Where do they come from?

[gmax111]

I just got to thinking and i was wondering... how do the majority of LFS and saltwaterfish.com obtain their fish? Are they just netted from some reef or in some kind of chemical used to make them pass out and float to the top?
Seems like an awful lot of fish to be netted... :notsure:

 

[quakstar]

Most are bred in captivity... Most things that come straight from the ocean have a hard time in aquariums just because the confinement causes stree 24/7
So unless i am totally wrong most are bred in captivity
but i could be crazy

 

[reefkprz]

MOre and more are being bred in captivity but most are still wild caught. sodium cyanide is illeagle for harvesting in most parts of the world now.

 

[joojoo]

Most are actually wild caught, unfortunately. Captive Bred is becoming more prolific with several different species, but still has a long way to go. One frowned upon practice of catching wild fish is to squirt a cyanide solution in their rock/burrow/cave/shoal to stun them for easy netting.

 

[viper_930]

Check out the fish list on this site.
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/site_11...ory=4&x=5&y=14
If there's the word "aquacultured" next to the fish's name, they were captive bred. If not they were wild caught. On this site's list it's just c/b clownfish and dottybacks that are available but there's a small handfull of other species that are currently being captive bred. ie. bangaii cardinals, neon gobies, and a couple others here and there. ORA Farm is a well-known hatchery and they have a good number of species under their belt.

 

[gmax111]

Wow...
I knew about the clownfish and the few others that were being aquacultured but that is >1% of the common fish in the trade.
I would think that the diver netting these fish spends some time just
waiting over a certain hole to get that 1 fish. Which is then netted and and attached to his belt while he looks for more.. Talk about STRESS! It's no wonder so many fish dont make it into the home aquarium...
At least i thought this is how it would have to be done. I remember reading something a long time ago about the cyanide being illegal but i wasn't sure if there was some new way of knocking out half a reefs worth of fish so a diver can just swoop them up.
But it still seems like a lot of fish to be netted...
Very Interesting!

 

[myrtle beach]

I have often wondered this myself. I'm guessing they must have a better technique than just waiting around a reef and netting them. They must use some chemical to stun them. Have you ever tried netting a damsel in a <100g tank? Can you imagine trying to net one in an endless ocean?
The unfortunate part is that many don't make it to the store. The dead loss is probably very high, just think of how much the fish cost and think about how much the average worker in a third world country makes a day, about 3$.

 

[breineach1]

I actually think this is a very timely topic... In our house we've been trying to phase out products that are "unnatural" or "bad for the environment," which means only buying free-range, hormone free beef, cage free eggs, fruits & veggies that haven't been sprayed with pesticides, etc, etc. (yeah, we're turning into tree-hugging hippies!

)
Right now we're fishless, our oldest damsel passed away in Feb. & we haven't decided what to get next. All our corals are frags from aquacultured colonies, and I'd like to keep the "home grown" theme going by only buying fish that have been aquacultured. I think clowns & a few others are what we have to choose from, but what about inverts- we've got lots of hitchhikers, which I guess are okay since they can't be helped- but hermits & snails. Any thoughts as to which species are aquacultured in the invert area?

 

[ophiura]

Originally Posted by Quakstar
Most are bred in captivity... Most things that come straight from the ocean have a hard time in aquariums just because the confinement causes stree 24/7
So unless i am totally wrong most are bred in captivity
but i could be crazy

VERY few are bred in captivity. Most are wild caught. Those that are bred in captivity often say "aquacultured" but it is limited to things like clowns, dottybacks and a few others. Your tangs and angels, for example, are wild caught.

 

[viper_930]

Originally Posted by Breineach1
Any thoughts as to which species are aquacultured in the invert area?
Only those that say aquacultured next to the name or as the origin. Otherwise they were wild collected.

 

[stanlalee]

also you have to realize ornamental fish make up like 0.5% of fish captured for commerse and tropical reefs make up like 1% of the ocean so hand netting seems to be sufficient enough.
I would be nice if more reef fish were easily bred but I think its more the fish not cooperating than people not wanting to.