Gone Fishing (Fish Collection)

revhtree · Oct 14, 2013

SLAUGHTER HOUSE FISH – Have you ever wondered why marine fish are so expensive? Unlike a cichlid, or most other freshwater fish, marine creatures live in much harder to reach areas of the world. Some live hundreds of feet below sea level which is very out of reach to the Average Joe, thus it is more expensive to obtain these creatures. Not only are they harder to get to but they are also more difficult to capture. Yeah, people could just throw a hook and bobber over the reef but the odds of capturing the fish in demand are slim. The majority of fish that would go after such bait are mainly predators that wont normally be suitable for the aquarium. So how do they obtain fish we want? Sometimes the methods of capturing hard to catch creatures are very questionable, if not terrifying!

image via mauisierraclub.org

CYANIDE – Cyanide, or more specifically, a mixture of sodium cyanide is sprayed around the fish’s habitat. This knocks them out and makes them easy to capture. It also knocks out everything else in the surrounding radius, depending on the amount that was used and the concentration. A coral will most likely be just as injured as the smallest pods if in the vicinity. This is practiced mainly in Asia and has been going on since the 50s, but with minimal advertising of course. They even have used it to capture fish for food, though quickly became illegal. To this day fish are caught with cyanide and surrounding animals sustain suffering and death. Cyanide is one of the most devastating practices in the industry. It does not take a rocket scientist to know that poison is poisonous.

image via James Cervino, Ph.D. and Fish Channel

SPEAR FISHING – Cyanide seemed to cause more casualties than not. Even if a fish was knocked out it still required removal of rock to get to the fish and that includes damaging any corals that are attached to the area. To counter this problem they have designed a tiny spear from a paper clip that shoots the fish through the tail or a fin and prevents them from escaping long enough to capture. The fins heal just as they would if they were bit but this still is a form of harming the animal. The technique is mainly used on fish like Mandarin Dragonets that live deep within the rocks hunting pods. On the plus side at least there is no poison being sprayed into the ocean.

image via coralmorphologic

THE SAFE WAY – There really is no stress free way to capture anything without persuasion, but good luck persuading a skittish wrasse into your collection container. Divers must be very calm, patient, and quick. Most often if you are hovering over a reef for extended times the fish will assume you are not after them. This is when to start slowly capturing animals and some will even swim into containers out of curiosity. Setting out traps not unlike the ones made for unwanted or emergency fish removal is another safe way to collect fish without poisoning or spearing them.

image via honoluluadvertiser.com

THE SAFER WAY – Breeding! The more we advance in knowledge the more captive animals we can produce. Some fish are extremely advanced in their breeding practices and even require traveling into freshwater! As biologists develop more ways to replicate this change in environment we can start to reduce the amount of fish pulled from the ocean. If you want to donate to a good cause then fish breeding is a great one. The same applies to corals. Some animals that were once impossible are now becoming much more understood and able to be apart of our homes for future generations to enjoy. There are of course many other methods for capturing sealife that were not discussed!

fish breeding in Florida (more to come on this in a future article)

GeoHawk · Oct 14, 2013

Great Article!
I have often debated going to captive bread fish only in my tank for these reasons. In my opinion, which is often unpopular there needs to be tighter regulations on the capture of wild caught fish, as well as the selling of these fish to inexperienced hobbyist. I know that there would be a couple more fish still alive if I would have been educated on there delicacy before making my purchase back when I was a beginner. Just some thoughts. Articles like these make me strive to be more responsible for the animals we care for.

Dolmo5000 · Oct 14, 2013

I have been interested in finding/learning to what extent fish harvesting for the pet trade pressures those specific populations. It is a general rule that 1/2 of a given population can safely be harvested within one "breeding cycle" without long term detrimental effect. Do divers go clear out a given area or spread out their harvest in order to have a higher chance of finding the rare expensive specimens.

mike007 · Oct 14, 2013

It would be hard to stop these fish capturing techniques. Most are third world countries and that is there source of income. They don't care if your fish dies once you get it home they already have their money. It is sad that this is happening but there will be no way to completely stop it. That is why you need to quarintine and try to buy tank raised fish .

DO NOT PM · Oct 15, 2013

I've had the opportunity to dive and collect fish both in Vanuatu as well as in Hawaii with professional collectors. Both of them had very different techniques but both used a "fence" to catch fish. A fence being a net, weighted on the bottom and with buoys on the top. These fences are layed out very carefully across a patch of reef and fish are chased into them. Their light weight, thin material is so soft the fish would nearly encapsulate itself when diving into it and giving a little struggle. The collector would then simply pick it up with his hand and put it in his bucket or bag. While not easy to master chasing fish into a net, I was able to catch a couple of dozen fish on my first trip on the reef. For many years I was able to house a few fish I collected myself while in Hawaii.