How do they get the settled larval fish?
Not to knock it that bad, but those 500 you catch and remove would not just go poof if left in the system, but become a food source that some other thing might be dependent on. So yeah, it isn't the same as removing adult fish in droves, but it still will have impact to some degree.
On a worst case view it may lead to less predators because of lack of food, which then causes a population boom of the target species which then leads to them stripping the environment of their food source and a population collapse. To go that far it would have to be pretty substantial larval harvest though... And a substantial adult harvest would basically skip all the previous steps to the last one anyway (and then in turn lead to the first one).
Not to knock it that bad, but those 500 you catch and remove would not just go poof if left in the system, but become a food source that some other thing might be dependent on. So yeah, it isn't the same as removing adult fish in droves, but it still will have impact to some degree.
On a worst case view it may lead to less predators because of lack of food, which then causes a population boom of the target species which then leads to them stripping the environment of their food source and a population collapse. To go that far it would have to be pretty substantial larval harvest though... And a substantial adult harvest would basically skip all the previous steps to the last one anyway (and then in turn lead to the first one).
By no means am I judging and it is a step in the right direction but don't think the price is going to drop anytime soon. If at all. Just look at ORA for an example.
Not to mention, how do you know the one fish that has the strength to survive, isn't the one harvested?
ORA is captive breed - there is a HUGE amount of time and R&D that you are paying for when you buy ORA.
Tank raised is a totally different story.
You are doing the collection randomly and the sample size is large, so the ones remain and the ones you collect should have equal number of individuals that are strong enough to survive. This is better than collecting adults, young adults or juvis where you specifically target the fish that looks the healthiest and strongest.
Yes unfortunately it is not a perfect solution. But again you are causing minimum damage to the breeding population. Fish larvae mostly compete for plankton. So if you remove them in this period, hopeful some other fish larvea have higher chance of survival. Those can fill up the food chain. I dont think there are any fish that depends specifically on the larvae of another specific fish, so they should be able to adjust.
It should bring down the costs substantially...
Not sure why you think it would 'bring down the costs', never mind 'substantially'...
Even if there were savings, they don't always go the the retail customer.
Not sure why you think it would 'bring down the costs', never mind 'substantially'...
Even if there were savings, they don't always go the the retail customer.
I'll ask my question again. Would you pay 14 dollars for a yellow tang or 100 knowing it was captive raised?
9 out of 10 people will pay 14 dollars.
The question is - who would want to pay $200 for a native caught purple Tang - when they could be paying $100 for a tanked raised one when the tank raised craze takes off?
You are missing the point and taking it in the other direction.
The question is - who would want to pay $200 for a native caught purple Tang - when they could be paying $100 for a tanked raised one when the tank raised craze takes off?
Of course the people will buy the cheaper fish...which will be the wild caught for a long while...
in my area purple tangs are often available for $100 and less!
Your in the bay area? Wonder why yours are cheaper - maybe closer to initial shipping / pickup. I've not seen a $100 purple for a long long while. Just outside Sacramento here.
No, New York