So many of the stores do not want to take locally bred fish, some for disease reasons.
Love of the hobby does not pay the bills.
Read this on a news feed earlier and it is deeply disturbing to see that many dead fish. It could be a disease that killed them.
There is a wonderful captive breeding program for yellow Tangs in Hawaii.
We are all partially to blame for not trying harder to obtain locally /captive raised /responsibly sourced species. It would be a rare person who has never purchased a wild caught aquarium inhabitant. Has everyone even ever THOUGHT about where the fish come from and how they get to you?
It makes me glad to do less damage and make more caring responsible decisions in my life even if they are seemingly small like buying a fish. The more I read and know about bad behaviors the more I want to support good ones.
So from this moment forward let's all who read this make a point to ASK the lfs for locally raised/captive bred AND even some sustainably caught tank critters see info below, and try to find a responsible source for them.
FW fish too are poisoned and also shocked in order that people can capture them to sell.
One thing see below, is the way some people are being taught how to protect fish and habitat and be able to create sustainable harvests of wildlife.
Buy A (Wild) Fish - Save A Tree - Microcosm Aquarium Explorer
Get connected with the local/regional fish clubs and Aquarium Societies and learn and share knowledge with others in your areas, raise and buy fish from local sources. There are so many more people doing this than one might think, raising a kind of fish you might want to keep.
Another connection is
CARES Fish Preservation Program | The CARES Preservation Program is about fish and it is about people I personally know lots of people who raise fish on this list and are in some way connected with them. I personally haven't vetted them, so do that yourself. But they do list species which need help. Maybe you are some one who would enjoy doing that.
