Be Fish Friendly!by Aimee Amodio | More from this Blogger 13 Apr 2006 05:23 PM Kiss a fish if you so desire, but that isn't what I mean by being fish friendly. Instead of dishing out salt water smooches, it may be more helpful to the environment to make certain that the fish in your aquarium come from reefs and populations that are ecologically sustainable. Environmentalists are concerned (and rightly so) that the ornamental fish industry has done severe damage to natural reef habitats. Believe it or not, the ornamental fish industry makes approximately two hundred million dollars per year. That's a lot of fish! And a lot of those fish are coming into the United States every year -- approximately eight million saltwater fish are imported annually. Lately, hobbyists and marine-life dealers have joined forces to try to keep the ornamental fish industry more ecologically sustainable -- do less damage to the reefs with marine life removal, and try to pick fish populations that are not already decreasing. Do you buy dolphin-safe tuna? You may want to make sure the fish in your aquarium are certified by the Marine Aquarium Council. A MAC-certified fish has been collected ethically from a population that is not endangered. A MAC-certified fish also has a good survival rate in captivity. The Marine Aquarium Council requires that the ornamental fish industry monitor and document the reefs they use for fish collecting -- it holds fish sellers accountable for sustainability of their reefs. You can learn more about being fish friendly at the Marine Aquarium Council, a nonprofit alliance of hobbyists, conservationists, and public aquariums. And if you are ready to start a fish friendly aquarium, Reef Protection International has a free downloadable guide to help you get started. The guide is divided into Take It Home -- the recommended fish -- and Keep It Wild -- fish to avoid for your home aquarium. Learn more about Aimee Amodio  Aimee is a fiction writer... dog lover... music lover... Relevantpets tags User Comments No comments on this article yet. Be the first to comment! Community Tags aquariums, coral reefs, ornamental fish, reef preservation, saltwater fish Discuss this article
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