Environmentally Sustainable list of Corals/Fish/Inverts from the wild?

[chrissreef]

Has anyone developed a list of wild caught “environmentally sustainable corals/fish/inverts” a new or “eco-conscious” hobbyist can carry with them? All I ever see are lists of fish that will/will not survive or have aggression listings… but what about their (or invert) sustainability? (Disregard farm raised as those are obvious)

I have seen many many changes in the reef hobby over the past 15 years. Two things I continue to see is an increase in the number of new hobbyists and a decline in health of new arrivals at aquarium stores which has given me the “appearance” of increasing or at least heavy/unnecessary marine loss â€"œ especially in the United States.

MAC (found in other countries) “estimates 20 to 24 million fish, 11 to 12 million pieces of stony coral and 9 to 10 million invertebrates enter the global trade in marine aquarium organisms each year.” â€"œ 80-90% are sent toward the US.

With that said… Sushi lovers are often aware that some types of fish are caught in a sustainable manner… and others are caught in ways detrimental to the environment or aren’t sustainable.

I am hoping there is more we can do as hobbyists other than just rely on government regulation and CITES/MAC. (outside of a few fish/coral farming/propagation)

I'd like a list of sustainable species of the following. An add on would be farm raised of course.

LPS

SPS

Inverts

Fish

Rock

MAC â€"œ Marine Aquarium Council
http://www.aquariumcouncil.org/index.html

CITES - Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species
www.cites.org

A Sushi list of Environmentally Sustainable Fish
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/seafoodwatch.asp

Eric Borneman articles
http://www.ericborneman.com/Biographical/My writings/Suitability pt 2.pdf
(I can’t find the first article)

Walt Smith article
http://www.waltsmith.com/media/pdfs/8whatmac.pdf

 

[greenbean36191]

Reliable population and collection data is pretty sparse for almost all of the animals we keep. Pretty much the only ones we have good data on are things that are obviously in trouble, which is why there are so many "don't buy" lists and not many "buy" lists. It's a pretty safe assumption to say that the majority of WC species in the hobby aren't sustainable. That's not to say that there aren't a lot of collectors using non-destructive methods, but sustainability is about volume too.

 

[chrissreef]

Thanks for your reply. I guess I was hoping for a way to avoid continued harvesting of species until they get to the point of being endangered or not sustainable for the hobby through wild populations. It's feared some whales, bears, bird, plant and other populations may never recover from human impact - even through protection.

tree, tuna, bird and other wild life populations have been estimated so I thought that by now someone might have estimated some reef organism populations and determined their sustainability given capture methods, qty exported, region, pollution, disaster impact and their mode of reproduction. Old growth forrests are becoming sparse... some reefs I've seen lately have also lost their aged corals and fish.

Maybe I'm ranting... but I'd like to see more responsibility with the hobby than what's occuring and I thought a "sustainability" list might be a good start - since in some ways it's easier for new/experienced people to support than limited captive bread animals.

 

[kydsexy]

ok im gonna give you a quick lesson. read carefully BEFORE MAN, EVERY POPULATION WAS SUSTAINABLE. at one point 20 years ago, seahorses in the aquarium was rare, but look now, they're being captive bred because the wild pops are being depleted. It'll start a great list, but slowly shorten because of trends and the business of fish stores like Petco that sell saltwater fish to people who don't have saltwater tanks. everyone should just have captive bred NEMOS.

 

[chrissreef]

I agree... captive bred all the way =)

Until more can be captive bred (research and idea not actively sought by many hobbyists)... I thought a list of things in high abundance might be nice to have with you at a store. If bubble corals were under every reef head, then that might be good to have on the list... but if it wasn't, it could still be available... it just wouldn't make the list for the "sustainable friendly/eco consciouse" hobbyists.

But maybe that's what price is for... the more $$ = the rarer the species and less sustainable it is which might deter inexperienced people away or those without the best interest in the animal? (well, people that aren't right anyway)

edit: the last thing I want is for various lps, sps and fish/inverts to suddenly show up on an endangered list... because then it's practically to late. I think people should focus purchasing animals that would likely never make the list no matter how much the hobby grew. The last scuba dive I made in the caribbean I only saw 1 queen angel - maybe due to other factors but it was shocking considering past visits to the same location yielded dozens on a single dive.

 

[Me No Nemo]

With LPS and SPS you can always make sure to buy aquacultured. Get the word out to stores that this is what you want and they will get the hint. My store sells about 70% aquacultured specimans with the lps and sps being about 90%. There is plenty out there if a LFS owner wants to be environmentally friendly. Unfortunately, it's cheaper to tranship the fish/corals in than purchase the properly caught or aquacultured specimans. Mass netting vs. hand netting. Plus, keep in mind the length of time fish need to be nurtured in order to bring them to market as aquacultured specimans.

 

[mikachu]

fantastic thread! i'm just getting into learning about the sustainability aspects of this hobby, but those links you posted are awesome chrissreef. and no you aren't ranting!

i'm doing my part. i have a tank bred nemo!

 

[chrissreef]

Other sites...

www.marinebreeder.org

Poject DIBS www.projectDIBS.com

www.aquariumcouncil.org

Greenbean36191 (from another thread)
Here's probably the best resource on the topic. Be cautious though, since even the authors admit that some of the numbers used are questionable due to poor data.
http://www.unep.org/PDF/From_Ocean_To_Aquarium_report.pdf <--- VERY nice paper!

Also try to find this book, which is more about exploitation of the reef in general, but is a great resource IMO.

http://www.amazon.com/Reef-Fisherie...7117469?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194209802&sr=8-1