Cruelty Against Fish?!?!?

[sXeLifer]

Just read an article on fish cruelty and that for every fish that we keep in our tanks, several others die and that in reality we effectively pay for these fish to suffer. What do you all think of this?

 

[Joshwainwright]

It's probably true, there are a huge number of absent minded people out there that know absolutely nothing about aquatics and the nitrogen cycle. Almost every household has has a goldfish in a bowl at one point without a filter and wondered why it has died. Also, think about fairs, they give away goldfish in a bag as a prize, no planning whatsoever has gone in to this therefore the fish are almost always treated badly.

 

[MikeO]

I think this probably relates more to the fish farming industry as a whole - The millions of fish in breeding farms in Germany, Czech Republic etc, where so many die there, then the number that die in transport, then that die on arrival at wholesalers then at the LFS.

It is a sad fact. I dont think anyone is naive enough to think that every single fish survives. But we do take comfort for doing the best we can for the ones which we keep, which is VERY apparent on this forum as people are always upset at losing fish.

I lost three Hongi in the space of four weeks and started questioning everything, beating myself up over it, what was going wrong....turned out it was just bad luck, but we care enough to start those thought processes to try and stop further losses.

As long as people keep fish it will always be a fact. Not a lot that you can do apart from look after your own tank.

 

[FishAreFriendsNotFood10]

on the flip side though.. those of us who keep there tank spotless and are mental about fish (meeee

) will probably keep their fish in better condition and better fed than they normally would

 

[moochy13]

i dont know what the numbers are, but the amount of fish lost in transportation between countries then to shops is high. i was speaking to one of my local lfs owners, during the winter he reduces drastically the amount of fish he orders in because of the fatality rate in the colder weather. not only bad for fish, but bad for his pocket if only 3/4 of his shipment is alive when he gets it. obviously locally bred fish dont suffer this, but if you bear in mind lots of our fish come from abroad, i dont think its unreasonable to expect losses.

whether this is right or not, i dont care. the fittest fish in the box will survive, the weakest will die. means when they get to our shops the crappest fish aren't being sold to us, but your lfs is taking a financial hit.

 

[mattlee]

i would have thought that most fish are killed during transport from where they are caught or bred to countries all over the world. it must be a massive stress for the fish to be sat in a bag inside a poly box on a truck then a plane then another truck then placed inside a foreign tank.

so for every single fish we buy it could have cost the lives of 10 or so others just getting it to our shores. this is why lfs have high prices to cover the amount of DOA's.....

it is a cruel way of getting fish to our shores and in our tanks that not many people would even think of, they just appear in shops by magic.....

its no wonder fish look so stressed when they first arrive. they have not eaten during the journey and not even seen day light and not to mention sat in stagnant water full of their own ammonia etc......... this is why shops shouldnt sell fish until they have been quarentined for 2 weeks to make sure they arent carrying any diseases etc and that they are feeding well. this isnt always the case and i actually was offered a fish in a shop and the assistant told me that they had arrived there that morning

a lot of people will try and source local breeders etc to save the wild fish the journey but its not always possible or easy to find breeders of all fish.

 

[ian]

I think the marine side of the hobby is still the most unethical. Is it still 1 in 20 fish that make to the LFS alive?

 

[Lolly123]

I guess if no one in the world wanted to keep fish as pets, then the demand wouldn't exist and neither would the supply. So in some ways yes, I do feel very responsible for fuelling this. But I don't ever picture a day where the human race will ever stop and think long enough and say 'hold on, is my desire for this causing cruelty, or a detrimental impact on nature' and i'm not just referring to the aquatic hobby. People are so used to getting what they want, when they want, that problems such as the transportation and the ratio of dead fish is rarely ever thought about. Like someone else said, the fish seem to appear by magic and what they have gone through to get to our local LFS couldn't be less important to some.

This topic is one of the reasons why I packed in my marine tank. I'm not implying that tropical fish are any different in regards to how we should care for our inhabitants, but there was something inside that made me feel guilty when I looked at my marine tank. Now, i'm not saying that people who keep marines are wrong, not at all, it was just my personal decision. I don't know why I felt that difference between my marine tank and my tropical, the feeling was just there.

The overall feeling for me, is that, I know my hobby has an impact and that is something that goes through my head more frequently than you might think. I spend hours ensuring that my tank is more than suitable for what I choose to keep. I dedicate lots of my time to give my fish a natural, clean and healthy environment, but i'm not under the illusion that I could ever truly replicate nature.

It is saddening when you sit and think what goes on behind closed doors and I really do curse those people who keep fish but couldn't give a monkeys whether they are thriving or not, those are the people that really make me angry. But I think to myself, even if I were to give up fish keeping, the 20 fish that I have in my tank could be sitting in some 20L overstocked ammonia drenched tank, with an owner who doesn't give a crap. I know that doesn't offset the tragedy that can take place in this hobby, but I can deal with my conscience, for now.

 

[MrNiceGuy]

Just read an article on fish cruelty and that for every fish that we keep in our tanks, several others die and that in reality we effectively pay for these fish to suffer. What do you all think of this?

even though it might not seem so to people on the boards, i'd say about 90% of people that keep fish abuse the hell out of them. most people that come to these boards are either educated or people looking to be educated. most fish keepers don't bother to do research. and then when you weigh in the fact that even most pet stores keep their fish in sub-par conditions, it all seems pretty cruel.

i think myths have a lot to do with this. myths that fish are incredibly unintelligent and myths that fish bowls are adequate... things like that.

 

[Lolly123]

Just read an article on fish cruelty and that for every fish that we keep in our tanks, several others die and that in reality we effectively pay for these fish to suffer. What do you all think of this?

even though it might not seem so to people on the boards, i'd say about 90% of people that keep fish abuse the hell out of them. most people that come to these boards are either educated or people looking to be educated. most fish keepers don't bother to do research. and then when you weigh in the fact that even most pet stores keep their fish in sub-par conditions, it all seems pretty cruel.

i think myths have a lot to do with this. myths that fish are incredibly unintelligent and myths that fish bowls are adequate... things like that.

From what i've seen and heard in LFS when people are buying fish... I have to admit, it takes all my might not to turn around and tell some of them to go #29### off. There are those genuine ones who are truly confused and with some guidance could become very good fish keepers, but the majority i've seen couldn't care less if their tank is too small or if the fish are incompatible etc etc.

I feel sorry for goldfish what with the amount of people chucking them in a bowl and then leaving to swim around in their own crap, like you mentioned at the bottom of your post.