guppymonkey
Fish Herder
Working with all sorts of animals I have had a lot of experience with breeders groups and have started to wonder. Why isn't there a private fish breeders association? There are tons of private breeders (from the accidental livebearers to the intentional breeding) and there isn't any type of organization. For dogs there are probably thousands of groups but for fish the groups are usually confined to either national organizations like the ACA (American Cichlid Association) or ALA (American Livebearer Association). While these groups do have shows and they don't seem to promote buying from private breeders the way dog shows do. The reasoning would be the same. Large dog breeders commonly use horrible conditions to breed dogs and many are injured and abused. The same is true for many large fish breeders. The outbreaks of fish herpes in southeast asia are an example of poor breeding conditions. I don't know how many fish I have seen in pet stores that are malnourished, deformed or have inherited malformations. Fish keeping needs an advocacy group for Private Fish Breeders! Do you think the lack is because of disinterest and disorganization or possibly because the major companies try to discourage this?
