U.S. Wildlife Officials Petitioned to Ban Import, Sale of Banggai Cardinalfish

[UngulateNerd92]

Threatened by Aquarium Trade, Indonesian Fish Has Declined by Up to 90 Percent.

Conservation groups filed a petition today urging the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to ban the import and sale of threatened Banggai cardinalfish from Indonesia.

The Banggai cardinalfish, a coral reef inhabitant known for its bold black bands and white-speckled fins, has seen its numbers plummet by as much as 90 percent since the 1990s, due to decades of overexploitation by the aquarium trade.

“The tragic status of the Banggai cardinalfish is another example of how we are over-exploiting unique marine species to satisfy the aquarium industry,” said Alejandra Goyenechea, senior international counsel at Defenders of Wildlife. “This fish has been targeted for more than 30 years by the American aquarium trade, suffering a staggering loss of 90% of its total population. We urge NMFS to take the lead and grant this fish the vital protections it needs under the Endangered Species Act before we lose the species forever.”

U.S. Wildlife Officials Petitioned to Ban Import, Sale of Banggai Cardinalfish

 

[birdsandbats]

I see these in pet stores all the time. Can they be captive bred?

 

[UngulateNerd92]

I see these in pet stores all the time. Can they be captive bred?

I am not sure, but I would assume so.

 

[Chlidonias]

I see these in pet stores all the time. Can they be captive bred?

They can be, and they are, but the demand far outstrips the output - and wild-caught fish are much cheaper.

There's an article here about the numbers involved in the trade: Plight of the Banggai Cardinalfish | Tropical Fish Hobbyist Magazine

This quote is enlightening:
"Most of the nearly one million fish being exported each year are coming into the United States. Where are all of those individual fish going? Are there half a million new marine tank keepers each year in the U.S. seeking out and purchasing every last fish coming in? Aquarists do report extremely high mortality rates in imported Banggai cardinals. This is in addition to the massive die-offs in transit."

 

[UngulateNerd92]

They can be, and they are, but the demand far outstrips the output - and wild-caught fish are much cheaper.

There's an article here about the numbers involved in the trade: Plight of the Banggai Cardinalfish | Tropical Fish Hobbyist Magazine

This quote is enlightening:
"Most of the nearly one million fish being exported each year are coming into the United States. Where are all of those individual fish going? Are there half a million new marine tank keepers each year in the U.S. seeking out and purchasing every last fish coming in? Aquarists do report extremely high mortality rates in imported Banggai cardinals. This is in addition to the massive die-offs in transit."

Thank you Chlidonias, I appreciate that. How do you think captive breeding could or should be incentivized? I would think through preferential tax treatment or grants for facilities and suppliers that breed them as opossed to catching them in the wild?

 

[Chlidonias]

Thank you Chlidonias, I appreciate that. How do you think captive breeding could or should be incentivized? I would think through preferential tax treatment or grants for facilities and suppliers that breed them as opossed to catching them in the wild?

What they should do is ban their importation into the USA but not the sale of them. Fish are much more difficult to smuggle than reptiles (for example) because of the weight and volume of water in which they need to be transported, so if the importation of them was banned then captive-breeding within the USA would increase to supply the demand. Normally illegal fish are smuggled within shipments of legal fish, but with something as distinctive as Banggai Cardinalfish that would be very difficult and so the attempts would probably be minimal, and the numbers of smuggled fish would certainly be tiny compared to the numbers involved in the current legal trade.

Cardinalfish are generally pretty easy to breed because they are mouth-brooders and the fry are large (hence easier to feed). What would probably happen if importation was banned but the sale of the fish within the USA was still legal, is the price would go up sharply initially which would encourage more people to breed them which would mean more fish are produced and after a time the price would drop right back again.

 

[Great Argus]

Last I heard, the species was actually increasing and has been found at new locations in Indonesia. The endangered status is warranted, given their limited distribution due to their unique mouth brooding behavior.
The species is readily available captive bred by multiple large scale fish breeders, and it is perfectly possible even for home aquarists to breed them. Pricing for captive-bred individuals is largely equivalent to wild-caught, and additionally many retailers are no longer offering wild-caught specimens on a general basis. The aquarium industry has long been well aware of the potential to overfish the species, and much emphasis has been put on breeding the species in captivity since it is fairly straightforward to do so.

