Reading on Cyanide

[StevenPro]

I am attempting to educate myself further on the cyanide issue and am looking for recommendations for additional reading material. So far, I have read (in no particular order):

"False Alarm on Cyanide?" by Richard Edel from Pet Age March 1982

"Alternatives to Cyanide: Misdirected Uproar on Drug Use" by Dr. Robert Goldstein from Pet Age June 1982

"Effects of cyanide exposure on Dascyllus aruanus, a tropical marine fish species: lethality, anaesthesia and physiological effects" by Hanawa, Harris, Graham, Farrell, and Bendell-Young from Aquarium Sciences and Conservation, 2: 21-34 (1998)

"Histological effects of cyanide, stress and starvation on the intestinal mucosa of Pomacentrus coalestis, a marine aquarium fish species" by Hall and Bellwood from Journal of Fish Biology, 47: 438-454 (1995)

"Scientific Data Concerning the Effects of Cyanide on Marine Fish" by Rubec and Pratt from FAMA 1984

"Cyanide-free net-caught fish for the marine aquarium trade" by Rubec, Cruz, Pratt, Oellers, McCullough, & Lallo from Aquarium Sciences and Conservation 3: 37-51 (2001)

The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Robert Fenner, Chapter 10, pages 165-173

If anyone has anything else they consider a must read on the subject, please let me know. And if you could please keep the rhetoric and arguing that this forum is famous for to a minimum, I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[dizzy]

Don't limit your research to aquarium fish. I found this doing a Google: http://www.tracc.00server.com/Fisheries ... index.html

Cyanide and the

live fish trade







Fishing with cyanide for the live reef fish trade (LFT) is destroying coral reefs across Southeast Asia and the Indo pacific. The LFT exists to supply live, usually large fish, to gourmet markets in Hong Kong, Singapore and other Asian cities.

The trade specifically targets a limited number of high priced seafood species: lobsters (Palinuridae spp.), Humphead Wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus), the Panther Grouper (Cromileptes altivelis) and the Leopard Grouper or Coral Trout, although most adult reef groupers are included.


GROUPERS ARE

ONE OF THE

SPECIFIC TARGETS



WOULD YOU PAY US$225 PER KILO TO EAT FISH POISONED WITH CYANIDE?

The live fish trade fishing boats make long trips to the furthest reefs in Sabah. The fishers are currently concentrating on the Saracen bank and around the islands of Banggi in the far north. However, these locations are very transitory, and once the catch rate declines the fishers move on to other reefs. Areas that had many live fish fishers in 1997 had none in 1999 and the cage farms were empty and deserted.



The emphasis for the trade is on live capture techniques and since handlines do not catch enough fish, cyanide as an anaesthetic has become the standard technique .






CYANIDE FISHING TECHNIQUES
The fishery consists of two types of operations, small-motorised boats which fish on an opportunistic basis in nearshore waters for lobster, sea cucumber and fish, and larger live-aboard boats, which travel over very large distances. Most of these boats are fitted with hookah air compressors allowing diving to greater depths for cyanide fishing or increased exploitation of sea cucumbers living at greater depths.


Local boats in areas with good fish populations search for fish by snorkelling, but most nearshore, shallow reefs around Borneo are so badly overfished and blasted by bomb fishing that there are few - if any - fish big enough to be wanted by the live fish trade. SEA CUCUMBERS

ARE ALSO

EXPLOITED



Boats which supply the live fish trade are equipped with a car tyre air compressor and two long, reinforced hoses for air delivery.



Cyanide fishing companies often supply cyanide fishermen with air compressors for their diving but often neglect to give them instruction in their use. As a result, death or paralysis due to the bends has become widespread.



THE HOOKAH TUBE USED BY CYANIDE FISHERS TO BREATHE UNDERWATER.
The divers use no regulators but allow the air to flow continuously from the open hose into their mouths. There are usually 4-6 divers per boat with rotating shifts of two divers underwater searching the reef throughout the day. Dives usually last 40 minutes to one hour, at depths of up to 50 m, as the divers search for fish.

A suitable live reef fish is chased into a hole in the reef and then all entrances are sprayed with cyanide. In most instances observed, the fish made several attempts to escape, becoming more drugged and disoriented with each application of cyanide. When finally captured, the fish is enclosed in a net to recover and its swim bladder is punctured to allow the gas to expand as it is brought to the surface.


DRUGGED WITH CYANIDE,

THE FISH IS EASILY

CAPTURED IN A NET.


After capture, the fishers store their catches in aquaculture style fish cages until the fish can be sold either to a live fish transport boat or less frequently to an airfreight shipper. In Sabah, the fish are stored in cages in Kudat and Kota Kinabalu bays until they are exported by live fish boats to Singapore or Hong Kong.
The live fish transport boats have large water filled holds to store the fish as they travel between reef areas and the markets of Hong Kong or Singapore. In both Indonesia and Sabah, the LFT transport boat owners generally employ the poorest groups of local fishermen to catch fish for the live fish trade.




