Report: 4,000 tropical fish die on route to oceanarium

[bluelair]

Link


Report: 4,000 tropical fish die on route to oceanarium

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MOSCOW â€" Thousands of tropical fish reportedly have died at a Russian airport after being held in customs for 15 hours in the summer heat.

The state RIA Novosti news agency says more that 4,000 fish worth $480,000 died in the Black Sea resort of Sochi after customs officials spent 15 hours clearing the cargo Saturday. The fish had been shipped from China and made a brief stop in India.

The fish were intended for Sochi Discovery World, Russia’s largest oceanarium, which is slated to open this month.

RIA Novosti’s report Tuesday quotes Oceanarium director Amin Azzam as saying the loss of the fish is an “atrocity unseen anywhere else in the world.”

The $25 million oceanarium is part of the development before the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

 

[Pyrrhus]

Ouch, I have had DOA shipments before for various reasons, but 15 hours to clear customs is ridiculous. Hope they are able to continue on in spite of this, that is a huge loss, I just hope that that price listed is the retail price, not the wholesale price.

 

[Garage1217]

Man that is depressing. The world is full of stupid people I guess.

And yeah, it would have to be rated at the value of the fish and not actual cost as that would average $120 a fish.

 

[bluelair]

I can believe that price, if we're dealing with exotic, large species mixed in. These were all saltwater, I believe.

One article listed a 3 meter nurse shark among the dead. That's got to be $1,000 - 2,000 right there.

Here's a line from an article describing the facility:

"That will be a world-class oceanarium featuring an enormous sea water pool, several stories high, with each story providing a habitat for certain fish species. The aquarium will house sharks, rays, coral fish, etc. Presently there is no other such oceanarium in Russia. It will require 3 million cubic meters of water and a site of 0.6 hectares (1.48 acre). The project is estimated to be worth over $10 million."

So half a million in fish is probably only a portion of the population.

What I fail to understand is how they could have shipped all of them like that with no accompanying supervision or coordination with customs.

How could they ship them through with no thermal protection?

On the arrival date, did no one notice it was hot that day, and think it might be hot at the airport too?

Why the hell did they ship all of this livestock all at once? We all know you don't buy 20 fish and drop them into your tank all on the same day. How were they going to absorb the bioload of 4,000 stressed fish without a major die-off?

Tons of perishable food goes through customs every day, there are lots of things that spoil if left in the heat for 14 hours. What was the aquarium thinking? Did they not notice the shipment was overdue? This really smacks of a rinky-dink operation. How can they now go on with a project that is so tainted with death and poor husbandry?

I don't know, I read that the aquarium is suing the airport, but I think they have to take some responsibility, they're the ones that ordered the livestock into the country in the first place, they were the ones who knew the potential for loss.

 

[bluelair]

If Garage ever visits Sochi Discovery World, I found a place to stay:

Jigowatt Hostel

 

[GigaFish]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15637226#post15637226 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bluelair
If Garage ever visits Sochi Discovery World, I found a place to stay:

Jigowatt Hostel

OMFG!!! Did you look at the features page on this. First of all, their story behind the name is ridiculous but the features page is hilarious. All the comforts of home. It looks like a crack house. Their luxurious pool is an inflatable intex pool. hahaha.

 

[Garage1217]

OMG you found my home away from home! Only $20 a night!! And my own private toilet!

 

[Pescado Racing]

Sad story, I can only imagine what that must smell like.