Do we really make a difference? (copied from my original post on GIRS)

[ZLTFUL]

So I was reading this article on CNN.com...
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/01/25/coral.year.ap/index.html

And I got to thinking (Warning: Rambling thoughts ahead...).
Do we really make a difference environmentally with our hobby?
The more I thought about it, I had to say yes. But not in the positive way we would like to think when we tell ourselves that we are conserving a little piece of a slowly dieing ocean...

Now, I have to stop right here. I am not into the hobby for the environment. I did not get my tank hoping to save the world or anything even remotely like that. I am not an evironmentalist. I just enjoy the outdoors. I got my tank because it was very interesting and pretty cool to watch. And it was shiny with lots of colors.

Back to my thoughts...I can't help but think WE are the single biggest threat to the environment we claim to want to save.
The first thing that comes to mind is the Bangaii Cardinal fish which is now "Endangered". The reason it is endangered? Overfishing for the marine hobby. Seems like a conundrum to me. I respect those who are trying to raise and breed rare livestock in their home or business environments. But is this really doing anything to perpetuate the oceans? It isn't like the folks who breed livestock captively are doing it to release them back into the oceans. They are doing it to either make money or to satisfy their own personal desires wether they be sincere or benign.
Yes, I understand it lowers the impact to the oceans but I believe the majority of people who buy livestock prefer the colors of wild caught to tank raised...

Anyway, I was just thinking to myself and this seemed like a good place to let my thought process be shared with others...

Discuss...

Ryan

 

[Radioheadx14]

I understand where you are coming to, I'm searching for a grad school for marine biology, so i'm sure i'll get to see things first hand.

Right now, i make sure i get only frags as for coral... nothing out of the ocean and i try to get fish that have large populations or tank bred. I still think that keeping aquariums can bring awareness to people, but you are right... the industry needs to have harsher regulations. I feel very sad when i see bangaii cardnal fish for sale that are not TB.

 

[cloob]

I do understand, however this industry needs to be regulated alot more than it currently is. I understand the Supply & Demand argument but if the reef industry was better regulated then we wouldn't be put in this position as buyers.

 

[greenbean36191]

The hobby has an almost entirely negative impact on the reefs, though it doesn't necessarily have to. I doubt we will ever have a positive impact, but we can at least shoot for neutrality.

We like to make ourselves feel good by telling people that we're trading frags to save the reefs, but really we aren't helping at all. Trading frags doesn't reduce the demand for corals from the reefs. It just reduces amount that gets siphoned off into the hobby.

As far as acting as an ark for these species, it's just not going to happen. Once specimens enter the hobby they are dead ends for conservation. Trading frags of just a few original specimens only further reduces the conservation potential. Even if they were still useful, where would you put them? If the current trends continue, the problems facing the reefs aren't things we can just wait out for a little while. They're going to be chronic problems far into the future.

Raising awareness is another one of those feel-good measures. How much are hobbyists really raising awareness? Most people who see a reef tank don't even realize corals are animals and I don't know of many hobbyists who give their guests lectures on the plight of the reefs. Maybe the hobby is making us as hobbyists more aware about the issues facing the reefs, but what good is that awareness if we just keep taking more? Besides, my experience in the hobby has shown me that most hobbyists haven't got a clue what's happening on real reefs. They're not very aware themselves.

The only way I can see us making a positive impact is through the development of in situ aquaculture.

Together we have thousands of tanks and thousands of minds that we could pool to figure out the methods to close the lifecycle of lots of the fish we keep. That knowledge could be put to use to not only supply fish for the hobby, but boost populations on the reef or reduce demand for WC fish for other industries.

Also, promoting the growth of aquaculture in the collection areas (rather than here) not only reduces demand, but it keeps the former collectors employed, which is necessary for any real conservation plan.

Basically, we need to come together and figure out the methods to culture these animals and then get that info to the people who are collecting now and encourage them to do aquaculture instead.

 

[Wolverine]

Re: Do we really make a difference? (copied from my original post on GIRS)

First off, I'll say that I agree with just about everything greenbean wrote. However, there's one other point I wanted to make.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11716067#post11716067 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ZLTFUL
Back to my thoughts...I can't help but think WE are the single biggest threat to the environment we claim to want to save.

We are very, very, very far from the biggest threat to the reefing environment. Overfishing, local overpopulation (pollution), tourism (pollution), are all bigger human threats to the reef.
If you assume that global warming is man-made, at that to the list (I'm leaving the "if" there to avoid debate on that topic, since it is a different question than the main point we're discussing).

By most of the estimates I've seen, we're responsible for around 5% of the loss of reef life. That's not an insignificant amound, and I'm not writing this post to trivialize our role in the issue, I just wanted to point out that there are bigger problems facing the reef than our hobby.

Dave

 

[chrissreef]

"Basically, we need to come together "

That's key. Organizations are in place... they just don't have the capability to do this (for many many reasons).

I wish there was a good model the industry could follow. Maybe the lumber industry?