A little philosophy...

[Phillyboy]

Was just reading a thread on RC involving statements like these:

"Sadly, those type of people mentioned above keep the LFS' in business. If all hobbyists were as informed and responsible as most of the people who frequent boards such as RC are, you would see out of business signs going up on LFS' across the nation in short order."

and how'bout this...
"any fish store practicing animal longevity and/or educating their customers will be out of business within a short time"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Apalling. The thread really disturbes me and took a HUGE chunk outta my faith in this industry to be a positive force for reef conservation.

More and more it seems , IMHO, that what little positive change there is in this industry is originating from serious hobbyists - relatively small players - and not from the more significant members of the industry...the businesses.

But now i wonder why i'm surprised at all. i mean, look at it:
If you're an LFS owner, and you've got overhead and profit margins dictating your family's quality of life, and those pressures are working against the quality of life of the reef creatures...It's just a bad scenario. At this point it's like your conscience/honesty regulates your sales...;(

I know, iknow...everything's a double edged sword...but right now i see the dark side.

PLEASE! Somebody please help me re-convince myself that everything is all fine and dandy. It can't be this bad..;(

Thoughts anyone?

 

[Scott Clendenin]

hey phillyboy you portland oregon or maine? anyway you need to lighten up a bit. for every one complaint you hear there's ten satisfied customers or is it the other way around? no matter, someone's always gonna be venting.
I dig my LFS.Well at least one of 'em. Scott

 

[pcmankey]

I am wondering how many saltwater tanks in the US (or world for that matter) there really are. If you look at where people are from on reef boards there from all over the country. I have never known a single person who had a saltwater tank. I got into the hobby on my own after years of freshwater tanks. My question is: How much of a dent in reefs and fishes does the hobby make?

 

[Mouse]

not more than 1% of the total commercial fishing catch weight. But that figure is meaningless because the commercial fishers dont catch on reefs, so who's to say. Most importers are restriced by quotas estimated arround conserving renewable resources from designated areas. But then again, a 200 G tank crashing probably causes about as much real damage as one luxury Yaght dropping anchor on the reef. and a single storm, well, if youve ever seen the piles of coral skeletons in Hawaii then you would be amased. I wouldn't worry, but buy responsibly, there are allways certain critters that are just unsuitable, but unfortunately more often than not, very pretty.