 

[Zoovolunteer]

An increasing number of marine aquarium fish (plus marine food fish of course) are being commercially raised, but there are still many species with breeding techniques not fully developed and competition with wild caught fish affects the economic viability. Here is a snapshot of the state of current knowledge and availability: CORAL Magazine’s Captive-Bred Marine Fish Species List for

 

[Great Argus]

An increasing number of marine aquarium fish (plus marine food fish of course) are being commercially raised, but there are still many species with breeding techniques not fully developed and competition with wild caught fish affects the economic viability. Here is a snapshot of the state of current knowledge and availability: CORAL Magazine’s Captive-Bred Marine Fish Species List for

Worth noting this is an slightly older study, the list has increased and I've seen probably at least close to 2/3rds of the total list offered for sale at least once in the last year. I've even personally seen a species or two offered captive-bred that isn't on that list!

 

[Zoovolunteer]

Worth noting this is an slightly older study, the list has increased and I've seen probably at least close to 2/3rds of the total list offered for sale at least once in the last year. I've even personally seen a species or two offered captive-bred that isn't on that list!

That was the most recent list I could find. I think now that methods for culturing various types and sizes of plankton as food for larval marine fish are rapidly being developed we are nearly at a tipping point for moving to a mainly aquacultured source of marine fish and invertebrates - even corals have now been spawned and raised in captivity.

 

[Great Argus]

US officials are looking to ban imports and exports of the endangered Banggai Cardinalfish, a very popular choice for marine aquarists. The very limited range of the species has made it extremely susceptible to overfishing, although fish have been translocated to nearby reefs and reportedly have generally thrived. As the Banggai is a mouthbrooder (rare among marine fish), the species does not widely disperse like most other common aquarium inhabitants do with their pelagic eggs and larvae.

The mouthbrooding has however lent the cardinalfish to being easy to propagate in captivity, and captive-bred specimens are readily available. As long as the trade is allowed to continue for the captive bred stock and the ban is only on importing/distributing wild Banggai, I think this is a good move. The wild population is well documented to be in significant decline, but they breed easily in captivity and are readily available from numerous marine breeders that could keep the species around without contributing to the decline of wild stocks.


US looks to ban imports, exports of a tropical fish threatened by aquarium trade

 

[birdsandbats]

There was talk before about banning keeping the species outright - this is the better move. That would have created a black market trade in these fish, this will increase the rate of captive breeding, which is the correct move for this species IMO.

 

[Great Argus]

There was talk before about banning keeping the species outright - this is the better move. That would have created a black market trade in these fish, this will increase the rate of captive breeding, which is the correct move for this species IMO.

The remark re the captive population was my own, the article doesn't mention anything about the successful captive breeding aspect, so more remains to be seen there. I do agree full banning never fully works - piranhas and snakeheads come to mind. Stingrays are banned from the private trade in here in CA, but I've seen a good handful of them regardless.

The Banggai is well established in terms of captive breeding and indeed is one of the easiest marines to produce - the one drawback being they are less productive than the pelagic spawners. A ban on wild-caught would hopefully promote more effort into breeding them more widely than they already are.

 

[Great Argus]

An very interesting counter-article from the reefing community re this proposed ban.

NOAA’s Proposal to Ban Banggai Cardinals is Instantly Out of Date | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

Apparently the Banggai Cardinal is not in nearly so much threat as the conservation groups are making it out to be. CITES has actually delisted the Banggai off the appendices in 2021 after Indonesia itself provided information that the population is holding, as well as stating there is no need for the species to return to the table for relisting discussion. Indonesia is monitoring Banggai Cardinal catch and exports, has implemented catch quotas, and is actually breeding them and introducing captive-bred stock back to the reefs. The Ornamental Aquatic Trade Association is also satisfied the Banggai is being monitored appropriately.
The writer is also skeptical of the scientist claims of how many die in transport and overall stability as it isn't stated who these scientists are - are they familiar with the aquarium trade and the Banggai? Or is it some random biologists pandering to the groups seeking to ban the trade in aquarium fish?

Having read that, I went over to IUCN and looked at the Banggai - it has not been assessed since 2007 and the cited studies are from 2001-2005; nearly twenty years ago now. Even at that time the studies note any protected populations were increasing and the majority of the population surveyed was older juveniles settling into the reefs. The IUCN also notes the rate of decline is difficult to quantify due to no studies being carried out till several years after harvests began. The species is listed as endangered partly due to its limited and fragmented range with the collection continuing, and partly because it doesn't meet the other criteria; there was insufficient decline data to apply A, and the population was too large to apply C or D. So by most reputable accounts the call for a ban seems to be ill-founded - the species is widely bred in captivity, the species is protected and managed in its home range, and is even having wild populations augmented by captive bred stock.