‘Snorkel Bob’ joins Sea Shepherd Board of Directors - What does it mean for the hobby?

[shred5]

I can understand concerns with whaling because the whales are taken out of the ocean and killed.. As a saltwater aquarium owner I know I cherish my fish and corals. The point being having tropical fish should be the least of their worries. Its not like fishing where you mount your catch on the wall, my fish are like part of the family and I take very very good care of them and provide a suitable environment for them.

Problem is our hobby is not viewed as that.. Its more viewed as wanting to posses exotics. Look more people are interested in collecting corals than in the biology. Corals are not thought of animals. Over half corals and fish die before even making it in our tanks. Go to my local fish store and they have 8 tangs in a small tank and there stomachs are all caved in. About a 1/3 of their saltwater tanks have fish dieing in them. They throw carpet anemones in tanks with one normal fluorescent light. Look how many people on the forums buy things and cant even keep them alive or buy and then do the research instead of researching and then buying.. Forums dont help the situation either because they give access to these people looking for ammo against the hobby.

 

[umngane]

The impact of the industry has been overstated as found by the most recent studies, but nevertheless solutions need to be found. Demonizing the hobbyists is not the best route. Harnessing them to increase knowledge and ability in restocking and captive-breeding seems a better idea. Conservationists need to avoid sensationalist and emotive tactics and rather make the smart choices.

 

[seafansar]

They are now targeting a wholesaler that actually seems to care about how livestock is collected, which seems like a shame to me. Here's a review on them by wetwebmedia: QMProPc And here's what Sea Shepherd thinks of them (my guess is they wouldn't even be on sea shepherd's radar if they didn't supply petco): News from Sea Shepherd Hawaii:
The Blackspot angelfish is an exotic creature, shy as any angel. This one will live free on a reef in Fiji, until the aquarium scourge snags it for chump change, like the Blackspot angel now dying at PETCO, s...hown in the link at the bottom. PETCO buys marine wildlife from Quality Marine, a dirty outfit now raiding Fiji’s reefs. PETCO traffics in and kills wildlife for the pet trade—to shore up its bottom line for the upcoming IPO. PETCO management told me that the Hawaii Department of Natural Resources agrees that captive breeding would be great. However Hawaii Natural Resource Director William Aila is an aquarium hunter now attempting to entrench the aquarium plague on Hawaii reefs. The Blackspot angelfish shown in the link has a puncture wound on its flank, where an aquarium hunter tried to pierce the swim bladder. Aquarium hunters often do things wrong, and this fish is now doomed like many others to die slowly at PETCO.

Ask: Is animal cruelty acceptable if it begins in Fiji but doesn’t become retail until it reaches a Hawaii PETCO? Can William Aila represent pono values for Hawaii reefs, when 95% of Hawaii people want a statewide ban on the aquarium trade now?

Tell PETCO to stop killing reef species and habitat.
May PETCO’s bottom line shrink like the small, cold stone in PETCO’s chest.

Barotrauma Angelfish at Petco - YouTubeSee More