Morality and Fish

[IanWR]

Originally Posted by EarthEaterBob

It is a reality that by being in this hobby, we are directly contributing to the degradation of coral reefs and other marine habitats around the world for collection for the aquarium trade. I'd like to say all my stuff is aqua cultured, but it ain't.

I would agree with you if we are talking about remote, uninhabited regions that would be otherwise untouched but for the aquarium trade. If there are such areas I would support a complete ban on all commercial activities including tourism, only allowing authorized researchers access.

Areas that I am aware of where our aquarium stuff comes from (Fiji, Maldives, Indonesia, Philippines, Hawaii, etc) are places that have people who reside there and the reefs are part of their lives. They are not any better or worse at protecting and conserving their local habitat than we are, which is to say that they are terrible. I live in Saskatchewan. How much natural prairie do we have left? Almost none. Might some of it have been kept if there was a monetary reason to do so? You bet! For people who live near reefs the reefs are often their supply of food, building materials, recreation, and a place to dump garbage. If you are concerned about the amount of live rock harvested for the aquarium trade, think about the amount of rock removed to make roads! By making reefs economically valuable to the people who live there I think we can help preserve and conserve, adding a net positive to reefs that might otherwise be destroyed by typical human activity.