To what extend do you think activists go to prove their point?

[mrhasan]

Well I came across a video on youtube which shows some fishermen showing how they use cyanide and speargun to catch ornamental fishes in phillipines for the aquarium trade. You got it! It's was shot by an activists group to show our hobby is ruining the world. Now the end of the video got my attention. Here's what the disclaimer of the video is:

The shot of cyanide fishing was staged. For this movie no animal nor environment was harm....

Now that got me into thinking, is our hobby "actually" threatening the ocean or does these sort of groups go to the extend of stomping on the reefs themselves to prove their point and get funds for further stomping?

Here's the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtMs_6Z_jTE#t=410

And about our hobby killing the underwater ecosystem, this article will mesmerize you

http://www.livescience.com/42814-cor...ic-waters.html

If you still think human can kill something so strong, I don't know what else nature can do to prove us wrong.....

[Slyguy00]

Im not sure where i saw it but there was a documentary about how finding nemo has seriously hurt the population of clown fish. Pretty scary stuff. If anybody else has seen it or know what its called i wouldnt mind knowing. And that first video is pretty brutal. Its good to let us all know what they do for our enjoyment.

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by Slyguy00

Im not sure where i saw it but there was a documentary about how finding nemo has seriously hurt the population of clown fish. Pretty scary stuff. If anybody else has seen it or know what its called i wouldnt mind knowing.

Yah. To be honest, people took the movie in the wrong way. Finding nemo showed how a baby clownfish tried to escape from a tank and that inspired/motivated people to put clownfish in the tank without knowledge!

Can't wait to see people trying to acclimate regal tangs to a bucket of tap water

[Slyguy00]

Poor poor fish!

[IanWR]

I agree that staged images/video that is not clearly labeled as such is unnecessarily manipulative, and diminishes whatever point one is trying to make. As to "activists" staging things so they can get rich is nonsense. Petro-lobbyists use they same tactic to discredit researchers that publish studies that confirm anthropogenic climate change; that they are saying lies to gain access to the rich money available to the climate change lobby.

What is clear is that there isn't an issue that activists support that the big money is also behind. If there are people promoting moneyed interests they are called by the media think tanks, spokesmen, research fellows, etc.

The only way our hobby could be helping reefs is by monetizing reefs, to make sure people that live by reefs have a vested interest in preserving them. Eco-tourism, sustainable harvesting, creating protected marine parks, all of these can be part of the solution. Without controls and enforcement, if our hobby raises the value of reef fish it also encourages poaching. Unfortunately we have no way of knowing where and how our fish get to us.

Perhaps there could be an industry standard "sustainably sourced" label/logo that lfs could brag about using, or more can be made of having tank raised livestock, etc.

Personally I don't know where our hobby lies on the angle/devil spectrum but I hope closer to the former than the latter. Anything that can be done to move it in a positive direction should be considered, and let's not let shrill voices make us deaf to some possible salient points.

[soapy]

The business no doubt does some harm. But like Ian says it also does some good. Compared to fishing and farm/industrial runoff it is a tiny drop in the bucket. I have swam on reefs that were completely choked in algae. Excess nutrients combined with overfishing of large herbivores is bad news. By-catch from trawling is also really nasty especially the shrimping business.

Many of the fish caught for the trade are very fast breeders and I suspect will fill a territory in a hurry. Some better than others of course. Here is an interesting site to look at, compare these two fish on fishbase. Scroll down and pay attention to the ratings for resilience and vulnerability.

http://www.fishbase.gr/summary/6033

http://www.fishbase.org/summary/1257

[reefermadness]

I think its important to buy captive raised specimens (coral & fish) when ever possible.

thats all I have to add.