During one of our expeditions, fishers were observed using cyanide on two occasions although we could smell the prussic acid on several other occasions. Near Pulau Mabul, a large marbled grouper was squirted with cyanide repeatedly and chased from coral head to coral head for over one hour. At one point, the disoriented fish was floating belly up on the surface next to the fishing boat. Before the two fishers could get into the boat to assist the two small children who were unable to maneouvre the fish into the dip net, the grouper recovered sufficiently to head again for the patch reefs below. Eventually, the grouper escaped into a large coral patch which obviously had several caves or passages since even using multiple doses of cyanide, the fishers did not again succeed in getting the fish out into the open.

 

[dizzy]

double post

 

[Anonymous]

Here's a few good articles to read. I have access to most, if not all. Some are even in .pdf now.

• Robinson, Steve. 1981. Who needs Drug? Confessions of an organic fish collector.
  Freshw. Mar. Aquar. 4(7): 14-18,85-87,90.
  
  Robinson, Steve. 1983. Collecting tropical marines. Journey to the Philippines.
  Freshw. Mar Aquar 6(7): 14-18,77,79,82-84.
  
  Robinson, Steve 1983.2. Collecting tropical marines. Do you believe in magic?
  Freshw. Mar. Aquar 6(8). 12-18,83-88.
  
  Robinson, Steve. 1983.3. Collecting tropical marines. Project Co-operation.
  Freshw. Mar Aquar 6(9): 14-19,86.
  
  Robinson, Steve. 1983.3. Collecting tropical marines. Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
  Freshw. Mar Aquar. 8(10: 29-34,66.
  
  Robinson, Steve. 1984.1. Collecting tropical marines. A call to action.
  Freshw. Mar. Aquar. 7(1): 5-6,93-94.
  
  Robinson, Steve. 1984.2. Collecting tropical marines. Return to the Philippines.
  Freshw. Mar. Aquar. June 1984, 7(6): 11-13, 86-87, 90. About retraining project).
  
  Robinson, Steve. 1984.3. Collecting tropical marines. Return to the reason and common sense.
  Freshw. Mar. Aquar. 7(7): 15-18,68-73
  
  Robinson, Steve. 1984.5. Collecting tropical marines. Breaking ground in the first village.
  Freshw. Mar. Aquar. August 1984. 7(8): 10-15,85,89-92. ( About retraining project).
  
  Robinson, Steve. 1984.6. Collecting tropical marines. Living, working and wining at the village leve. Freshw. Mar. Aquar. 7(10): 72-77.
  
  Robinson, Steve. 1984.6. Collecting tropical marines. “ Philippines photo gallery”, reflections from the Philippines fish collecting reform program experience. Freshw. Mar. Aqur. 7(11): 68-71.
  
  Robinson, Steve. 1984.7. Collecting tropical marines. “ Word games, shallow water nonsense and several foolish notions.” Freshw. Mar. Aquar. 7(12): 75,77-78,80-83,87-88.
  
  Robinson, Steve. 1984.8. The truth about the use of sodium cyanide in Philippine coral reefs. Greenfields 14(12): 40-48.
  
  Robinson, Steve. 1985.1. Collecting tropical marines. An interview with Earl Kennedy: The founding father of the Philippines fish trade speaks out. Part 1. Fresh. Mar. Aquar. 8(2): 80-86.
  
  Robinson, Steve. 1985.2. Collecting tropical marines. An interview with Earl Kennedy: The founding father of the Philippines fish trade speaks out. Part 2. Fresh. Mar. Aquar 8(3): 27-28, 30-31.
  
  Robinson, Steve. 19885.3. The Cyanide debate- one collector argues for net training in the Philippines. The Pet Dealer, July 1985. pp. 44-45, illus. ( Subtitle – if there’s anything out trade does not need, it’s continued supply of cyanide caught fish and bad public relations.)
  
  Robinson, Steve. 1985.4. Fishing with poison. Traffic (U.S.A.) World Wildlife Fund- U.S.
  6(3): 10-11.
  
  Robinson, Steve. 1985.5. A proposal for the marine fish industry converting Philippine cyanide users into netsmen. Greenfields 15(9): 39-45
  
  Robinson, Steve. 1985.6. About corals, fishes, cyanide and collectors. Tropical Fishes. Greenfields. Pp.40-48 ( plus editorial comment, pp. 6-9).
  
  Robinson, Steve. 1987.1. Clownfish. The collecting, handling, and conservation.
  Marine Fish Monthly 2(3): 26,27,32-33,35-36,40-41.
  
  Robinson, Steve. 1987.2. The need for new environmental strategies. Sea Wind1(1): 10-18, 5 fig
  
  Robinson, Steve. 1987.3 Aquino’s coral reef defenders. Sea Wind 1(1): 23-24, 0 fig.
  
