Are there "return" organizations?

[ichthyogeek]

Are there organizations that take captive bred fish/propagated corals and return them to the wild? I know that this can mess up gene pools, and give an unfair advantage to certain individuals genes, but it seems like a good idea to return what has been taken at some point. By captive bred/propagated, I mean actually bred and raised in an aquarium, not like what is happening in the Florida Keys with the elkhorn coral. Obviously the oceans probably don't need a thousand Snowflake Onyx Picasso Platinum clownfish, but what about species that have failing populations due to overfishing or overcollection?

 

[billsreef]

There have been a variety of such programs for commercially important species such Red Drum, Oysters, Clams, etc. in various areas. As for doing such via the home aquarium, too much opportunity for messing up things such introduction of non native diseases and such.

 

[GreshamH]

I cannot think of an region in the US that does not incorporate restocking, but I can also not think of any that are via home aquaria.

 

[ichthyogeek]

As for doing such via the home aquarium, too much opportunity for messing up things such introduction of non native diseases and such./QUOTE]

Wouldn't that be the point of quarantine? To keep the fish alive, and avoid nonnative diseases? Or is it more complicated than that? What other problems would occur from rearing fish, and putting them back in the ocean?

 

[billsreef]

As for doing such via the home aquarium, too much opportunity for messing up things such introduction of non native diseases and such./QUOTE]

Wouldn't that be the point of quarantine? To keep the fish alive, and avoid nonnative diseases? Or is it more complicated than that? What other problems would occur from rearing fish, and putting them back in the ocean?

The routine for legitimate restocking programs is to use native stock, ideally broodstock from the area being restocked, and of course quarantine and biosecurity are big deals for such programs.

 

[ichthyogeek]

Ok, so what about organisms endemic to a certain area, like the Banggai Cardinalfish? Wouldn't they be an ideal fish because they only have a small area of distribution? What is biosecurity?

 

[billsreef]

Bangai's would be an ideal candidate for restocking program in that they are readily bred. The small area they are endemic too makes monitoring such a program easier than something with a large range.

Biosecurity would be maintaining the culture facility in a manner that prevents introduction of disease and animals from a different area into your facility. Simple things like quarantining incoming animals in a separate room or separate building, disinfecting equipment, disinfectant foot baths, etc.

 

[ichthyogeek]

What about corals? Aren't most corals and frags collected from a certain area, and the resulting frags therefore come from the same area?

 

[Zoodiver]

From my experience introduction programs, the biosecurity is the hard part. Protecting the wild against junk we have in controlled systems is much harder than it sounds. Very strict protocols must be followed with no room for error. Successful introduction of a life that was in human care back into the wild isn't an easy process.

 

[billsreef]

Very strict protocols must be followed with no room for error.

Not hard protocols, but it does seem all too often hard for some people follow simple protocols. I've had people fail simple things like disinfecting nets and siphon hoses when going from one tank to the next, deciding not to use that isolated QT room when coming back to the lab late at night, QT periods shortened due to silly human desires to speed things along....such simple breaches of simple procedures quite often end in disaster, and when it happens in my facility it comes along with me doing a lot of "I #%$%$^ told you not to do that "

 

[GreshamH]

What about corals? Aren't most corals and frags collected from a certain area, and the resulting frags therefore come from the same area?

No, not at all. Corals are imported from numerous countries on several different oceans.

 

[Zoodiver]

Not hard protocols, but it does seem all too often hard for some people follow simple protocols. I've had people fail simple things like disinfecting nets and siphon hoses when going from one tank to the next, deciding not to use that isolated QT room when coming back to the lab late at night, QT periods shortened due to silly human desires to speed things along....such simple breaches of simple procedures quite often end in disaster, and when it happens in my facility it comes along with me doing a lot of "I #%$%$^ told you not to do that "

Exactly. I worded that wrong....not strict protocols, protocols followed strictly. Haha

Human error is the biggest factor. I've dealt with people attempting this long enough to know some are just not capable of following the proper steps. The results can be catastrophic.

 

[r-balljunkie]

Are there organizations that take captive bred fish/propagated corals and return them to the wild?

A large percentage of fish have a very short life span except for top end pelagic's like tuna's. Thats why a typical fish spawn numbers in the thousands, playing the numbers game....most end up as fish food in the chain. Its a moot point to attempt to repatriate fish in small numbers. You're wasting your time thinking you'll make a dent in mother natures system of recycling. You also have to take into consideration the sheer logistics of getting propagated fish back to where they came from. Its thousands of miles and a lot of logistics.
As far as corals, a single coral is a speck of sand on the beach when you look at the overall size of the coral triangle area, where most reefs are relatively healthy. Places that have been decimated (Hawaii, populous areas; Bahama's; Florida) are good candidates for programs to attempt to rebuild the reefs but you haven't solved the problem of what caused the failures in the first place.

 

[thenewguy997]

I think when you get to a point where you have to stock the freaking ocean, something is very wrong