Larval raised fish
- Thread starter Bill2
- Start date
You just beat me to it, Bill. I was about to post the same thing.
Mary, we briefly discussed this before (not regarding this company) and your comments were that the fish were not, by any means, larval when collected. That flew in the face of what I heard from a couple of other sources, but I don't discount it.
However, now that another company is making the same claims, I'd like to nail down a definitive answer. Is this real, or is this marketing?
[ January 16, 2002: Message edited by: cjdevito ]</p>
Mary, we briefly discussed this before (not regarding this company) and your comments were that the fish were not, by any means, larval when collected. That flew in the face of what I heard from a couple of other sources, but I don't discount it.
However, now that another company is making the same claims, I'd like to nail down a definitive answer. Is this real, or is this marketing?
[ January 16, 2002: Message edited by: cjdevito ]</p>
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Chucker:
<strong>As I posted in another thread, my big concern would be by-catch.</strong>[/QUOTE
I wonder if there is any by catch. I think they use plankton nets in open ocean.(near island I would guess) Did it state in the article. It's too early to go back and look.
<strong>As I posted in another thread, my big concern would be by-catch.</strong>[/QUOTE
I wonder if there is any by catch. I think they use plankton nets in open ocean.(near island I would guess) Did it state in the article. It's too early to go back and look.
Mary - could you help us investigate the legitimacy of these claims?
Any recommendation on how to check into it?
I've wondered about the claims too. If everything is as is claimed, tank-reared (if not captive bred) fish would seem the way to go.
There are massive mortality rates naturally, of course.
The smaller and younger the fish, the less impact it's loss will be on it's habitat.
Any recommendation on how to check into it?
I've wondered about the claims too. If everything is as is claimed, tank-reared (if not captive bred) fish would seem the way to go.
There are massive mortality rates naturally, of course.
The smaller and younger the fish, the less impact it's loss will be on it's habitat.
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by MaryHM:
<strong>My comments mirror Jeremy's. I don't know anything about this operation, so I can't say one way or the other.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Hmm first time i've ever heard mary not have comment. I bet you were just busy
<strong>My comments mirror Jeremy's. I don't know anything about this operation, so I can't say one way or the other.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Hmm first time i've ever heard mary not have comment. I bet you were just busy
I don't have any info on this operation, but it was my understanding that the c-quest "larval raised" fish were actually .75" when captured and then grown out. I'm not sure that means it's bad, but I do believe it's false advertising.. and I wish we could get 3rd party confirmation about whether stuff like this is real or not.
from reading the article, it sounds like there are two stages which incur high mortalities: the pelagic larval stage and the settlement stage when they return to the reefs. Apparently capture at the first stage is easy, but the larvae are too fragile to rear. At the second stage, they are subject to extreme predation from larger fish, are easily caught, and fairly easy to rear.
What I take from the article is that 95-99% of post-larval fish returning to the reef become food for reef organisms. They can successfully capture and rear a percentage of these fish as they come into the reef fairly easily using inexpensive equipment. They can then rear the post-larval fish for sale and for release into the wild. The former group is of course of direct interest to us as hobbyists.
The second group is also quite interesting, because in theory this method of harvest could actually INCREASE the fish populations over time. If 1000 post-larval fish return to a certain spot in the reef, normally only 10-50 will make it to relative maturity (95-99% mortality as mentioned in the article.) If 500 of these larvae are captured and grown out with a 100% survival rate (completely improbable, but bear with me) then 450 could be put into the aquarium trade, and 50 could be put back into the reef. Half of the original group was already on the reef so that gives you 5-25 wild reared plus the 50 grown out in captivity. That should definitely improve sustainability.
Of course there are other factors, such as an unknown survival rate of post larval captive raised fish, etc. The other big factor on the other side is that this looks like a potential boon for the hobby; an environmentally sensitive method of providing superior fish to the hobby while sustaining wild stocks. Very cool!
Josh
What I take from the article is that 95-99% of post-larval fish returning to the reef become food for reef organisms. They can successfully capture and rear a percentage of these fish as they come into the reef fairly easily using inexpensive equipment. They can then rear the post-larval fish for sale and for release into the wild. The former group is of course of direct interest to us as hobbyists.
The second group is also quite interesting, because in theory this method of harvest could actually INCREASE the fish populations over time. If 1000 post-larval fish return to a certain spot in the reef, normally only 10-50 will make it to relative maturity (95-99% mortality as mentioned in the article.) If 500 of these larvae are captured and grown out with a 100% survival rate (completely improbable, but bear with me) then 450 could be put into the aquarium trade, and 50 could be put back into the reef. Half of the original group was already on the reef so that gives you 5-25 wild reared plus the 50 grown out in captivity. That should definitely improve sustainability.
Of course there are other factors, such as an unknown survival rate of post larval captive raised fish, etc. The other big factor on the other side is that this looks like a potential boon for the hobby; an environmentally sensitive method of providing superior fish to the hobby while sustaining wild stocks. Very cool!
Josh
How bout we permit baby Seaturtles? Sea turtles have such a high mortality rate during the first year, that to my knowledge there has never been a photo taken of a five month old in the wild? Allow 10,000 to be taken a year for the trade,Sea turtles in a reef tank,COOL! and after five months or so, you release it back into the Ocean and then get another! A program like this would increase the survival rate {to adulthood }of sea turtles ten fold! But alas, Logic and math is not an Environmental Wacko fond of?
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