reeffirstaid
Active Member
Right now, activists like Snorkel Bob, and the entire Sea Shepherd Foundation, are aiming to put an end to the collection of aquarium fish worldwide. They have a compelling argument, citing that most fish taken from a coral reef, destined for an aquarium, are likely to die. It seems like a grim prediction, but anytime you walk into a large chain store, often you see far more fatally ill fish, then you do healthy ones. As a lifelong aquarist and aquarium writer, I’ve had the honor to visit many different private aquariums. All were attended by prudent and responsible aquarists, who combined chemistry, art and biology, to create stunning home ecosystems. So if the aquarium hobby is full of dedicated, conscientious reef keepers, where are Snorkel Bob and others getting their statistics, citing that a vast majority of reef fish die within one year of entering captivity? Where is the break in the chain? Why, and how are all these fish dying, and what percentage of that death rate is caused by big box retailers, such as Petco.
Petco, where the fish and corals go, to die...
LFS v. Big Box (A tie in poor care of aquatic life)
Over the years, I’ve visited more aquarium outlets, than I care to remember. I’ve been in shops in large cities, smaller communities and even visited the aquaculture facilities of major players in the reef fish industry. I can count on one hand, the places where I would feel comfortable buying aquatic life, for my own display. One LFS, not far from my home, created a very unrealistic picture of the aquarium hobby. They kept a nurse shark, in a two-hundred gallon display, and commonly had hard to keep, unique species in unsuitable habitats. The owner would get any species, with little question or education being directed at the purchaser. This is blatant retailer irresponsibility, treating fish like a disposable resource and limitless income generator. In outlets like this one, it’s safe to assume that a large portion of the livestock sold, doesn’t survive long. Naturally, the shop was filled with tanks containing diseased, and dying specimens.
Multiply this by 100, and you have an idea of what Petco, and other big box retailers, are doing to the reef aquarium industry. Irresponsibility on the part of local fish stores is bad, irresponsibility on the part of large chain stores, makes a huge dent and fuels the fire for many Snorkel Bob’s. I’ve never been in a large chain store that does it right. They always have species housed with incompatible animals, they nearly always have coral under inappropriate lighting and more times than not, most of the animals are sick. The worst part, these chains move more aquatic life, than all small retail outlets combined. While the LFS I described is no better, chain stores allow this irresponsibility to run on a massive scale. When reading arguments put forth by Snorkel Bob and his legions of followers, it isn’t long till the words Petco, Pets Mart, or any other chain franchise, start popping up. While it might be possible to have a handful of LFS’s that did business like the one I described, when massive chain stores do it, in nearly every city and large town across the U.S. – the impact on the environment becomes real, and measurable.
This fish is sick, this fish is being offered for sale...
What is the issue?
Why do chain stores get it so wrong? Is it because the aquatics departments are managed by people who know nothing about marine aquariums. Do they simply not care? Is there a lack of education on the part of the company, in training people how to care for aquatic life? Perhaps, it’s a bit of both, or maybe it’s simply a numbers game. Retail outlets look at sales, above and before everything else. I know, I was a manager for a large retailer, while still in college. When the metal meets the meat, it doesn’t matter what you’re selling, how good a product it is or customer satisfaction, all that matters is units moved and money made. The source of the product, its sustainability or how well it functions, really means nothing in lieu of sales numbers.
This is alright, I guess, when you’re focusing on a television, or a vacuum, or a home care product. In the aquarium industry, we are talking about marine life, one of planet Earth’s most valuable treasures. Schools of fish and hundreds of acres of coral exist, it would seem to a layperson like it could last forever, even if tens of thousands of animals were taken each year for the aquarium trade. The problem today, the oceans face a massive blast of stress. These resilient ecosystems, which have survived on Earth since the inception of life, today they are getting hit from nearly all angles. Over fishing is pulling large pelagic fish from the sea, at a tremendous waste and killing countless species as by-catch. Pollution has created islands of plastic trash, and now, based on rock found in Hawaii, plastic is working its way so deeply into marine ecosystems, that rock partially made from plastic may be entered into the fossil record. That’s right, our trash, may likely become part of the fossil record.
Due to climate change, the oceans are getting warmer. As aquarists we know, any increase in temperature can wreak havoc on sensitive corals. If the rising heat wasn’t enough, ocean water is getting more acidic, making it hard, if not impossible, for corals and invertebrates to properly grow their skeletons and shells. When you see the stress placed on the ocean listed out, the aquarium industry seems like a small ripple in the massive wave that hits our ocean daily. Reality is, the effect of aquarium collection is largely unknown, but it appears the Snorkel Bobs of the world don’t want to pick a fight with the behemoth that is commercial fishing, so they settle for the aquarium industry instead.
