The "Dark Hobby" - "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this aquarium!"

Comment from
Ron DeVries
Victoria, British Columbia

I am active aquarist and am having a real problem with the views over this whole Dark Hobby story.

I love the Hawaiian Islands and have visited them many times over the past few years. Last year was a real eye opener for me when visiting Maui. Just north of Maalaea Bay, a friend and I did a snorkel trip. Looking down from Honoapiilani Highway above, the reef below looked to be stunning. Upon entering the water, however, we saw a much different scene.

The reef was being choked out by a thick algae within one inch of the coral tips. As we all know, algae is typically caused by to many nutrients in the water column and as we were just north of a major agricultural/tourist/Marina area (Kihei), it stands to reason that the fertilizers and whatever else is getting into the ocean and having a significant impact on the health of the reef.

Perhaps people like Snorkel Bob should point their sharpened sticks in another direction and help clean up the real source of the problem in a lot of these areas: Pollution.

Commentary from
Michael Krupa,
Novice Aquarist

I am somewhat new to the hobby of reef-keeping, although I have kept freshwater and brackish water aquariums in years past. When I recently plunged back into the aquarist hobby, I was amazed at the variety of life forms available for the home aquarium. I remember as a child, the extremely scarce selection of marine fish that were available at the local fish store, and never did I find coral for sale. Today, however, there seems to be no end to the colors, variety, and species of fish, corals, plants, invertebrates, etc., that are not only available for purchase, but are capable of being successfully sustained in an aquarium. After several months of careful research and planning, I began choosing the perfect equipment for the aquarium I wanted to own.

Slowly but surely my aquarium began to come together. First, the live rock cycling and the countless water tests; then on to adding a few invertebrates, followed by even more water tests; and on to adding my first few corals and the smiles it brought when they flourished; and finally on to adding the vibrantly-colored and unendingly active fish. Now, I spend hours in front of my aquarium, where not too long ago, I spent it in front of a television or computer. My aquarium fascinates me, from the beautiful fish all the way down to the copepods and other nearly microscopic critters I can sometimes see running around inside. You see, this wasn’t just slapped together with minimal effort or disregard for consequence, this was well planned and researched in an effort to sustain life. Never once did I plan a “flush & plunk” approach to keeping my tank stocked, as Robert Winter suggests. I care for everything in my aquarium and strive to keep every bit of it alive and healthy.

I am immeasurably impressed and surprised at the amount of life that flourishes in such a small quantity of water, such as that of an aquarium, and I suddenly feel a renewed and deepened respect and consciousness for marine life and the earth in general. I understand Mr. Winter’s concern for sustaining the natural reefs in our oceans, but don’t you think that all the progress made in recent years in the sustainability of marine organisms for the home aquarium has also led to important discoveries and understandings for those organisms in their natural environment? How many PHD’s and marine experts have already responded to Mr. Winter’s attack on this hobby? Don’t you think that the majority of aquarists are nature-lovers who care about the species we keep and that we’re not just playing God in a fish bowl?

We know that the oceans’ temperatures are on the rise (and I hope Mr. Winter will not blame the home aquarist for that) and that coral reefs are in peril, as evidenced by the increasing coral “bleaching.” We know that oil exploration and drilling activities can disrupt the natural balance of a reef system. We know that storm-water sewage systems discharging into a bay or ocean can sweep a myriad of poisons into a marine ecosystem. We know all of these things (and numerous other problems) yet the home aquarist is somehow held solely responsible for everything gone awry in the world’s coral reefs. Mr. Winter, are your concerns focused in the right direction?

I would like to premise my comments by saying that I have grown up around the aquarium industry and have been involved at the wholesale level for the past 20 years, becoming one of the largest and most successful wholesalers in the USA. This has been achieved from hard work, honesty, a strong desire to constantly improve, and a large team of experienced staff.

I was living in Kona, Hawaii operating a tropical fish exporting business during the period of time when the Kona Coast was discussing and ultimately set up the current management program that limits nearly half of the Kona coastline to aquarium fish collection. It's been approximately 13 years since those closures took place, and much monitoring data has been collected by the Department of Aquatic Resources.

