Data: Wrong; Sustainability: Don't care; Robert Wintner: Aquarium trade should stop!

[Dearth]

The sad reality is we humans are natures biggest threat and have and will cause the mass extinction of many species no matter how hard we try to conservate them.

I am a new comer to the SW world and in the year I've been in it many things have been changed in the hobby some for the better some for the worse the fact remains we are an insatiable species wanting to collect and showcase rare and unusual species. Personally I cannot see spending huge money on a fish that may or may not live long and then the constant worry of the what ifs.

I am all for captive bred fish and coral but unlike fresh water species SW FIsh and coral tend to be much more fickle and captive breeding of many species of SW fish is a crap shoot at best hence the wild capture plus the unscrupulous people are many and their appetite is huge.

It's unlikely we will see the trend change for many yrs if ever but one way to help is to promote captive bred fish and coral over wild caught stock. Another way is tighter regulation of stores that sell SW live stock but in both cases it takes cooperation and willingness to change and that takes money and educating the masses correctly not by shock and awe as both sides of the debate love to do creating deep and often misleading information.