So we are taking animals from a threatened, ecologically invaluable ecosystem, placing them in captivity, and we’re shocked someone in the conservation community took notice. Our argument is that by placing these animals in captivity, we open up the wonder of a coral reef to people, whom otherwise, would never see one, possibly inspiring them to take up the mantle of marine conservation. It’s a sound argument, if it wasn’t for large retailers, like Petco, tearing it apart by selling aquatic life, to uneducated and misinformed hobbyist and failing to maintain marine fish properly, while in their stores.
"Yeah, I dun transferred here from McDonalds. Them fish, wonder if they eat nuggets?"
What needs to change?
As a scuba diver, I look at the dive industry as a prime example of a well regulated machine, when it comes to the ocean. There is essentially no law that says you have to be a certified diver, to dive, but PADI (a private organization) has set high standards for sport divers, and dive professionals. They also have a conservation arm that teaches responsible diving practices, with a mantra of, “Leave only bubbles.†The standards for their dive masters and instructors is high, requiring copious in the water and in the classroom training, which often needs renewed on a regular basis. It works, and it’s rare that you hear about a diving related incident that results in injury or death, even though divers encounter large oceanic predators on a near daily basis, worldwide. If you were to look at a successful dive, in the same light as a marine fish for sale, the diving industry would have a 95-99 percent success rate, the marine aquarium industry struggles to maintain 20%. According to current statistics, for every 100 marine fish imported into the trade, 80 will die.
For a long time, the marine aquarium trade ran wild. They collected wherever, whenever and from whomever was the cheapest. This led to cyanide capture of aquarium fish, devastation of coral reefs, and a plethora of marine life harvested in a manner that doomed its chances of survival once in an aquarium. Things have gotten better. Regions have outlawed cyanide capture, the Marine Aquarium Council has taught harvesters safe and effective capture of marine fish and corals and aqua cultured livestock is starting to take the place of previously wild caught specimens. Though, when talking to the manager of a local Petco’s aquatics department, I learned that they are told to buy species from the cheapest vendors and largely ignore MAC certified specimens, since they commonly are more expensive and don’t sell well. I asked about aqua cultured livestock, and while they do carry some, it’s often limited as customers are unlikely to pay the higher cost, and cannot understand why a captive raised fish, is more expensive than one wild caught. A large chain, moving hundreds of thousands of fish each year, ignoring how those fish were collected, bargain hunting for the cheapest price. Then placing said livestock in unsuitable conditions, managed by untrained personnel and selling them to misled aquarists. It’s a wonder the industry can maintain a 20% success rate.
First, large retailers should sell only sustainable and safely harvested livestock. If small aqua culture facilities can afford to visit collection areas, (such as the Solomon Islands, Bali, etc) so can Petco. Their aquatics manager needs to be an aquarist, and needs to be paid based on their experience and knowledge. A real job, with a real salary and real benefits. Live Aquaria’s diver’s den is largely successful because of Kevin Kohen, and I doubt he works for $ 7.25 an hour. They need managers not only passionate about aquatic life, but versed in properly keeping animals, long term, in a marine aquarium. The aquatic managers of each store, need to visit collection stations so that they understand how the animals they sell are collected, and can work with experts, to employ successful transit back to the United States.
Large chains need to listen to their aquatic experts, and only sell species that offer a high degree of success in the aquarium. If a customer wants an Achilles Tang, or Moorish Idol, the store needs to learn about their aquarium system and offer real advice, follow-up and assistance, into the animal’s quarantine, care and long-term health. Quarantine system packages should be sold at a large discount. Perhaps more aquarists would implement quarantine, if it were cheaper. Large scale discounts on quarantine tanks would help, and requiring them for customers who want difficult species wouldn’t be a bad idea. Hold aquatics workshops on everything from coral and fish quarantine and treatment, on up to coral fragging. Free workshops are educational, and help your aquatics expert earn their salary. Follow-up with customers is crucial and could help a big box retailer establish a measurement of success, to find out what works and also allows them to be a part of their customer’s aquarium and experience with underwater animals. All of these methods require a qualified aquatics expert, and those people are out there.
All of these would make positive steps in the right direction. They would strengthen the aquarium industry’s argument against harsh critics, which seek the total shutdown of marine animal collection. Not only would these practices be beneficial, they would be profitable, and help prevent a marine aquarium from becoming a dust collector in someone’s garage, at the end of a long road of dead animals. Though, all of this costs money, which makes accountants and profit projection analysis queasy. As I said before, for large retailers, everything is a numbers game. A fish that cost $ 5 being sold for $ 60, dying and being replaced looks good on an excel spreadsheet. Though, if large retailers don’t lead the way to a better, more sustainable marine hobby, the government may implement rules that require them to, or worse yet, limit aquarium collection and import, making it tough to be an amateur aquarist.