In the most recent report of data, it shows that the protected areas are nearly fully saturated with Yellow Tangs, and could be at maximum capacity. The open areas however show a trend of decline in those areas, but in 2009, and 2010 have made a huge recovery which we all have seen with the explosion of small Yellows being found along the coastline. This was a great sign and to some of us, it was not surprising as we have seen this before and understand that the fish populations are cyclical. Many species come and go in a natural manner and as time passes we see declines and rebounds.

This Article by Robert Winters does not come as a surprise as he has been writing negative comments about the industry for as long as I can remember. It amazes me that he goes so far in his accusations that anyone would actually believe a word he says. I love the comment he makes about 2-10 million fish being exported when even the DAR in Kona only estimate 500,000, and I actually contest even those numbers. My estimates are nearly half of that! But without a better tracking system in place, we will continue to question what the real number is.

Recently, I proposed to the DAR that they make a request to the few airlines shipping tropical fish off the Big Island of Hawaii that they make it a requirement that all Tropical Fish shipments turn in a report of species and quantities of fish being sent out in each shipment. A simple solution to a huge question is possible and easily accomplished. How many fish are really being shipped? The answer should be easily obtained, and hopefully this suggestion will take effect in the weeks to come. I know that the answer is only part of the equation as it's more important to know the populations on the reef than to worry about the amount of fish that leave the island, or that die in the process. Once they are off the reef the impact is finalized. Fortunately for us all, Yellow Tangs are one of the hardy species traded in the industry and carry a very high success rate for everyone in the chain.

I have shared my views with the DAR in Hawaii and hope that they will adopt some of the procedures that will help the situation in Hawaii as well as other locations that operate in the Aquarium Trade.

While there are people like Snorkel Bob who complain about the industry, the science clearly shows that this is a sustainable fishery and have over a decade of data to back it up. We all need to put Snorkel Bob's comments into perspective as he makes his living off of the snorkeling tourist industry, even though the areas near beaches, and local harbors are closed to aquarium collecting, he continues to make it a personal agenda to hurt the Aquarium Industry and will go to all lengths to slander the reality of the fishery situation.

I am also saddened to read comments made here, by my fellow competitors that are also not true and go beyond the realm of knowing the actual situation. We all need to stick to the science and make sure we are all working together to ensure the Fishery is being operated in a sustainable manner. All the other rumors and negative comments are just unnecessary rhetoric. All focus should be on the reefs and how our industry can operate for the benefit of all involved.

For the past 10 years or so, I have been on the board of directors for a non-profit group called "Reefcheck" (www.reefcheck.org). This organization has made an effort to monitor and protect coral reefs worldwide, and has worked with the Aquarium Industry to develop a quota based system where monitoring data is calculated, and a quota per fish species is generated to create a sustainable system. I fully support their methods and have dedicated my personal time along with my companies efforts to help make this group successful. I encourage everyone who loves coral reefs to join and support this great organization.

Thanks to Coral magazine to putting the article up for discussion and I appreciate the opportunity to join in on the discussion.

I enjoy collaboration, so anyone interested, please feel free to contact me with questions or comments.

Best regards,

As with all conservation antics initiated the Sea Sheppard Society, this is but another relying on funding from ill-educated investors. Why don't they just get serious and involve international governments to invest in their cause. Mr. Wintner has done his research regarding ornamental fish exports from Hawaii. However,targeting all collectors/exporters deserves little respect. Many Hawaiian collectors work diligently to preserve Hawaii reef fish ecology. Unfortunately, as with any high value exports, black markets are soon to get involved. Reputable wholesalers tend to stay clear of black market purchases as they are not profitable due to collection malpractice. I have a Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse in my 400gal aquarium, he has lived for 15 years in my aquarium, he has a mate, a female from Indonesia, the pair spawn regularly. Also, I have a Yellow Tang that I purchased in 1991. Recently I was involved in a conversation about the proliferation of macro-algae destroying the reefs in Hawaii, the blame was the irresponsible collection of algae feeding fish such as the Yellow Tang, unfortunately, this was again, an arguement based on society's imposition, the calerpa in question was introduced by ill-educated university research. It is up to the government to impose educated control, not the Sea Sheppard Society!