Tour of the Sea Horse farm in Kona
- Thread starter LioKai
- Start date
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thanks for the translation 
OP
Good question. BTW, what do you mean when you say "not really a pet store"?chepar:
chepar
Contributor
LioKai:
Meaning that they sell things meant only for aquariums. I guess people with aquariums would consider the fish pets - but I was trying to draw a distinctionn between a store that sells pets of both the furry and aquatic variety vs. this store, which specializes in and sells only the aquatic variety.
A pretty good variety, BTW - a good selection of reef fish besides the seahorses. In the same vein as the sea horse farm, I wonder if there are operations that breed these reef fish. Otherwise I suppose they've got someone taking them off the reefs.
I've also previously seen seahorses for sale at a shop or two. Until now, I only knew of clownfish being raised for the aquarium trade. Places like the the Oceanic Institute also breed moi, mahimahi, shrimp, and some other foodfish for commercial farms to raise to maturity.
I'm divided over the sale of fish for aquariums whether farmed or taken wild. On one hand, it's great to introduce people to such animals and maybe get them interested and involved. On the other, there's the problems of overharvesting from the wild and what to do when the animals can no longer be kept. When I had aquariums, I would only use local fish so that releasing them back would be no problem. I used only handnets to catch them (except once with a bucket while out on a dinner date with my future wife but that's another story); no barrier nets, traps, drugs (illegal here), slurp guns (which don't work all that well anyway) and was very selective, taking only fish that I knew were compatible, hardy, and adaptable enough to thrive in an aquarium.
It sounds like OceanRider's marketing strategy strikes a good balance.
I'm divided over the sale of fish for aquariums whether farmed or taken wild. On one hand, it's great to introduce people to such animals and maybe get them interested and involved. On the other, there's the problems of overharvesting from the wild and what to do when the animals can no longer be kept. When I had aquariums, I would only use local fish so that releasing them back would be no problem. I used only handnets to catch them (except once with a bucket while out on a dinner date with my future wife but that's another story); no barrier nets, traps, drugs (illegal here), slurp guns (which don't work all that well anyway) and was very selective, taking only fish that I knew were compatible, hardy, and adaptable enough to thrive in an aquarium.
It sounds like OceanRider's marketing strategy strikes a good balance.
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