Maybe if big box retail CEO's would use that muscle between their ears, we would see more of this...
and less of this ....
Petco, where the fish and corals go, to die...
LFS v. Big Box (A tie in poor care of aquatic life)
Over the years, I’ve visited more aquarium outlets, than I care to remember. I’ve been in shops in large cities, smaller communities and even visited the aquaculture facilities of major players in the reef fish industry. I can count on one hand, the places where I would feel comfortable buying aquatic life, for my own display. One LFS, not far from my home, created a very unrealistic picture of the aquarium hobby. They kept a nurse shark, in a two-hundred gallon display, and commonly had hard to keep, unique species in unsuitable habitats. The owner would get any species, with little question or education being directed at the purchaser. This is blatant retailer irresponsibility, treating fish like a disposable resource and limitless income generator. In outlets like this one, it’s safe to assume that a large portion of the livestock sold, doesn’t survive long. Naturally, the shop was filled with tanks containing diseased, and dying specimens.
Multiply this by 100, and you have an idea of what Petco, and other big box retailers, are doing to the reef aquarium industry. Irresponsibility on the part of local fish stores is bad, irresponsibility on the part of large chain stores, makes a huge dent and fuels the fire for many Snorkel Bob’s. I’ve never been in a large chain store that does it right. They always have species housed with incompatible animals, they nearly always have coral under inappropriate lighting and more times than not, most of the animals are sick. The worst part, these chains move more aquatic life, than all small retail outlets combined. While the LFS I described is no better, chain stores allow this irresponsibility to run on a massive scale. When reading arguments put forth by Snorkel Bob and his legions of followers, it isn’t long till the words Petco, Pets Mart, or any other chain franchise, start popping up. While it might be possible to have a handful of LFS’s that did business like the one I described, when massive chain stores do it, in nearly every city and large town across the U.S. – the impact on the environment becomes real, and measurable.
This fish is sick, this fish is being offered for sale...
What is the issue?
Why do chain stores get it so wrong? Is it because the aquatics departments are managed by people who know nothing about marine aquariums. Do they simply not care? Is there a lack of education on the part of the company, in training people how to care for aquatic life? Perhaps, it’s a bit of both, or maybe it’s simply a numbers game. Retail outlets look at sales, above and before everything else. I know, I was a manager for a large retailer, while still in college. When the metal meets the meat, it doesn’t matter what you’re selling, how good a product it is or customer satisfaction, all that matters is units moved and money made. The source of the product, its sustainability or how well it functions, really means nothing in lieu of sales numbers.
This is alright, I guess, when you’re focusing on a television, or a vacuum, or a home care product. In the aquarium industry, we are talking about marine life, one of planet Earth’s most valuable treasures. Schools of fish and hundreds of acres of coral exist, it would seem to a layperson like it could last forever, even if tens of thousands of animals were taken each year for the aquarium trade. The problem today, the oceans face a massive blast of stress. These resilient ecosystems, which have survived on Earth since the inception of life, today they are getting hit from nearly all angles. Over fishing is pulling large pelagic fish from the sea, at a tremendous waste and killing countless species as by-catch. Pollution has created islands of plastic trash, and now, based on rock found in Hawaii, plastic is working its way so deeply into marine ecosystems, that rock partially made from plastic may be entered into the fossil record. That’s right, our trash, may likely become part of the fossil record.
Due to climate change, the oceans are getting warmer. As aquarists we know, any increase in temperature can wreak havoc on sensitive corals. If the rising heat wasn’t enough, ocean water is getting more acidic, making it hard, if not impossible, for corals and invertebrates to properly grow their skeletons and shells. When you see the stress placed on the ocean listed out, the aquarium industry seems like a small ripple in the massive wave that hits our ocean daily. Reality is, the effect of aquarium collection is largely unknown, but it appears the Snorkel Bobs of the world don’t want to pick a fight with the behemoth that is commercial fishing, so they settle for the aquarium industry instead.
So we are taking animals from a threatened, ecologically invaluable ecosystem, placing them in captivity, and we’re shocked someone in the conservation community took notice. Our argument is that by placing these animals in captivity, we open up the wonder of a coral reef to people, whom otherwise, would never see one, possibly inspiring them to take up the mantle of marine conservation. It’s a sound argument, if it wasn’t for large retailers, like Petco, tearing it apart by selling aquatic life, to uneducated and misinformed hobbyist and failing to maintain marine fish properly, while in their stores.
