to fill it with and sold the fish for like 15$. The stuff I see at every other place is where they throw bags of fish into random tanks and put a price tag on them, many knowledgeable employees but their work is terrible. The issue with pet stores are they just want the money, they don’t care if you get a pace with a 10 gallon tank, as long as they make a bit of money then they’ll tell you anything which then lets the person believe in stuff that is definitely not true and then that lie spreads from person to person and before long people are keeping fish they know nothing about because they heard they stay small or are easy to take care of. All of this I have seen myself with my own eyes, it may not be every where but it definitely happens in my area.