Aquacultured marine ornamentals are being produced in the United States, despite the costs. Places like Oceans, Reefs and Aquariums (ORA), Proaquatix, C-Quest, Tropic Marine Centre (TMC), Inland Aquatics, Seahorse Source, Seahorse Australia, and South Australian Seahorse Marine Services offer aquacultured marine ornamentals, including clownfish, gobies, dottybacks, blennies, seahorses, clams, and corals. I have no ethical problems supporting these companies even if the ornamentals they raise do not originate in the country of the company raises them. As mentioned, aquaculturing marine ornamentals is a tough business, thus I am willing to support such ventures regardless of where they are located. I assume that these companies add to the body of knowledge as far as raising marine ornamentals, and thus could be of benefit to any company wanting to aquaculture anywhere in the world.
Most of the companies in the states mentioned above sell only through wholesellers. I am simply interested in the way such animals are treated at the wholeseller's facilities, so that I can have a better idea of the health of the animal that I am purchasing.
Dr. Rubec, I am not saying that there are not responsible collectors of wild animals out there, who attempt to minimize the stress on both the animal collected and the environment the animal is collected from. I am simply saying that I believe that a wild caught animal is apt to be more stressed by captivity, at least initially, than an aquacultured animal, which does indeed compromise its general health. Additionally, the loss of that animal to the environment will effect that environment in some way, although it may be quite small.
As far as I am aware, I have no fundamental differences with you other than I am willing to support aquacultured fish that originate from importing countries. I am not trying to stop wild collection, although I do think that harmful methods like toxic chemicals, gas, and tnt should not be used. However, I understand that this is a complex situation, concerning more than just the marine ornamenatl trade, and affecting people's livelihoods and lives. I was only trying to explain why I chose aquacultured animals whenever possible, and thus why I am interested in how aquacultured animals are housed by wholesalers.
From what I know on the subject, the raising of larval or settlement stage juvenile ornamental fish by people who traditionally caught adult fish for the trade, while certainly not easy, might have the least amount of impact on both the environment and the health of the fish coming into captivity. It is certainly very interesting; currently I am not aware of anyway that alerts the consumer that their potential purchase was raised in this manner, however. Is this something that you and your groups will be working on?
If anyone out there can comment on whether or not aquacultured marine ornamentals are treated differently in wholeseller's systems, I would still appreciate knowing more about this.
