genetically enhanced fish

nickmcmechan said:
.................maybe our entire hobby is unethical.................
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Zoos, Aquariums, Nature Preserve Parks...All of these as well, or just not the last one?

The point I'm making is, again it's a matter of perspective. Most would find the concrete cages of the old managerees apalling, but Zoos have come a long ways - They now paint their walls and have added plants (Wait that sounds a lot like my tank :eek:)!

Anyways, one could agrue that a Nature Preserve is in essence just a really big Zoo in the end, but instead of moving the animals we moved the "zoo". Now I don't think any of us would make a case that there is anything bad with these obviously.

re: Clawlan's comment on his statement concerning the practice of our hobby being unethical as a bit harsh (I would have to agree). I agree in part, b/c if our hobby is practiced properly it is NOT very stressful at all to the fish (stress itself is just not avoidable, but then the Wild isn't much easier!).

My issue is really that very few of us practice our hobby 'for' the fish, but rather we practice it for 'us' ultimately. As such, there will inherently be conflicts between fish care/treament and our own wants. Just click on any of the Forums and count the many posts on "Can I have this fish in this tank with these fish?", or better yet, "Why did my fish die?", or "Why do the other fish hurass my new fishy?", or "Why wont my fish breed?", etc...... :(

If ethicality was such a paramount concern, no one would get fish w/out knowing everything that there was to know (one of the key aspects of this hobby is the pursuit of this knowledge IMO), and no one would do a Cycle with fish...

P.S. I have enjoyed this discussed and have looked forward to other's inputs and thoughts - Thanks ;)
 
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If ethicality was such a paramount concern, no one would get fish w/out knowing everything that there was to know....
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Can any of us ever know all there is to know? Isn't the fact that you can't simply study for a few weeks and know it all part of the appeal of fish keeping?

Is it safe to say that those who object don't object to the glofish's development for scientific purposes, but rather them subsequently being available for sale to fish keepers?

I think this all boils down to whether or not societies laws/regulations should be geared toward the lowest common denominator, or geared toward personal responsibility. If it's the former, all of fish keeping could be called into question.

Many of the objections to glofish seem to be concerns about the possibility of them finding their way to natural waters. That certainly isn't an environmental concern for these fish exclusively.
 
Ok guys, lets face into some facts:

- people do release unwanted animals into the wild
- our hobby is firstly for our own pleasure, secondly for the care of fish
- hundreds of thousands of fish are 'killed' every year by hobbyists

So, in all honesty we're bad enough as it is, isn't it a disgrace to genetically modify for our own pleasures...we've taken it too far haven't we?

However, before you all jump on my back and beat the hell out of me, heres some other facts:

- endagered species such as Arowana can be preserved in the hobby
- when our knowledge is good we can take care of the fish pretty well, we could argue that perhaps even better than in the wild on some cases
- we all seem to enjoy breeding, so we also create life and all in all it probably balances out eventually

So, when I look at a couple of pros and cons above, I still cant justify in my mind the glo fish...however this probably purely emotive, so convince me its ehtical to propogate glo fish...I'm not arguing about it being unethical...lets look at it the other way (innocent until proven guilty) --> prove to me its ethical?
 
isn't it a disgrace to genetically modify for our own pleasures...we've taken it too far haven't we?
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As was already pointed out, they weren't genetically modified for our pleasure.
The genie was already out of the bottle when they started selling them commercially.
It was done by environmental scientists for the purpose of conducting experiments on pollutants in the environment.
 
lancerland said:
I wasn't considering keeping them, they actually looked really unnaturally to me, They would look really out of place in my tank. But it is good to hear that they aren't suffering like the dyed fish :)
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This i sjust my oppinion, but the yellow glofish look like swimming bananas:rolleyes:
 
nickmcmechan said:
prove to me it would be ethical to do so
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This is not possible. Ethics are neither mathematical nor scientific fact, and therefore can be neither proven nor disproven. They can only be argued...around and around in circles, until you get tired, give up, and start doing tequila shots. I'm partial to Patron, myself. With lime.
 
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