divers and fish

[Bruce Carlson]

....And of course the hobbyist lobby groups and magazines mainly tout those 
experts in the rarified air of the hobby as examples of what is.
Ursula,

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Let me quote one coral biologist who is not a hobbyist (speaking about live 
coral collection, not for the curio trade):

"Public aquaria and private hobbyists both serve the important purpose of 
increasing interest, awareness and knowledge of coral reefs.  Sometimes 
proponents of the reef aquarium trade are criticised by well meaning 
members of conservation movements for creating the potential to harm wild 
populations.  In some locations, where small reef areas occur in close 
proximity to major centres of population, such criticisms are likely to be 
well founded.  However, this is not so for major reef regions on the 
Indo-Pacific where very large areas of reefs are owned by poor countries, 
most of which participate in destructive fishing practices.  In these 
countries, the well managed harvesting of corals for aquaria should give 
monetary value to reefs.  Like well managed tourist industries, these 
activities have little or no envirnomental impacts as they represent an 
eternally renewable source of income, they are likely to be important in 
the quest for effective management practices that lead to longterm 
conservation."

Veron, J.E.N.  2000.  Corals of the World, Volume 1 (pg. 15)

Bruce Carlson
Waikiki Aquarium


At 09:20 AM 11/3/2001 -0500, you wrote:
>At 11:55 AM 11/2/01 -0500, John McManus wrote:
>
>>So, while the aquarium trade makes a great deal of sense as a source of
>>livelihood in many cases, I think that the greatest danger lies in exotic
>>introductions. I'm not sure of the solution, other than perhaps restricting
>>fish distributions to within their natural range.
>
>The aquarium hobby (like so many human endeavours) is very much about 
>snobbery and status.  This can range from whose got the most expensive 
>fish to whose got the most difficult to keep/breed.
>
>That means hobbyists prefer the-grass-is-always-greener fish.
>
>One thing I'd like to know is how many unsuccess stories are there for 
>every competent, responsible marine hobbyist?   And how many fish/live 
>corals die before one of THEM becomes competent.
>
>And of course the hobbyist lobby groups and magazines mainly tout those 
>experts in the rarified air of the hobby as examples of what is.
>
>Best wishes,
>Ursula
>
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