Guys, I know my post is long, but my opinions on this are pretty strong so I kind of went crazy. Also, keep in mind that I am speaking of a small population of people here, and I have a great deal of respect for those who this diatribe does not apply to.
The ethics of fishkeeping are, IMO, a subject that everyone eventually considers, and the conclusion that everyone comes to is their own. Unfortunately, many people only consider the ethics when it's too late.
First of all, the notion that "if I don't buy it, it'll be collected anyway, and someone else will" is complete BS. That's just saying that the end justifies the means. Turn the statement around. "If nobody buys it, then it won't be collected." Many of the fish available in the trade are aquacultured, such as clowns, but most of the bigger fish (Tangs, Triggers, Angels, Butterflies) are all wild caught, and those are the bread-and-butter of the industry.
I personally do not feel guilty about keeping fish, or an aquarium. I have five aquariums, representing saltwater fish only, reefs, and freshwater. At the same time, I do tend to frown upon some of the things that people do in this hobby.
Most of us would take huge issue with buying a dog and keeping it in a dog crate all the time, or buying 10 dogs and keeping them in one small room, but there are quite a few people out there who do not have any problem buying a fish tank and ridiculously overstocking it with fish to satisfy their own selfish desires to own all the fish they think are "cool," yet they are unwilling to foot the bill for the tank and equipment to do so.
The destruction of the environment is another thing to consider. Coral reefs are declining rapidly, but many of us routinely buy corals while having environments only marginally capable of supporting them, if at all. This to me is an asenine thing to do.
This is where I take issue with the hobby. Before any of you jump on me, rest assured, I am no animal rights activist. I do, however, believe that when you take an animal, be it a fish or a brainless invert out of it's natural environment and throw it in a glass box, you take on the responsibility of caring for that animal for it's lifetime and to provide the best care you can possibly provide for it. That means buying the necessary equipment such as tank size, filters, and LIGHTING to allow it to not just survive, but to thrive. That also means investing twice the cost of a new fish in medications to attempt to cure a sick one, if necessary. To me, this is a contract of adhesion. If you don't like those terms, then don't buy a fish.
Many of us are completely cavalier about putting these animals lives in danger, and that's just wrong. To me, there is nothing wrong with removing a fish from the wild and putting it into an environment where it can live a full, healthy, quality life, but needlessly endangering the animal because you cannot afford the right environment for it, but are concurrently selfish enough to not let that deter you is unethical and despicable. Even though these are brainless invertabrates or fish that are nearly brainless, they are still living things and we, as other living things, need to have a certain level of respect for that.
I saw a thread the other day about a person who wanted to have a Finding Nemo tank. When people told him that the number of fish per gallon as well as the husbandry (for you newbies, this means the interaction of species within a tank) was all wrong, he didn't want to take that answer. That is the kind of stuff that makes me mad. I have NO PROBLEM WHATSOEVER with people that ask questions, and I admire the fact that he was asking. If you ask the question though, you need to be prepared for the answer. I don't want to slam this guy, nor does he need to reply with a defense as I am not asking him to defend himself, since I think in the end, he came around, but these kind of threads abound on this and other forums. Again, it's not the question, it's when the question is asked, an answer is given that is not what they wanted to hear, and they decide to gamble with an animal's life rather than invest in whatever they need to do it right.
I guess what I am saying in the end is that there is a right way and a wrong way to participate in this hobby. You don't need to be an environmentalist, but you shouldn't run a slaughterhouse either. You need to strike a balance in between based on a respect for the animals you keep, put those animals needs BEFORE your desire to have them and provide a proper environment for them. If you do that, this hobby I believe is beneficial in general because it brings us a profound understanding of the aquatic world, allows us to learn and teach others, and that awareness helps to preseve these ecosystems that we take from to sustain it.
