Marine Topic Of The Week, 05/12-05/19

[steelhealr]

Some fish stunned with cyanide on the way to
your aquarium

Group fighting illegal practice

DANIEL COONEY
Associated Press

NUSA DUA, Indonesia -- Ever wonder why some of the tropical salt-water fish you bought at the
pet shop die so soon?
Chances are, a diver in Indonesia or the Philippines caught them by first squirting cyanide into the
water, which stuns the fish and allows them to be easily scooped into a net.
After a few days, a fish usually appears to recover. It is then exported to the United States,
Europe and elsewhere to be sold in pet stores for anything up to $400.
After a month or two, though, traces of cyanide in the fish's system often attack its liver, eat away
at its digestive tract and corrode its respiratory system, until it dies.
But not only does cyanide irreversibly poison the fish it's used on, the toxin also damages the
ocean environment, killing other marine life.
So widespread is the problem that 1,000 environmentalists, marine biologists and pet-fish
collectors have set up a worldwide organization -- the Marine Aquarium Council -- to try to
eradicate the illegal practice.

Up to 20 million tropical salt-water fish are sold in the United States every year, said Paul
Holthus, head of the Honolulu-based group. Not all are poisoned, but many are, he said.
``Fish buyers are unknowingly contributing to the destruction of coral reefs and marine
ecosystems,'' he said.
Marine scientists meeting on Indonesia's tourist island of Bali recently warned that more than a
quarter of the world's coral reefs had been destroyed by pollution, global warming and poor
fishing practices, including the use of cyanide.
They said that unless urgent measures are taken, the remaining coral reefs may be dead within
20 years.
Mark Erdman, a San Francisco marine biologist who has long worked in Indonesia, said almost
all aquarium-bound fish caught in Indonesia are poisoned.
Fishermen often store the cyanide in cans on the ocean floor to escape detection by authorities.
They then dissolve a cyanide tablet in water in a plastic bottle. The deadly mixture is then
squirted at schools of fish living around coral outcrops.
Holthus said cyanide is also used widely in the Philippines.

Aquarium fish from the two countries account for much of the tropical salt-water fish imported by
the United States and Europe, he said.
The international aquarium fish trade is worth about $1 billion a year, experts said.
In two warehouses on Bali, hundreds of brightly colored fish float in small dirty tanks, waiting to
be packaged in water-filled plastic bags and flown out of the country. Clown tiger fish, with bright
yellow lips, sharp teeth and pink dorsal fins, lie on their sides, seemingly comatose from cyanide.
Holthus said the use of poison is limited to tropical salt-water varieties. More popular fresh-water
fish mostly come from commercial fish ponds and are chemical-free.
He said that by reforming the salt water segment of the industry, the welfare of marine life could
be improved and healthier fish would be provided for collectors.
Walt Smith, a businessman from Los Angeles who exports live fish from Fiji, said the problem is
not as widespread as some fear. He said all the fish he sends to the United States are caught
without poison.
The marine council plans to start monitoring fish exported from various parts of the world to
ensure that they have not been caught by divers using cyanide and that they are handled
professionally. Fish buyers in the United States and Europe will be able to look for Marine
Aquarium Council-certified fish in certain pet shops by the end of next year.
Mike King, a pet-fish retailer from Grand Rapids, Mich., said everyone will be a winner if
environmentally sound fish-collection practices are observed.
``Most consumers want to do the right thing for the environment and the fish,'' he said. ``They are
prepared to pay a little more for it.''

How can buying MAC Certified aquarium fish help save the reefs?
Many tropical marine fish are caught using cyanide, a toxin that destroys coral reefs and is also
dangerous to the fish themselves. An easy way for pet owners to be environmentally responsible
is to purchase MAC Certified marine-life. Marine-life that is MAC Certified has been collected,
handled and transported—from reef to retail—according to international quality and
environmental standards. When a consumer buys a MAC Certified fish, they can feel confident
that it has been harvested and handled to optimize the health of and minimize the stress on coral
reefs and the fish themselves.

How does buying MAC Certified fish help coastal communities and the marine aquarist?
Cyanide not only damages the environment, but it is also harmful to the health of divers who use
it—most of whom live in countries like Indonesia and the Philippines. By ensuring that only
safe, non-destructive collecting methods are used, the divers are protected. Their local economies
also benefit because keeping reef ecosystems healthy helps ensure an abundant and sustainable
supply of coral reef organisms for the aquarium trade and other purposes. Pet owners who help
support responsible, MAC Certified divers and coral reef conservation in the developing world
through their purchasing power also benefit—they receive a healthy fish that has been handled
properly … from reef to retail. MAC Certification is the first and only existing way for
consumers worldwide to verify that their fish are net-caught and cyanide-free.

