Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkoD
Fishing for food and fishing for saltwater tanks is completely different. There are probably a million times more people that eat fish than there are with saltwater tanks. And I never said I don't support tank raised fish, I actually prefer them and buy them whenever I can(cheaper and better accustomed to tank environment).... But since that's not always an option I also buy wild caught.
What the op said is that she won't buy any fish that isn't tank raised. And yes one person can't change the world. One person not buying wild caught fish won't change anything..... No matter how many people you convince not to buy wild caught fish, it won't change anything, because ultimately those who catch the fish will always profit. What's the longest a fish has ever stayed in a display at a tank? Couple weeks to a month? Someone will always come along and buy it.
Just like those who choose not to eat meat. They haven't changed a single thing.
From a morality standpoint if it makes a person feel good then great. But they probably shouldn't hold their breath expecting someone to breed all the fish they would like to get
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The idea inst really to protect individual fish, it is to protect the entire coral reef. Sure, the species in aquariums are not close to being threatened, but harvesting tactics in some countries leave huge dead spots in reefs that have taken thousands, if not million years to develop. You say "somebody will always buy it" but saltwater fish are not black market organs or machine guns. If the demand for wild caught species decreases, then harvesting from the reef will decrease, it is simple economics. America has the most saltwater tanks by far, and I mean BY FAR. If even just Americans turned to purchasing readily available captive bred species from places like ORA, they would reduce the global market for wild caught species by 60 percent. If a few more countries did it like Germany, Australia and Canada, Those numbers would be even greater.
It really isn't a pipe dream, it is very feasible. Not only are captive bred species typical hardier, they are also typically bred closer to the front end customer than where wild caught species originate thus reducing logistics costs.