Are Aquaria Good For Wildlife Conservation?

[Joe Cross]

Some really great comments and opinion on hear. I heard a fact at the dive show in Birmingham (largest in the UK) from Monty Halls he said that Shark Finning used to be a big trade in the Caribbean until the dive tourism trade took off now the sharks are valued at $250,000 US which far outweighs the value in fins. As a few of you have pointed out that diving is a problem do you think there is a need for better training? If people had better buoyancy control would that reduce the amount of damage divers do to the reef?
@RyanT @agilis @drrich2 @tridacna @PatW @tilikum

 

[tilikum]

Training won't help. It is a numbers issue. The shear volume of people descending on the reef is the problem. Humans just are not good environmental stewards as a whole.

 

[agilis]

There is a diner on Rt 22 in Union NJ close to where me and Agilis reside. They have a marine aquarium that I call "The Killing Field". Nothing lasts longer than a week. Everything is replaced or replenished on a weekly basis. They must kill about 10-12 fish every week. Kaching for the supply chain. Store doesn't care - it's a wall hanging as far as they're concerned. Ditto for these POS tanks in car-washes, dentist's offices and big buildings. I understand and support local public aquaria. Animal husbandry is top notch.

Some aquarists, I was one of them, really know how to care for their animals. Most do not. I could go on for hours about how I think that you should have to "qualify" to own a reef tank...

My breeding pair of false perculas just passed their 14th year under my care. Most marine fishes should live for years and years in captivity. A friend who will inherit my fish when I move still has a Rock Beauty that I collected for him in Jamaica 10 years ago.
I know what you mean, though. There are a few public aquariums that also have a deserved reputation as fish killers despite AZA certification, and most hobbyists think they are doing great if they keep a fish alive for a year or two.

 

[tridacna]

Game changer for me was seeing (and recognizing) all those old friends of mine swimming in the Phillipines and Indonesia. They just look better swimming free on the reef! Observing an anemone host 3 or 4 pairs of different species of clowns is awesome. Their interaction with the anemone is fascinating-not readily observable in a tank no matter how big. My 600 gal tank is now a cactus display! Way easier to keep too. And yes, I kept my animals alive for longer than 12 years before donating them to a public aquarium.

 

[Diver-Drex]

My wife and I took our 6 month old daughter to the local aquarium yesterday. I was standing in front of the shark enclosure holding her so she was facing the animals. She was following the sharks as the swam by. She did the same at the other tanks, although in my mind she liked the sharks best! My hope is to inspire her love of the ocean and it's inhabitants. Yesterday's trip was the first step.

 

[drrich2]

Diver-Drew got me thinking about a trip last January where we took our daughter to the Tennessee Aquarium at Chattanooga, and her cousin was along. 1st Visit for both. I don't know just how much long term impact we'll see, but this is the type of encounter they had.

I'm thinking there's something to be said for that. We had a tough time getting her to touch a lake sturgeon the display set up for that; once she did it, I thought we were going to have to haul her away from it by force. She wouldn't touch the horse shoe crab; maybe next time.

Richard.

 

[TMHeimer]

Don't know why, but horseshoe crabs are unsettling for me. Maybe because they're "ancient", or because they're related in some way to my real phobia, spiders. I have touched one, but wouldn't if it were on it's back. Up in Thompson, Manitoba we had a Halloween Concert each year with the bands. With the younger bands I'd attach a horseshoe crab shell to a long string and have a kid pull it across the stage during a number--flute players and others poking their instruments at it. Really SCARY...and funny. You had to be there.

 

[Joe Cross]

So this is the opinion of Dr Naomi Rose No evidence zoos and aquariums foster education or conservation, committee told.

 

[tridacna]

So this is the opinion of Dr Naomi Rose No evidence zoos and aquariums foster education or conservation, committee told.

I agree with Naomi. My pet Blue Whale used to hate being cooped up in a goldfish bowl.

P.S. We're not talking about cetaceans in this thread.

 

[drrich2]

That linked article was, as tridacna alluded to, focused on the issue of captive cetaceans, and Dr. Rose clearly had a strong moralistic opinion on the subject (that they're non-human persons and such captivity is wrong). Some species, such as the humpback whales she mentioned as an example of something publicly popular not kept in zoos & aquariums, are well-known to the public. But much of the great diversity in marine life is not. And while you can go on 'whale watching' boat tours to see wild ones, there are many animals we don't get to experience that way. She makes some good points, but I'm not convinced her article closes the discussion.

Richard.