 

[SkiFletch]

Yikes, never knew that

 

[steelhealr]

Apparently a large amount of the fish we get that originate from Indonesia and the Phillippines are obtained by cyanide methods. Also, divers keep the cyanide hidden in buckets at the sea bottom to keep it from being discovered. SH

 

[drag]

i have two clowns that died and i beleive this was the reason.... since then i only buy tank bread. all since are still alive.

the wild ones i bought died in under a month.

 

[steelhealr]

I agree with you draq. I am now beginning to believe that the main reason most of our fish die after successful acclimation is secondary to the methods of capture, i.e., use of cyanide. SH

 

[lljdma06]

Excellent and informative topic, SH. Makes me really want to rethink where I get my fish and inverts from when I setup my nano, or at least research to make sure my fish are caught by MAC certified divers.

 

[drag]

yeah a couple of months ago you might remember about my posts about those clowns... i was looking for an answer to its symptoms.. the breathing rappidly that nothing could get it to go away. i did every thing i could to to save them in a hospital tank but no meds were enough to nurse it back to health.


while every thing else in the tank was thriving, they died. i would expect my corals and inverts to bite the bullet before fish. after those couple of clown deaths i went back to my lfs to talk to a guy ( who gave me a great deal on the 660 icecap and lamps ) about my situation he let me know that he thought they were being captured with "poisons". this was the first i heard of this. then he pointed me to the tank bread clowns he just got in.
i will never go back to wild caught. unless its a breed you cannot get to breed in captivity. besides why upset nature when we can buy more hardier tank bread fish.

 

[steelhealr]

I'm convinced now that that was probably the culprit. The only problem is trying to find out where the fish came from. SH

 

[Mr Miagi]

I often think about the catching methods used by various importers.

There are only limited numbers (of importers) here in Australia, and importing anything from overseas is tough, illegal if you dont have a permit/licence, and harshly punished (even if you can actually import anything).

I dont think we in Australia are as prone to Cyanide caught fish, although im not 100% sure why.

Maybe because in America and the UK there is a certain pressure to reduce the price at which the importer/villager catches fish so retail outlets will buy stock from them. This would cause catchers to cut corners, or under go poor un-sustainable catching methods.

Certain un-sustainable methods have also caused a decline in fish numbers, so villagers travel further, using more resources to catch fish, = lower profit margin. So the use to use cyanide to catch large quontities of fish is extremely tempting.

The MAC (Marine Aquarium Council) promotes and teaches villagers that deal in the ornamental fish/coral trade, sustainable methods of capture and provides certification to help customers and companies buy from specififc, "sustainable and realiable" ornamental fish catchers.

I know its been brought up before by big names like Borneman, about the ability of some corals to live fine here (Aus), but in the US, have poor survival rates. The well known example is Cataphallias. Many reefers here report species growing huge, and for years. In the US, they sometimes are refferred to in groups of coral like Goniopra and Alveopora, who die almost always in the home aquaria.
Aparently a reason for this is the means of collection.

Can anyone tell me if you have MAC over in the States or UK?

 

[steelhealr]

I have not seen any signs posted on doors or tanks as yet over here. It's funny from my standpoint here, considering the you have the Great Barrier Reef 'downunder', that there would be somewhat more controlled capture methods and also more stock available. The Carribbean is the nearest to us here in NY and most of our stock comes from much furhter, Indo-Pacific area. SH

 

[steelhealr]

Unpinned and released. SH

 

[thegiftedguinea]

Unpinned and released. SH

That was an excellent report Steelhealr Strenth and honour indead. My sister is a marine biologist and she made me well aware of how the fisherman catch some of the fish when i told her i was starting my tank. since then i have decided never to buy a caught fish although she also made me feel guilty about taking the fish from their natural habitat so that limints me to tank bread fish anyway.

How will we know if there tank breed fish or not? lets face it the guy down the LFS is'nt the most reliable sourse (well mine are'nt anyway) they seem to want to sell you the most expensive stuff and thats it. is there anyway to tell the difference between tank breed or caught fish just by looking at them? i don't know because i hav'nt got any yet, my tank still maturing.

 

[pleder]

The best way to get a CB fish is to buy it directly from the breeder. Most breeders willsale wholesale IME.

