Matt Pedersen gave a great presentation on the case for Captive Bred (CB) fish. Notes from his presentation are here, followed by links to websites and books that he recommended.
Fish collection from the wild is threatened, partly by our own inefficient collection methods, but largely because of things that are entirely outside of our control. Regulation is looming which will further restrict our ability to collect, but it is likely to be ineffective in saving our fish and reefs.
This could entirely shut down the hobby in the next 10-50 years if we don't switch to a captive bred base. At the same time, we need to import wild caught fish into our breeding programs if we're to accomplish this because there are so few fish in the captive bred industry.
Even easily bred fish like Ocellaris and Bangais are still mostly wild caught, in huge numbers, despite there being little need to do so.
Recent focus of the hobby on corals and other reef aspects has taken our attention off of the issues with fish breeding and keeping, etc., and there is little or no R&D from other sources to help this.
Matt clarified:
It's really tough to make a go of [selling captive bred fish]--smaller "hobbyist scale" or "second job" type breeding outfits have a better chance at long term sustainability because they aren't the sole source of income for the operator.
In summary, the issue is low profitability, feasibility, demand.
Clarified by Matt, below:
It is actually pretty feasible for many more species to be cultured than currently are at a commercial level...this is where some species are in overall low demand (i.e. Green Wolf Eels) where a company like ORA may see producing this species a losing proposition, but a hobbyist can rear a batch a year to supply most of our needs...and thus keep the species going. On the demand side, a big part of it is people not being aware or thinking about it. Remember, we all vote with our wallets.
CB fish advantages:
- lower mortality
- carry less disease (though never exposed, so need to be kept away from wild fish carriers)
- less aggressive, because they never needed to fight for territory and food
- easy to feed because they're trained to eat the food we give them
- green option because of less transport
- can make rare fish more available (like black ocellaris)
- can redefine a species: frozen mysis fed seahorses, pellet fed mandarins, flake fed harlequin file fish
- supports progress since we learn more about the fish
Website Resources for fish breeders:
Books:
