releasing non native fish back in the reef

[onereefnotenuf]

(originally posted by mikedizon)Jsmith, I just came back from a short holiday. My bestfriend owns a resort here in the Philippines 4 hours away from my place. His beach resort is a perfect santuary area. I have been releasing fishes there regularly. Different fish everytime. Recently, 1 french and 1 Annularis Angelfish are what i released in the wild. These angelfishes are not endemic here so it is sort off special. Had it for almost 1 year already grew double the size


this post was in the regal angel thread and mike dizon felt that disscussing it in that thread was off topic so i will start a new thread because i think this is important to discuss, and repeat what i said.

releasing non native fish can potentially introduce pathogens into the ecosystem that native fish aren't equipped to fight. especially when the introduced fish has spent a year in an aquarium. very irresponsible in my opinion.

 

[greenbean36191]

Agreed. The release of non-native fish has caused problems numerous times. One of the most notorious cases is of the lionfish that are now breeding in the Atlantic and competing with native fish.

The introduction of invasive species has been listed as one of the top 5 threats to marine life.

 

[RicksReefs]

it's one of the most destructive and ill advised 'feel good' things
that aquarists can do. nothing that's been in captivity should be
released back into the wild, even native species.

i have a 3 stripe damsel i caught locally.

here's a few things that appear to have established themselves in florida waters...

http://www.reef.org/exotic/index.html

 

[RichConley]

umm..dont do this... forget the pathogen issue..the non endemic issue is a million times worse.


Look up Lake Victoria and the Nile Perch... We've lost about 4000 species of cichlids that were only in that lake in the last 10 years.

 

[Steven Pro]

This is absolutely appalling. I read the few posts in the Regal Angel thread about this and can't tell you how bothered I was by the ignorance displayed and the cavalier manner in which it was said.

 

[onereefnotenuf]

umm..dont do this... forget the pathogen issue..the non endemic issue is a million times worse.


Look up Lake Victoria and the Nile Perch... We've lost about 4000 species of cichlids that were only in that lake in the last 10 years.

i agree totally. i wasn't sure how to put my feelings into words on the endemic subject so i didn't go there. i just read an article on the nile perch and it has devestated lake victoria's chiclids.

 

[AdidaKev]

I am always appalled and saddened when I hear about people doing this. I work at an LFS, and people come in specifically to buy fish and release them into the wild -- no joke. I had a woman ask me for ten yellow tangs, and when I asked her what size tank she had, she said "Oh, I don't have one, I wanted to take them to the ocean and release them." She was dead serious, too.

I really wonder what people are thinking sometimes! I guess they just don't understand the consequences of their actions...

 

[derrikd]

did he say why he did it?

 

[Steven Pro]

did he say why he did it?

You can read his posts here,
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=6026189#post6026189

 

[derrikd]

thanks

 

[atzak]

European Starlings, Kudzoo, marine toads, lionfish, cuban tree frogs, snakeheads,oriental bittersweet,japanaese honeysuckle, etc, etc etc, don't do it please

 

[Confooseld]

I like how he announces how good a person he is for releasing all these non native species. What a great site.

 

[1package]

Wow and I felt bad for considering 3 tangs in a 210g.

 

[Opcn]

I like to think that there is a special place in hell for people who rape and pilage the environment and do horrible things so they can feel good about themselves.

J/K, I'm not religious, but I still think its a terrible thing to do, unless you started with a sterial aquarium and collected everything from one pond or lake or section of stream you should not put anything back, sell it to other hobiests if you must get rid of it, that or eat them, fish are food no mater what the shark says.

 

[fppf]

This one activity is the smoking gun folks in DC are using to get this hobby outlawed. Soon you wont be able to buy nice fish without permits and all kinds of paper work.

I still don't understand why people still think there smarter than nature.

Just look at all the problems caused by accidental release of non native spieces. African honey bees, Zebra muscles in the great lakes.

 

[Thurge]

^
Because of retards who release their pets into the wild, we all look like retards to those who aren't part of the hobbie.

Best thing anybody could do for him is house him with a nonnative Tiger.

 

[alikatoes]

Hawaii has experienced some of the worst invasion of introduced species. L. kasmira, L. fulvus, and Cephalouphalous argus, were introduced by a state agency for recreational fishing and they took over. kasmira specifically eats everything that fits in its mouth, and they have dominated reefs around Oahu. You see them in huge massive schools and they are trying to get people interested in eating them. Little did the state know, people in Hawaii dont like kasmira as food. As for C. argus, it is well known to be infected ciguatera, a toxic accumilation in tissues. Thus no one its eat, but it too is an apex predator that will eat anything that fits into its mouth. Not a good idea, even if you have good intentions

 

[Mike Dizon]

Opps! This angelfishes are correction endemic here. It ranges through Southeast Asia. mistake but, Aloha! After reading alikatoes comment, "Not a good idea, even if you have good intentions.." OK, I will take your advice not to release the NON-ENDEMIC and ENDEMIC Marine Fishes in the future.

Alikatoes, OK so what should you do to the marine fishes that refuse to eat but not sick. You tried everything medication, etc. Will you just watch it suffer and die in your QT TANK or give it a chance to let nature help them recover? In some countries it is illegal to harvest corals, live rocks, and even import corals.How do plan to help them. Releasing fish is not an illegal act in some countries that are found in their waters.

 

[Steven Pro]

The French Angelfish (Pomacanthus paru) is not native to the Philippines.

 

[Steven Pro]

This also brings up an interesting point. Dr. Robert Goldstein wrote an article about the invasion of Lionfish in the Atlantic for SeaScope a couple of issues ago. One of the theories he proposed was that dive operations may have intentionally introduced them as they are slowing moving yet gorgeous fish that could become quite an attraction at dive sites. Here we have someone releasing exotic fishes at a resort as an attraction. That makes Dr. Goldstein's theory that much more plausible in my opinion.