Marine life in captivity

[YCW]

Do you think marine life should be kept in captivity?

Thanks to Nemo again, most of the local aquarium shops now have switch to selling more marine fishes than fresh water fishes. Is that a good sign?

Believe it or not, my first mandarin fish encounter was at a local aquarium shop.

I still believe marine life belongs to the ocean.

 

[RugbyTex]

I think the answer to your question partially depends on what catagory of marine life we are talking about. Just the fish? Marine mammals?
I also noticed a lot of pet stores with clown fish and other species of tropicals after Nemo was released. However, I can't say I noticed any animals that were out of the ordinary; most places seemed to just carry more of everything that they usually only had one or two of.
There are a lot of instances where keeping marine life in captivity has helped research, has allowed for the rehabilitation of sick animals, has allowed species to breed in safety and increase their numbers, etc.

 

[glbirch]

Do you think marine life should be kept in captivity?

Thanks to Nemo again, most of the local aquarium shops now have switch to selling more marine fishes than fresh water fishes. Is that a good sign?

Believe it or not, my first mandarin fish encounter was at a local aquarium shop.

I still believe marine life belongs to the ocean.

If you are talking about aquarium sized fish, I would say my concern is with the methods used to capture them on the reefs.

 

[bcsean]

glbirch hit it right on the head. the methods used to capture tropical fish are horrible and extremely damaging to the habitat.

Having marine animals in captivity is actually a good thing if you're talking about aquariums. They're amazing for one, but people seeing them get a better understanding of what the ocean holds. Also, people who keep them realize how finicky it can be to keep the water conditions properly so things stay alive.

This realization should help people to respect the oceans more in theory.

 

[Pelagic Hero]

I see no huge problem with it. Especially if the organisms were bred in captivity. Usually they aren't though...

But man it's a pain in the ass keeping that hooded seal in my 40 gal tank...

 

[808statediver]

so a follow up to that would be: What do you think about aquariums? Not home types but the public aquariums.

 

[Pierre Siquet]

Well, majority of sea creatures cannot be bred in captivity. So, they have to be taken out of the nature. If people can proove that it does not affect the nature, then I would approve.
Note that now, there is a new way of collecting. Breeders get their fresh "off springs" collected, where in nature, a very low percentage has a chance to survive and breed again. These early borns are then collected in grown up in conditions where a majority can survive. This I feel is acceptable.

 

[StingRob]

Like with the shark feeding I can see the fun, educational part and the whole thing but the answer would be NO. Wild life belongs to the ocean.
Take only pictures and leave only bubbles that’s we all should do that’s what we all been taught when we learned scuba diving.

Safe Diving

 

[Firediver]

Alot of the marine life in aquariums in your local pet store are bred in captivity, raised and sold in the pet stores.. they aren't taken directly from the ocean. But of course they used to be taken from the ocean.........

 

[PRL]

Well, I have been keeping a saltwater aquarium for several years and dont see any problems with it.
One thing I did learn is how delicate is the balance of our oceans.
By the same token we can not forget that a great amount of scientific knowledge and know how was geathered by amatour aquarium hobbyists whitch in the long run will help us to preserve our oceans.