I would like to start by saying thank you for this opportunity to share my views on responsible fish selection and acquisition. It is an area that could use a great deal more attention with the ever-changing environmental demands man is placing on nature's resources. James Wiseman's editorial in reefs.org first segment is the inspiration for this article as I try to carry his train of thought over to the marine fish collection process.

I am sure most of you have at least heard that many wild caught fish are captured using a deadly chemical called Sodium Cyanide. The statistics on the damage caused to our oceans is very disturbing and should be in the forefront of every marine aquarist's mind when deciding who will get our business when acquiring marine livestock. One's purchases do make a difference and the law of supply and demand is our most powerful tool in changing the way the marine aquarium trade operates.

The less informed hobbyist may not be aware of the use of sodium cyanide for the collection of marine life and know even less about its effects on the reefs that the fish are originally collected from. The use of cyanide is prevalent throughout Southeast Asia and is known to kill almost half the fish that are exposed to it almost immediately (Johannes and Riepen, 1995)! Its use can be traced as far back as the early 60's and there are sites where coral is dead for hundreds of miles in every direction from some of these original cyanide use sites. Many corals die within a week in the areas where cyanide is used to collect fish. Those corals that do not die immediately usually expel their zooxanthellae and may be permanently inhibited from carrying out normal photosynthesis. Lower cyanide exposure levels only prolong the time before the corals eventually die. What is even scarier is that cyanide concentration levels are even higher in bottles found by collectors fishing for species destined for human consumption! A conservative estimate for cyanide use in the Philippines alone totals more than 150,000kg spread over the coral reefs each year (McAllister, 1988). Needless to say, the effects on the coral reefs and the life that they support are devastating.

The trouble does not stop at the collection site. The long term affects of cyanide use on marine life are numerous and are the cause for high mortality rates during transport (some report numbers greater than 80%) and later in the marine aquarist's display tank. The effects on marine life include, brain damage, muscle damage, spleen damage, liver damage, and the impedance of oxygen metabolism (Dixon and Leduc, 1981). The symptoms can be very elusive and often resemble problems associated with poor acclimation. Some of the symptoms include lack of appetite, malnutrition, disorientation, unstable swimming position, and secondary parasite infestations. What really perplexes some aquarists is that these symptoms do not always manifest themselves immediately. They see the fish eating and swimming normally for weeks and sometimes months before the effects are observed or the fish finally dies.

So whom should we be acquiring our marine aquarium specimens from? The International Marinelife Alliance has been working hard over the last fifteen years to train over 2000 collectors in the Philippines and Indonesia to use nets instead of cyanide to collect marine aquarium and food fish specimens using standards set down by the Marine Aquarium Council in the U.S.A. The IMA is responsible for monitoring and testing to certify that the fish supplied to the aquarium fish trade are cyanide free. Certificates are provided with the shipments to dealers registered with the American Marine Dealers Association here in the U.S. and Canada. To find out where to buy net caught only marine fish, visit the AMDA website. John Tullock is the founder of this organization and all of us should do our part to support his effort to end the use of cyanide in the collection of marine life. They have a complete listing of reef friendly vendors that you should be doing business with. I would like to clarify that AMDA and its role in this effort seems to have changed over the years but should still be a good starting point for those committed to this effort.

There is another organization called EcoVitality that has joined forces with Asian Marine Resource, Inc. in an effort to provide net caught only fish. They have implemented the GoodFish program that sells net caught only fish from a facility in San Jose, California. They are also working in cooperation with the IMA and a network of cyanide testing centers run by CDT Laboratories .

I know what some of you are thinking.

"But I like to see what I am getting when I buy a fish and the LFS is able to provide this service."

I would argue that you are much better off buying a fish sight unseen that you know is net caught than a fish you can look at that you have no idea where or how it was collected. You will be paying a premium for a net caught only fish at first but if all of us make a concerted effort to educate those around us and to practice environmentally responsible fish acquisition, the law of supply and demand will tilt in our favor. The costs will eventually equalize as greedy middlemen experience fewer mortalities and profit from the higher demand for net caught only specimens. The marine aquarist will benefit from fewer fish mortalities caused by poisoning and will gain the satisfaction in knowing they are contributing to the preservation of all marine life.

So the next time you visit your local fish store, ask them if they are an AMDA member and tell them why you will no longer be doing business with them if they are not. Take an active role in saving our ocean resources by using the most powerful tool at your disposal, the mighty dollar. You can make a difference.