"Yeah, I dun transferred here from McDonalds. Them fish, wonder if they eat nuggets?"
What needs to change?
As a scuba diver, I look at the dive industry as a prime example of a well regulated machine, when it comes to the ocean. There is essentially no law that says you have to be a certified diver, to dive, but PADI (a private organization) has set high standards for sport divers, and dive professionals. They also have a conservation arm that teaches responsible diving practices, with a mantra of, “Leave only bubbles.†The standards for their dive masters and instructors is high, requiring copious in the water and in the classroom training, which often needs renewed on a regular basis. It works, and it’s rare that you hear about a diving related incident that results in injury or death, even though divers encounter large oceanic predators on a near daily basis, worldwide. If you were to look at a successful dive, in the same light as a marine fish for sale, the diving industry would have a 95-99 percent success rate, the marine aquarium industry struggles to maintain 20%. According to current statistics, for every 100 marine fish imported into the trade, 80 will die.
For a long time, the marine aquarium trade ran wild. They collected wherever, whenever and from whomever was the cheapest. This led to cyanide capture of aquarium fish, devastation of coral reefs, and a plethora of marine life harvested in a manner that doomed its chances of survival once in an aquarium. Things have gotten better. Regions have outlawed cyanide capture, the Marine Aquarium Council has taught harvesters safe and effective capture of marine fish and corals and aqua cultured livestock is starting to take the place of previously wild caught specimens. Though, when talking to the manager of a local Petco’s aquatics department, I learned that they are told to buy species from the cheapest vendors and largely ignore MAC certified specimens, since they commonly are more expensive and don’t sell well. I asked about aqua cultured livestock, and while they do carry some, it’s often limited as customers are unlikely to pay the higher cost, and cannot understand why a captive raised fish, is more expensive than one wild caught. A large chain, moving hundreds of thousands of fish each year, ignoring how those fish were collected, bargain hunting for the cheapest price. Then placing said livestock in unsuitable conditions, managed by untrained personnel and selling them to misled aquarists. It’s a wonder the industry can maintain a 20% success rate.
First, large retailers should sell only sustainable and safely harvested livestock. If small aqua culture facilities can afford to visit collection areas, (such as the Solomon Islands, Bali, etc) so can Petco. Their aquatics manager needs to be an aquarist, and needs to be paid based on their experience and knowledge. A real job, with a real salary and real benefits. Live Aquaria’s diver’s den is largely successful because of Kevin Kohen, and I doubt he works for $ 7.25 an hour. They need managers not only passionate about aquatic life, but versed in properly keeping animals, long term, in a marine aquarium. The aquatic managers of each store, need to visit collection stations so that they understand how the animals they sell are collected, and can work with experts, to employ successful transit back to the United States.
Large chains need to listen to their aquatic experts, and only sell species that offer a high degree of success in the aquarium. If a customer wants an Achilles Tang, or Moorish Idol, the store needs to learn about their aquarium system and offer real advice, follow-up and assistance, into the animal’s quarantine, care and long-term health. Quarantine system packages should be sold at a large discount. Perhaps more aquarists would implement quarantine, if it were cheaper. Large scale discounts on quarantine tanks would help, and requiring them for customers who want difficult species wouldn’t be a bad idea. Hold aquatics workshops on everything from coral and fish quarantine and treatment, on up to coral fragging. Free workshops are educational, and help your aquatics expert earn their salary. Follow-up with customers is crucial and could help a big box retailer establish a measurement of success, to find out what works and also allows them to be a part of their customer’s aquarium and experience with underwater animals. All of these methods require a qualified aquatics expert, and those people are out there.
All of these would make positive steps in the right direction. They would strengthen the aquarium industry’s argument against harsh critics, which seek the total shutdown of marine animal collection. Not only would these practices be beneficial, they would be profitable, and help prevent a marine aquarium from becoming a dust collector in someone’s garage, at the end of a long road of dead animals. Though, all of this costs money, which makes accountants and profit projection analysis queasy. As I said before, for large retailers, everything is a numbers game. A fish that cost $ 5 being sold for $ 60, dying and being replaced looks good on an excel spreadsheet. Though, if large retailers don’t lead the way to a better, more sustainable marine hobby, the government may implement rules that require them to, or worse yet, limit aquarium collection and import, making it tough to be an amateur aquarist.
Maybe if big box retail CEO's would use that muscle between their ears, we would see more of this...
and less of this ....
