Sodium cyanide is often used to harvest tropical fish

[Greg]

Cyanide.
Sodium cyanide is often used to harvest tropical fish for the pet trade in non-lethal doses. Fine. For some fish. Others suffer neurological damage, reproductive harm, and other health problems. This decreases their longevity in captivity as well as the overall health of their ecosystem. It limits biodiversity and contributes to the destruction of the worlds reefs-- nearly 90% of the reefs in the Philippines have been affected by humans. I'm no environmental whack-job, and before you call me out, just know I'm getting the word out just because it feels like the right thing to do; I won't hate you or even care if you ignore this, but I think knowledge is often for the better... I love a good reef tank.
So... Just saying, if you care about this sort of thing, perhaps ask your fish store how they get their fish-- these methods are often illegal yet poorly enforced... There are plenty of healthy tank-raised specimens available as well if you know where to look! I'm sure I don't need to tell you all that.
Thanks for reading, if you did.
Have a great day--

 

[TheCrazyFishLady]

Oh my... that's crazy. It's horrible what humans do to the waters. Like, how the airports dump their wastes into the rivers? And people eat those fish that live in that? Jeeze... it's insane. That's why I'm wanting to go into the chemistry of counteracting or removal of toxic substances in waterways.

 

[Bige]

I have a friend that has visited a pull site. He said they use cyanide and peroxide. I would like to say I only buy captive bred, but you just don't know.

 

[thincat]

Some 3rd world countries have been doing that since the early 60ies.

 

[InfernoST]

It's just plain wrong, thats why I always try to buy tank bred specimens. Thanks for posting the topic, a lot of people are unaware of how these fish are harvested.

 

[cmor1701d]

It's bee a problem for a very long time. A few years back there was a posting on this site asking for donations to a 'net' program for the local fish captors. They were buying nets to be given away free along with instructions on the proper use and ethical treatment of fish. A big part of the program was educating the local population about the destruction of their livelihood by using cyanide capture along with giving them a net, mask snorkel and fins.

I can't find a link to site and have no idea what happened to that effort.

Too often, fish that have been cyanide caught will die within a couple of weeks after being added to your tank.