On the issue of cyandide, yeah they use enough to knock the fish out, but the event itself is very tramatic for the fish as it is. If you were to have heart surgery wouldn't you rather have something to knock you out then do the whole thing awake? Isn't it better for the fish to be imported in an unconcious state?

There is a LFS that imports fish directly. He has several tanks setup each with several (hundreds) of couple of gallon holding bins for each fish. He says that for him the fish caught with cyanided have a better sucsess rate then those without. Also he believes that the major problems that most of us have with our fish is how they are treated at the wholesalers, and not at the LFS or whne we get them home.

At the wholesalers they are placed in tanks with several hundred other fish. If a fish has a disease in these tanks they are left there to rot. The tanks are not medicated ever, the disease just lingers. I believe this is why ich is so prevalant in the home aquarium but not in nature. If one fish brought it in to the wholesalers then in a months time all of the wholesalers tank have the parasite, then all of the fish are potential carriers.

This goes with all disease. The fish kept at the wholesalers are far from recommend stocking guidelines, have to compete for food, it is no wonder they are stressed by the time they reach us.

Wholesalers systems are large and not really kept up thast well. Just a ton of fish all of the time.

IMO it is always best to buy CB fish straight from the breeder whenever possible. Sometimes this is impossible but if you can, you'll get what you pay for. I think it is also very important to QT everything you put in your tank for 6 weeks,even snails or hermit crabs.

IME I have had several fish die in QT over the last few years, but the ones who make it through the six weeks live with me for years and years.

IMHO cyanidide is not the problem. It gets blamed because it sounds scary. It's easy to point a finger at because everyone knows what it is.

 

[Mr Miagi]

The best way to get a CB fish is to buy it directly from the breeder. Most breeders willsale wholesale IME.

Agreed. Buy direct and that way you will know for sure.

On the issue of cyandide, yeah they use enough to knock the fish out, but the event itself is very tramatic for the fish as it is. If you were to have heart surgery wouldn't you rather have something to knock you out then do the whole thing awake?

Yes, catching fish would be traumatic for the fish. Not denying that, but too say using cyanide is better than having a fish stressed is nonsense.

A fish caught by cyanide looks fine for weeks after capture, appearing to eat well, and look generally healthy (this is why they are sold easily in the shops). They then disintergrate into nothing, starve, or fall victim to a desease all-ready present in the aquarium when there internal organs fail.

Would you rather surgery un-consous, and die a few weeks later of poor surgery/mistakes, or would you rather your surgery took place while you were awake and survive long term, whilst living through a short period of stress during the surgery? (Your dead when they do heart surgery anyway, so you wouldnt be awake, LOL) Your analogy is flawed, and doesnt make much sense when you look at the overall picture when cyanide is used by fisherman.

Isn't it better for the fish to be imported in an unconcious state?

No. They arnt in an un-concious stage when they arrive or during transport anyway, it would only be during capture and a short period after.

IMHO cyanidide is not the problem. It gets blamed because it sounds scary. It's easy to point a finger at because everyone knows what it is.

What evidence/studies can you present that states or has tested cyanide is not a contributing factor in the destruction of reefs or death in fish?

It gets the blame because it does the damage. This isnt just an issue about fish, its about the destructive nature that method of capture has on the entire reef, including coral and plant life.



Google Scholar Search (Scientific Papers)
Another Google Scholar related search...

 

[drag]

i heard it straight from the horses mouth ( the lfs employe wich i have come to know well now). and he pulled me to the side where the STORE OWNER wouldent hear ... and told me that he believed they were being poisoned because of the high complaints of fish deaths weeks after acclimation.

now i dont know about you but if i were to have an operation needing to be knocked out i dont beleive i would check the box to use cyanide. being knocked out is different than being poisoned.

Acute poisoning
Inhalation of high concentrations of hydrogen cyanide causes a coma with seizures, apnea and cardiac arrest, with death following in a matter of minutes.

At lower doses, loss of consciousness may be preceded by general weakness, giddiness, headaches, vertigo, confusion, and perceived difficulty in breathing. At the first stages of unconsciousness, breathing is often sufficient or even rapid, although the state of the victim progresses towards a deep coma, sometimes accompanied by pulmonary edema, and finally cardiac arrest. Skin colour goes pink from high blood oxygen saturation.

thats in humans i can just imagine what fish could go through.


i saw my fish stop eating until i could see right through them. clowns are supposed to have weight to them.