Fish collection methods from oceans, who can you trust?

C

camshaft

AC Members
Mar 16, 2005
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Hey guys,
I know there are different methods of collecting fish from the ocean, and people who don't want to go through the trouble of catching them resort to other cruel ways, such as setting off an explosive and collecting the fish that were stunned but not killed, or poisoning the water and collecting the fish that were sick but not killed and then selling the ones that survived.

I'm just wondering how you can know for certain whether the source you're getting the fish from uses natural catching or another means such as the ones I mentioned.

As a scuba diver and lover of the ocean and its life I hate even thinking about doing such things to fish. I know you could argue the very act of even taking a fish from the ocean even if by hand could be unethical, but I think if you can give them an environment that's large enough, safe, and effectively duplicates their natural environment then it's no longer really an issue.

Thanks guys,
Austin
 
Through the local club, I have run into quite a few people who are working for sustainable collection in one way or another. The answer is that it's currently next to impossible to know how your fish was caught, because there is no system for certifying fish from the collector to the consumer.

One exception is if you "buy American," i.e., collected Florida or Hawaii. Collectors in the States are subject to laws that prevent the use of dynamite and cyanide.

The MAC system may work, some day. There are not any retailers here who subscribe.

For some species, like clowns, dottybacks, gobies, royal grammas and some others, you can get captive reared animals. For some others, you can get fish that were captured as post-larvae and grown out in tanks. Inland Aquatics deals in some, Dr Mac also carries them.
 
mogurnda said:
The MAC system may work, some day. There are not any retailers here who subscribe.
Click to expand...


Short of using a certified retailer you can check to see if the retailer you use orders from a certified wholesaler or importer/exporter.

MAC is still quite new, but is growing pretty rapidly.
 
Thanks guys. It's good to know that there's an organization like them. BTW, wasn't there an article regarding this in the news recently? I never saw it, but my mom mentioned it, and I saw a reference to it online.

Austin
 
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