yellow tangs pricing

[ca1ore]

So, I had a chance to visit few great stores around Orlando and here is something that caught my attention. Everyone has plenty of yellow tangs for sale. Yes, the prices are high, but I thought the ban would mean there aren't any.

I asked at TopShelf and couldn't really get a straight answer.

What gives?

Keep in mind that the yellow tang is not endemic/unique to Hawaii.

It is commonly found in shallow reefs, from 2–46 metres (6.6–150.9 ft) deep, in the Pacific Ocean (Ryukyu, Mariana, Marshall, Marcus, Wake, and Hawaiian islands),[1] west of Hawaii and east of Japan. There have also been reports that they have been found off the coast of Florida in the Western Central Atlantic. Their habitat is tropical with a temperature range of 24-28 degrees Celsius.[1] Hawaii is the most common place for aquarium harvesting, where up to 70% of the yellow tangs for the aquarium industry are sourced from.

Most of them for the hobby came from H because of logistical ease .... presumably other sources are now filling the void, particularly now the prices are much higher. More profit = more interest!

I also made the point a while back (maybe even in this thread) to avoid paying reactionary pricing and wait for the levels to settle. I have no idea what the price will be for a typical 4" YT moving forward .... I am pretty sure it won't be $400 though LOL.

 

[ca1ore]

Lol no need to apologize you can go the conspiracy theory route. Not exactly sure what the alternatives are to my suggestion as we know they arent coming in from hawaii and aquaculture is limited.

Maybe i am missing something but that only leaves inventory they got pre-ban or from hobbyist trades. Or some super secret cloning for for yellow tangs i guess.

As a side not the fact that a retail store is not willing to go into details regarding sourcing or pricing of livestock is far from surprising.

You are missing something .... YT live in lots of place, not just Hawaii LOL. That seems a far more logical explanation than some form of wholesaler hoarding or miraculous sudden increases in aquaculture capacity. FWIW, the growth in aquaculture seem inevitable, but it cannot turn on the proverbial dime.

 

[ReeferBean]

A few local stores in Southern California are asking about $200 per.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

A few local stores in Southern California are asking about $200 per.

A few others in socal are $100 per inch.

 

[ReeferBean]

A few others in socal are $100 per inch.

No thank you!

 

[mdb_talon]

g something .... YT live in lots of place, not just Hawaii LOL. That seems a far more logical explanation than some form of wholesaler hoarding or miraculous sudden increases in aquaculture capaci

Apparently you are missing that while they can be seen throughout parts of the Pacific the only area with a large dense population is the Hawaii islands and that essentially all imports have came from Hawaii. While it is possible we may start seeing some imports from someplace like the Marshall Islands it wont be in high volume and certainly will not be cheap.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

No thank you!

AGREED!!

where are you seeing them at those prices?

 

[ReeferBean]

AGREED!!

where are you seeing them at those prices?

I'm pretty sure they were $200 at Harry's Marinelife. They had a bunch.

If you are looking, I may know someone else that has a couple for sale. Send me a pm.

 

[ca1ore]

Apparently you are missing that while they can be seen throughout parts of the Pacific the only area with a large dense population is the Hawaii islands and that essentially all imports have came from Hawaii. While it is possible we may start seeing some imports from someplace like the Marshall Islands it wont be in high volume and certainly will not be cheap.

Nope, not missing anything .... can you say the same lol. Approx. 70% of YT came from Hawaii which means 30% came from somewhere else. With enough ‘motivation’ I’d imagine at least some of the shortfall can be made up. At $200 per, demand will be lower.

 

[mdb_talon]

Nope, not missing anything .... can you say the same lol. Approx. 70% of YT came from Hawaii which means 30% came from somewhere else. With enough ‘motivation’ I’d imagine at least some of the shortfall can be made up. At $200 per, demand will be lower.

Lol clearly you know little about business if you think it is farfetched for a wholesaler to stock up on an item soon to be in high demand. This is econ101 stuff. Much more likely a scenario than a massive influx of YT from sources outside Hawaii. Also where did your 70% figure come from? Uncited wikipedia entry i am guessing?

 

[reefinatl]

Is it me or did the prices of aquacultured ones shoot up a lot!?

Only one place aquaculture them and that is Biota. You can buy directly from biota. Their price only went $50ish. They were $100-$120, I don't recall exactly, now today I got one for $150. A 50% increase is massive buy credit to them for only going that high considering WCs went from $60 to $400

 

[mdb_talon]

Nope, not missing anything .... can you say the same lol. Approx. 70% of YT came from Hawaii which means 30% came from somewhere else. With enough ‘motivation’ I’d imagine at least some of the shortfall can be made up. At $200 per, demand will be lower.

Also do you think you know more about yellow tangs than Biota?

 

[reefinatl]

Also do you think you know more about yellow tangs than Biota?

Id suggest not taking the word of the sole producer of CB yellow tangs in the world at face value regarding populations and future availability. In that remark that cited zero sources, just like @ca1ore you agree with them though.

 

[mdb_talon]

Id suggest not taking the word of the sole producer of CB yellow tangs in the world at face value regarding populations and future availability. In that remark that cited zero sources, just like @ca1ore you agree with them though.

I am not necessarily "taking their word for it" but rather they are saying what is commonly known. Almost all wild caught tangs come from hawaii precisely because that is where there are large easily caught populations. On the other hand i do think they are a good source for info about yellow tangs and much better than a random wiki entry. What is their incentive to be dishonest? They have the cheapest tangs in the industry right now.

 

[ca1ore]

Also do you think you know more about yellow tangs than Biota?

Not sure if you are intentionally trying to be obtuse, but this is of no deterministic value. No doubt biota knows more about breeding yellow tangs than I do .... whether their expertise extends to knowledge of import/shipping statistics is less clear. Perhaps they’re/you’re right and there are essentially no yellow tangs coming in from the wild beyond Hawaii and @BZOFIQ observation was simply an anomaly. Perhaps not.

Anyhow, this has become boring. I will stand by my assertion that a reasonable explanation for observed yellow tangs at retail is that places other than Hawaii have increased supply. Lets see what things look like in a few months .... perhaps all will be clear.

 

[jaganshi066]

I'm pretty sure they were $200 at Harry's Marinelife. They had a bunch.

If you are looking, I may know someone else that has a couple for sale. Send me a pm.

Even though that place is supposedly wholesale, i noticed they are crazy expensive comptroller other places

 

[ultraArcite]

Wow i really hope people dont try to take advantage of Hawaii ban and start gouging prices of Yellow tangs !!! that would be a shame!!!

Got one from Biota for $185 yesterday.