From the article, “We’ve got to shrink the flavors of fishes available to hobbyists.” [Tim Haywood is] determined to confront what he calls the aquarium trade’s “gray areas” so the hobby he loves can become fit for the 21st century. [These] gray areas: the often hidden tolls of the trade, such as the negative effects of intensive captive breeding on fishes’ welfare, and the deaths of millions of fish and other aquarium organisms each year so people can enjoy watching the colorful survivors in their home tanks around the world. These are problems few people see or understand. Educating consumers will not be enough to overcome these 'gray areas'. Consumer research shows people in the market for an exotic pet cannot be dissuaded from their purchase by being educated about the species being threatened by trade or knowing the animals are likely to suffer at all stages of the supply chain. Those surveyed for research published in 2016 said “Even if the animals were endangered or were going to suffer while being caught and transported, they’d buy them anyway”. And then there are the collectors and status seekers. Bankers, CEOs, hedge-fund managers, surgeons and celebrities are key customers ordering bespoke aquariums. Integrated into the building design, sometimes as custom floors, such customers are given the impression that they can walk on water! With installation costs that can reach over US$1.5 million, and maintenance of as-much-as US$35,000 per month, architects create evermore elaborate indoor oceans. The sales brochures don’t talk so much about the wellbeing of the aquarium’s occupants or the implications for the reef and oceans from which they are taken. When an individual tank can feature 1,000 fish, and more than 100 different species, this must be taken into consideration, given the growing demand for these ostentatious displays of wealth, in homes from London to Sydney, Lagos to Dubai and LA to Florida: https://lnkd.in/grpg8f_b A great article by Tracy Keeling for The Revelator and another example of why the world must move to a reverse listing model - the precautionary principle - for all biomass extraction, to overcome biodiversity loss: https://lnkd.in/d8WexsSf
Time to Confront the Aquarium Trade’s ‘Gray Areas’ https://lnkd.in/g-9uYDy3
