New York Times article about saltwater aquariums

[Len]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/scien ... arium.html

There are an estimated 700,000 saltwater home aquariums in the United States, and tropical fish with a bit of rock and a plastic Diver Dan are no longer enough to satisfy the keepers of many of these miniature oceans. The fish are still there, but as technology and technique have improved, the aquariums are now often small-scale reef ecosystems, with living coral and “live” rock brimming with anemones, shrimp, sea urchins, crabs and snails.

The result has been a growing market for these and other reef invertebrates, many of which are supplied by about 165 licensed collectors in Florida. Those involved in the Florida fishery, which is concentrated in the Keys, say that it is sustainable and more closely managed than many others, with no new licenses permitted and daily limits on many species.

But scientists argue that the collecting poses a threat to the very ecosystems aquarium hobbyists aim to replicate. Aside from the long-recognized ecological impact of the trade in live coral itself, these researchers say the demand for invertebrates — creatures that often serve the same cleaning and pest-control roles in a tank that they do in nature — is such that the fishery may be unsustainable.

Discuss 8)

 

[wisheduponastarfish]

Interesting article; thanks for sharing. I often wonder what non-reefkeeping folks (muggles? :wink: ) think when they read something like this, especially now that we are (and should be) as a society, much more concerned with ecology than when I was young. Do non-reefers realize that keeping miniature eco-systems should logically result in individual animals living longer in our tanks than the animals saltwater aquarists used to buy for decorative purposes, surely a move in a postive direction?

Should we be thinking in terms of "animals collected compared to animals lost in storms or cold snaps" or "animals collected in addition to animals lost in storms, etc.?" The article raises many other questions for me, also; in the four years (total) I have participated in this hobby I have yet to learn what the expected lifespan of a peppermint shrimp or a blue-legged hermit crab should be. We have managed to culture live rock, learned how to tank-raise many species of fish and corals. I'm optimistic that we'll be able to do the same with the clean-up crews.

 

[Anonymous]

Discuss 8)

I think the comments thread on the NYT site actually kind of speaks for itself, Len. Interesting (albeit often grossly uninformed; I particularly liked the robotic roomba sea urchin suggestion) commentary from the non-hobbyists, a lot of distorted greenwashing from the hobbyists. This site got referenced, fwiw.

I thought the article itself was fair and balanced.

 

[jamesw]

I can't wait to check out the comment thread on NYT. Thanks for the link Len.

I think the way most people think about it is they way they think about "Free Willy." Basically once that animal has been removed from the ocean, it's just in your tank for your viewing pleasure. And they are mainly right - once that animal has been moved from the reef - it is "taken" and it has ceased to perform its function on the reef.

Whether that is sustainable or not is another debate - and there are plenty of those in the Industry Behind the Hobby forum if you care to read them.

Cheers
James

 

[Anonymous]

read the article, thought it was ok. Bottom line is I'd trust the local fisheries commissions over some scientist who's not even from that area.

As to the comments, I read through 20 or so before I had to stop, some of what was mentioned. Yikes. Talk about uneducated... I just don't know.

Although the 2nd comment made me think, how many aquarist are conscious about what they're doing... because it wasn't that many years ago when I started that the fish store I would frequent had a majority of customers who wanted to "try that out" (emperor angel in a 55g) or would but the cheap gonipora or carnation corals or any number of non-photosynthetic (yet quite pretty) ones for very cheap, which would of course die, but who cares the next transshipment was only a week away. It's easy to submerge myself in reef clubs and boards like this where there's a lot more education going on, but I'm curious how much of a minority am I really. It's easy to say all of that which was said is garbage, however if that's 90% of the hobbyist then maybe not so much

 

[jamesw]

Len: maybe you should spend a weekend volunteering to work at an LFS. I would think that would give you a great notion about the general aquarist.

Cheers
James

 

[Petsolutions]

There are so many stories those of us who have worked in brick and mortar and online pet retail could tell. I'm sure I am not the only one with 15 years or longer of sometimes funny and sometimes horrifying stories to tell. I will just say that it is really important for those of us working in the industry to do our absolute level best to make sure our customers at least understand the basics and do everything we can to get them started off on the right foot. I want folks to get a lot of enjoyment from their fish keeping adventures, and not view it as a source of stress.