I found this thread - and Jeremy's blog - fascinating. As an aspiring planted tank fishkeeper, I find the animal welfare issues far from straightforward. I assumed at first that all/most tropical fish were captive bred, but now realise many are wild caught. In trying to get a handle on this, and other issues of animal welfare (which I increasingly realise were based on my own misconceptions) I went to the obvious, authoritative source - the RSPCA. Was it any use? Not really - its website has some very superficial fish care advice, and that's it.
If I'm to make an informed decision about whether to keep fish (decision made already
), and what fish to keep, then I need information. This site has been fantastic in providing me with info that means I am now confident I can set up a planted tank to provide an excellent home for the right number of the right species of fish, and maintain it in a way that safeguards their welfare to a very high standard.
But what I now need to know is - what happens to the fish between the breeder or their wild source and my tank? What impact does their breeding or capture have on local economies, wild stocks, biodiversity, and so on? How are they transported? I don't buy eggs without some idea of how the chickens have been kept - I certainly don't want to buy live animals without knowing how they're treated before I buy them.THIS is the sort of info I thought the RSPCA would offer - but no chance!
PFK has been extremely useful - my three copies are vey well thumbed! - but surely there is a pressing need for an up-to-date comprehensive and independent source of info that tells me, for instance, that fish species A is wild caught in a manner that protects its local environment, supports threatened ecosystems, underpins important rural livelihoods and is transported humanely, while fish species B is bred intensively in conditions of poor husbandry, with large numbers dying in transit - or not.
The OATA site suggests that it is aware of the issue of poor information about how the ornamental fish industry operates - but is anyone addressing it? How the hell do I get to a position where I can be confident that the fish in MY tank are part of the solution, not part of the problem?
This seems AT LEAST as important as ensuring my FE CO2 system doesn't gas my fish...