pet industries and the G.B.R 16/10/06

[stevedemon]

HI all
Tonight on the Channel 7 news they had a special on the Great Barrier reef and losing Nemo (Clown Fish) did anyone else see this.

They stop the Recreational fisho's and pro's from fishing the reefs, but they still sell the licences to the Pet industry to catch clown fish and various other species some 250 species are taken up to about 250,00 per year to sell both here and oversea.

As the clown fish and other reef species are disappearing from the reefs they are causing the reefs to become infected with fungus and mould killing the coral in which these species normally feed on the fungus, but the government say's it is alright to take these species and the pet industry is saying it is not causing any harm to the reefs.

Well if it is not causing any harm to the reefs then why is it that it took the Ch 7 Crew 3 days to find one colony of Clown fish where there were thousand and the other species that keep the reefs free of this fungus.

Yet if we as recreational fisho's take species from the reefs then we are killing every thing sounds like double standards to me as the Government is making good money from the pet industries licencing

your thoughts on this

Cheers
Steve #

[choppa]

steve,,,, i did see a part of this last night on the highlights,,, not the entire report

double standards are right,,,,, and this market is huge,,,but so is the scientific and hobby areas

a few months back there was a documentary on the work that an aquacentre was doing in the area of fish species/movements/breeding etc etc,,,it showed a work boat going out 2-3 times a week and literally filling live ""tanks"" with fish,,(all juevenilles) to be brought back to the ""lab"" and studied,,,,this would only have a small impact if it was the only 1 doing it,,,, but theres hundreds,,

hobby farmers are the same,,,, have a look through the ""for sale"" section and you'll see aquariums with cod/jacks/saratoga/flatties etc all up for grabs,,,

same members are the first to jump on the wagon when a report of undersize or waste of catch is reported

double standards,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,yeh ya right

[Poodroo]

I spent 5 years working in an Aquarium shop and I know that there is a huge market for all species of clownfish. The thing I don't really get is that it is easy to breed the common ocellaris clownfish in captivity and it has been done. I used to sell captive bred fish in the Aquarium trade. My question is if we have the smarts and technology to do this then why not concentrate on it rather than resort to stripping nature bare to make a buck? I really think that there should be more restrictions in place like stop selling to an overseas market. There is common sense and just plain greed and I think greed is going to destroy our world long term.
Regards,

Poodroo

[Adamy]

I have to agree with you there Droo... However some of the fault has to lie with the little clown fish (Nemo). If he would just stay on the reef instead of venturing out - trying to touch the bottom of that boat - then there would be less trouble!! Then again, I guess that dentist is being a tad greedy too - he already has heaps of tropicals... why one more??

What is this world coming to???

Adam


sorry - not like me to introduce brevity into the news section.... Now!!

[PinHead]

I owned and operated an aquarium shop 25 years ago...did not deal in marine fish then as there were not many people that could keep the water conditions correct but as the technology has changed I can see a big market in it now. Just a pity for the fish that they are so colourful...if not no one would be interested. It is always cheaper to capture wild creatures than spend the money breeding them.

[cbs]

As a recreational fisher and also a marine aquarium keeper, I feel compelled to put my foot forward.

Unfortunately, I did not see the tv report but did read the online version. As usual, there was quite a lot of "mis truths"

Recreational and commercial collecting (fish and coral for aquariums) is controlled by the same piece of legslation that the rest of the fisheries are. Protected species are still protected, and sizes etc all apply. Fisho's and aquarium collectors are in the same boat.

The commercial take for aquarium fish is insignificant compared to the food sector. Example: something like 16000 tonnes of prawns are caught each year plus bycatch. Quota for coral in queensland is 50 tonnes from a reef that is 2000 km long. Shown time and time again to be sustainable. Fish I do not know the numbers for, but I have visited the largest collectors premesis in cairns and while they had several hundred fish in their system at the time of my visit, the quantity would have been much less than the local fish shops have in stock on any given day.

Clownfish are probably the most sustainable fish collected. They are also bred in captivity. I would say that 95% of all clownfish sold in shops are captive bred. It is hard to find wild ones for sale in australia. There are breeders in australia producing hundreds of thousands of clownfish every year, many for export. One at jacobs well I visited a couple of years back (to buy for myself) had several thousand clowns of various species at the time. Nearly all other fish sold in aquarium stores are wild caught. BTW, clownfish don't eat "fungus and mould". Diet is primarily meaty, with algae etc thrown in. They are also exceptionally hardy and well suited to confied spaces that math their wild territories.

Channel 7 couldn't find a pair for 3 days? They weren't looking hard enough. I have been to several places on the reef and never not seen them. There are places in moreton bay where they are common. I know of one location within 50m of boat ramp in southern queensland that has clowns. I have also seen them in the southport seaway.

As a recreational fisher and marine (specifically reef) aquarium keeper, I can say that the average aquarist is far more concerned with the well being of the environment than the fisho who wants to get a feed. There are ten times more fishos taking ten times the catch than there are aquarium collectors. Aquarists collect and but to build an environment that is a lasting investment. In the last twelve months, I have probably been on perhaps ten collecting trips, and have only introduced perhaps 2 fish (a couple of inches in length) in that time because it takes carefull selection to get it right. How many fishos can claim that. Look at the reports forum for example.

I'm not saying that there aren't people in the ornamental industry only seeking to profit because there are, I am pointing out that the quantities talked about are almost insignificant in the scheme of the entire fishery.

cbs

[cbs]

adamy, I can't reply to your pm yet as I don't have the number of replys. I'll get back to you when I do, or you can provide an email address.

cbs

[stevedemon]

Hi cbs
mate the reason i placed this article here for is the same reason most of us fisho's are p#ssed off it is alright for the Pet industry to take fish from the reefs like the GBR in which they are suppose to be protected from all commerical fisheries yet it is fine for the Pet industry to take what they like when they like and export them to the overseas market this is what we are calling a double standard both Recreational and commerical fisho's have been banned from a lot of reefs yet the goverment see's it is right to allow this action or take them for scientific studies it was not just the clown fish they are taking but also the reef cleaners for hobby farmers and pet stores yet it is the recreational and commerical fisho's copying the blame for the destruction of the reefs

yes to some extent commerical fisho's do rap the reefs and destroy habitates but we need to look closer at all angles and if is is not good for one lot then it should be placed out of bounds for the rest no take zones means no take of any species or Coral there are no exceptions to the rules but the goverment is making exceptions for the overseas markets that stink and the pet industry

the report came out that there are over 250,000 per year taken from the reefs by various collectors this is for profit only
but yes there are same to whom may only collect sensible but not many the rest are the profiteers

Cheers
Steve

[cbs]

The aquarium industry is governed by the same regulations and the rest of the commercial fisheries. Look at the qld dpi act and regulations there is a section there. Do you have a specific link or reference saying that aquarium collection is allowed where others aren't.

Scientific collection is by permit only, and should be kept seperate from this arguement.

250 000 fish taken from the reef area (that would be all species total) is insignificant compared to the total harvest of all fisheries. Google up some information on the relative sizes of queensland fisheries and quotas. The information is public.

All comercial collection, trawling, fishing is for profit - period.

The facts are
Commercial fishing has far larger quotas than the ornamental trade.
Recreational Angling has far larger take than recreational collecting.


Both types of activities have some impact. Only one is likely to be sustainable at the present rate.


Don't shoot me, I'm in both camps and am simply trying to show some balance to the arguement with quantative facts.

I'm sorry I cannot continue this debate at this time, as I am going away for work and have run out of time. Back in a day or two.

cbs