View Single Post
  #97  
Old 11-25-2003, 05:32 AM
saltcreep's Avatar
saltcreep saltcreep is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: on the edge
Posts: 230
saltcreep is on a distinguished road
Default

Don't lose any sleep, this is getting good.

WRT oil vs fish, I see your point, but the end product use is completely different...one is arguably a necessity and the other is a luxury "consumable". You could also argue the investment side, where African governments are raking in billions of dollars while crushing rights of their constituents while collectors in PI or Indo are trying to catch fish to feed their families. Now I promise...that is my last word about oil.

Now on to the heart of it...I believe that the vast majority of the blame can be placed on the importer, retailers, and the hobbyists. ALL of them. If I said that no blame falls on the hobbyist...ooops. I think a great deal falls on them, if not the majority. Again, if the newbie or uneducated doesn't want or buy the unsuitable fish/coral, then the retailer wouldn't buy it...and on the chain it goes. I know...oversimplified. As a side, I can remember getting yelled at buy an unnamed LFS for refusing to bring in a blue ring octopus.

Restricting certain species based on a perceived unsuitability will probably never happen. I would refer you to RC or RDO for that discussion, as it's been flogged pretty much to death.

A LFS store only selling captive bred??? That would never fly, period. Remember, the "average" generally will decide to purchase based on price. The "average" hobbyist will just shop elsewhere. They would certainly be able to tell if it was captive bred. How would you be able to justify the price if the guy down the street has the same fish for half the price.

Then you have the the issue of species availability. How many percs can you sell to pay your rent and hydro? The species commercially available today are very limited to about 10 species of clowns, a couple of cardinals, some dottybacks, and a few others. There are some Centropyge angels available but, big dollars. There is nothing wrong with wild caught fish as long as it is done with very little impact on the reef. CB and WC fish are not mutually exclusive. I believe they actually compliment each other nicely.
Reply With Quote