Most ornamental saltwater fish species are caught in the wild because breeding them in captivity can be expensive, difficult, and often impossible. The conditions they need to reproduce are extremely particular and poorly understood, even by scientists and expert breeders who have been trying for years. There have been efforts to reduce some of the most destructive practices, such as cyanide fishing. Let’s say you already cooked your fish, and now you have leftovers.
Fishermen crush the blue or white pellets into a bottle filled with water. The diluted cyanide forms a poisonous mixture fishermen squirt onto coral reefs, where fish usually hide in crevices. The fish become temporarily stunned, allowing fishermen to easily pick or scoop them from the coral. The scientists also took a tissue sample to determine the DNA of the specimen, and determined it to be a giant sunfish – or Mola alexandrini. These sunfish are often confused with ocean sunfish, Mola mola, but their differences were recently clarified.
The answer is tricky—not as tricky as figuring out how long other food lasts in the fridge, such as pinpointing when eggs expire, but still tricky. Millions of fish are caught each year for aquariums around the world. A U.S. law bans the import and sale of fish caught illegally. But that helps little when it’s impossible to tell how the fish was caught. For example, no test exists to provide accurate results on whether a fish has been caught with cyanide, said Mr. Rhyne, the Roger Williams marine biology expert. Many die in transit, weakened by the cyanide – which means even more fish need to be captured to meet demand.
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A U.S. law known as the Lacey Act bans trafficking in fish, wildlife, or plants that were illegally taken, possessed, transported, or sold – according to the laws in the country of origin or sale. That means that any fish caught using cyanide in a country where it’s prohibited would be illegal to import or sell in the U.S. Part of the problem is geography, Ms. Reksodihardjo-Lilley explains.
Breakthroughs don’t come quickly, said Paul Andersen, head of the Coral Reef Aquarium Fisheries Campaign, which works to support sustainable coral reef aquarium fisheries. Some of these canoes come to shore in the ancient port town of Elmina, about 8 miles west of Cape Coast. The boats sometimes arrive with steam rising from them as the slabs of frozen fish begin to thaw. It is nearly impossible to photograph them, as people on the shore are quick to warn against taking any pictures of the illegal trade. Fish populations in the west African country are falling, especially the small pelagic species on which artisanal fishers rely, some of which are being pushed to the point of collapse.
“It requires years of investment, research and development, oftentimes to make incremental steps,” he said. And then even longer, he said, to bring newly captive-bred species to market. The species has now been described by scientists for the first time, and its discovery may yield clues on how fish living in the deepest part of the planet have evolved a lifestyle to fit their extreme environment. Last year, the EU issued Ghana with a “yellow card” for failing to monitor and control Ghanaian-flagged fishing vessels, among other problems. This means it risks being labelled as a “non-cooperating country” in the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. On the beach at Cape Coast, Kwabena Taiwa, 17, is getting ready to take his boat out to the fishing nets.
Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The conservation organisation Hen Mpoano has been working with communities to teach better management methods to help rebuild fisheries. It also lobbies against saiko and pushes for Ghana to address illegal fishing through stronger monitoring and enforcement of laws. They come from families that have fished for generations; their fate is interlinked with the health of the seas. Falling catches mean more nights going to bed hungry – and more children being pulled into the industry, signalling an end to their schooling.
Here’s what you need to know when trying to decide if that fish you want to make for dinner is still safe to eat. Another obstacle to monitoring and regulating the trade is the quick pace that the fish can move from one location to another, making it difficult to trace their origins. “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. Cyanide 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. But the long journey from places like Bali to places like Rhode Island is perilous for the fish and for the reefs they come from.
Some are captured using squirts of cyanide to stun them. The Moorish idol, a black-and-yellow striped fish with a mane-like dorsal fin spine, requires lots of space. Squiggle-striped green mandarins prefer to spawn just before the sun sets, requiring very particular lighting cycles to breed in captivity. As Bowling discovered in Palau, blotched anthias require very specific temperatures.
Rhyne’s research lab—which includes breeding toothy queen triggerfish and red-striped yasha gobies— has been working to share his research with breeders as well. The blotched anthias Bowling bred after the broken air conditioner are listed for $700 on his company’s website. Fish bred by Su also sell for hundreds of dollars online.
Constance Brownlow is a 38-year-old animal expert and entertainer. She has always been fascinated by animals, and she has spent her entire life learning about them. She knows more than most people about the behavior and habits of various creatures, and she loves educating others about them.
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