Endangered species....

[steelhealr]

Hi...if a fish is listed as an endangered species, and it is on sale at your lfs, do you buy? SH

eg, the red line torpedo barb. I've seen it listed on some websites as endangered and it is on sale at my lfs. SH

 

[Dwarfs]

If it was a fish I was looking for and that I could house properly, then I would buy it Then of course I would attempt to breed that fish, if there were enough for sale Extremely endangered fish usually don't pop up for sale often (if at all), and those who do were probably bred in a farm or smuggled from their home

 

[slimecoat]

I am sure I have read of certain wild caught fish being banned from sale because they are endangered, but sales of tank bred were OK.

 

[fishdudein]

I prefer to buy only tank-bred fish. I don't think I have ever seen an endangered fish for sale at my lfs, the guys are pretty good at avoiding such fish. If I were to buy one, that would be advocating the capture of more of these fish from their wild environment, i.e., my money would be going to the person who is breaking the law and harvesting these fish illegally. So, no, I would not knowingly buy a fish that I knew was endangered.
I know that there are people out there who dedicate a portion of their tanks to keep fish that are threatened and/or extinct in the wild. Such as certain varieties of goodeids, whose habitat is being destroyed in Mexico. Instances such as these, it is a good thing to keep endangered fish. But just to have a cool, rare, threatened fish in your living room to show off to your buddies? Not good.