Indonesian officials counter that laws do exist that require exporters to meet quality, sustainability, traceability and animal welfare conditions. “We have been working at the national level, trying to push national government to give attention to ornamental fish in Indonesia, but it’s fallen on deaf ears,” she said. That makes monitoring the first step of the tropical fish supply chain a task so gargantuan it is all but ignored. In the vast archipelago of Indonesia, there are about 34,000 miles (54,720 kilometers) of coastline across some 17,500 islands. Part of the problem is geography, Reksodihardjo-Lilley explains. The chemicals damage the living coral and make it more difficult for new coral to grow.Ĭyanide fishing has been banned in countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines but enforcement of the law remains difficult, and experts say the practice continues.
Many die in transit, weakened by the cyanide – which means even more fish need to be captured to meet demand. The fish become temporarily stunned, allowing fishermen to easily pick or scoop them from the coral. The diluted cyanide forms a poisonous mixture fishermen squirt onto coral reefs, where fish usually hide in crevices. every year.įor decades, a common fishing technique has involved cyanide, with dire consequences for fish and marine ecosystems.įishermen crush the blue or white pellets into a bottle filled with water. (Freshwater aquariums are far more common because freshwater fish are generally cheaper and easier to breed and care for.) About 7.6 million saltwater fish are imported into the U.S. keep saltwater fish as pets, according to a 2021-2022 American Pet Products Association survey. Small-scale collection and export of saltwater aquarium fish began in Sri Lanka in the 1930s and the trade has grown steadily since. The conditions they need to reproduce are extremely particular and poorly understood, even by scientists and expert breeders who have been trying for years. Most ornamental saltwater fish species are caught in the wild because breeding them in captivity can be expensive, difficult and often impossible. “Consumers often don’t know where their fish are coming from, and they don’t know how they are collected,” said Andrew Rhyne, a marine biology professor at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island. That leaves enthusiasts like Siravo in the dark. “There’s no enforcement, no management, no data collection,” said Gayatri Reksodihardjo-Lilley, founder of LINI, a Bali-based nonprofit for the conservation and management of coastal marine resources. But the trade is extraordinarily difficult to regulate and track as it stretches from small-scale fishermen in tropical seaside villages through local middlemen, export warehouses, international trade hubs and finally to pet stores in the U.S., China, Europe and elsewhere. There have been efforts to reduce some of the most destructive practices, such as cyanide fishing. Many die along the way.Īnd even when they are captured carefully, by people like Partiana, experts say the global demand for these fish is contributing to the degradation of delicate coral ecosystems, especially in major export countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines. Some are captured using squirts of cyanide to stun them. He calls the fish “an endless source of fascination.”īut the long journey from places like Bali to places like Rhode Island is perilous for the fish and for the reefs they come from. “It’s just so much fun to just watch the antics between different varieties of fish,” said Jack Siravo, a Rhode Island fish enthusiast who began building aquariums after an accident paralyzed him and now has four saltwater tanks. Millions of saltwater fish like these are caught in Indonesia and other countries every year to fill ever more elaborate aquariums in living rooms, waiting rooms and restaurants around the world with vivid, otherworldly life. Hours later, exhausted, he returns to a rocky beach, towing plastic bags filled with his darting, exquisite quarry: tropical fish of all shades and shapes. LES, Indonesia (AP) - After diving into the warm sea off the coast of northern Bali, Indonesia, Made Partiana hovers above a bed of coral, holding his breath and scanning for flashes of color and movement. Business & Finance Click to expand menu.
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