  Robinson, Steve. 1987.4. Poverty is no accident. Sea Wind1(4): 19-24, 1 photo.
  
  Robinson, Steve. 1987.5. In defense of the village fisherman. The need for a people-based fishery development policy. Annals of Earth 5(1): 13-15
  
  Robinson, Steve. 1988. In defense of the village fisherman. The need for a people-based fishery development policy. Marine Fish Monthly 3(4): 26-28, 30-31, 0 fig.
  
  Robinson, Steve. 1993. Net caught or not. How do you know? Marine Fish Monthly.
  February, 1993
  
  Robinson, Steve. 1993. Teaching clown trigger fish collectors to use nets in the Philippines.
  FAMA. March, 1993.

 

[PeterIMA]

StevenPro asked for the titles of papers that relate to cyanide fishing. I am attaching a list of papers that I have written concering cyanide and destructive fishing.

Anyone wishing copies of particular papers (don't ask for them all) can request them by contacting me though the PM function on RDO. I have some of the papers as PDF files. Others can be photocopied and mailed to the address you provide.

Sincerely,
Peter J. Rubec

 

[Anonymous]

I can't get that to download Peter. If you send it to me, I'll post it in a list form so you don't need to download it.

 

[PeterIMA]

Papers By Dr. Peter J. Rubec
International Marinelife Alliance

Rubec, P.J. and V.R. Pratt, 1984. Scientific data concerning the effects of cyanide on marine fish. Freshwater and Marine Aquarium 7(5): 4-6, 78-80, 82-86, 90-91.

Rubec, P.J., 1986. The effects of sodium cyanide on coral reefs and marine fish in the Philippines. Pp. 297-302, In: J.L. Maclean, L.B. Dizon, and L.V. Hosillos (eds.), The First Asian Fisheries Forum, Asian Fisheries Society, Manila, Philippines. http://www.petsforum.com/IMA/IMA001.html

McAllister, D.E. and P.J. Rubec, 1986. Aquino government approves program to end cyanide use in the Philippines for the collection of tropical marine fish to preserve coral reefs. (Editorial) Environmental Biology of Fishes, 17(4): 315-319.

Rubec, P.J. 1987a. The effects of sodium cyanide on coral reefs and marine fish in the Philippines. Marine Fish Monthly 2(2): 7-8, 17, 20, 27, 34-35, 39, 44, 46-47, and 2(3): 8-10, 14, 24, 44, 47.
(A longer version of the Fisheries Forum Paper ).

Rubec, P.J. 1987b. History of the I.M.A. Marine Fish Monthly 2(5): 17, 35-36.(S)

Rubec, P.J. 1987c. Cyanide & The First Asian Fisheries Forum - IMA Philippines Visit, Part I. Marine Fish Monthly 2(6): 36, 38-41.

Rubec, P.J. 1987d. Fish capture methods and Philippine coral reefs, IMA Philippines Visit, Part II. Marine Fish Monthly 2(7): 26-31.

Rubec, P.J. 1987e. Export of Philippine marine fish, IMA Visit, Part III. Marine Fish Monthly 2(8):12- 13, 16-18, 20.

Rubec, P.J. 1988. The need for conservation and management of Philippine coral reefs. Environmental Biology of Fishes 23(1-2): 141-154.


Rubec, P.J. 1988. National net-training agreement urged. The Pet Dealer, October: 58, 60, 65. Reprinted: The steps leading to a national net training agreement. Marine Fish Monthly 4(1): 44- 45 (1989)

Rubec, P.J. 1988. Cyanide fishing and the International Marinelife Alliance net-training program. Tropical Coastal Area Management 3(1):11-13. (USAID-ICLARM Coastal Zone mangement program). Reprinted: Marine Fish Monthly 3(10): 41-42 (1988).

Rubec, P.J. 1989. The Marine Aquarium Conference of North America. Marine Fish Monthly 4(9): 43-45.(S) Abridged version reprinted: Een noord-amerikaans zeeaquariumcongres, en het opoleiden van koraalvisvangers. Het Zee-Aquarium 39(11): 212-213 (1989).

Rubec, P.J., 1990. The people behind the net-training program in the Philippines. Marine Fish Monthly 5(8): 31-35.

Rubec, P.J. and R. Soundararajan 1991. Chronic toxic effects of cyanide on tropical marine fish. Pp. 243-251, In: Proceedings of the Seventeenth Annual Toxicity Workshop: 5-7, 1990 Vancouver B.C., Canadian Technical Report Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences No. 1774 (Vol 1).

Rubec, P.J. 1993. Working to end fishing with cyanide. California Coast & Ocean, State Coastal Conservancy 9(3):40-41.

Rubec, P.J. 1997. Testimony to U.S. Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife & Oceans concerning House Resolution 87, Washington, D.C. http://www.house.gov/resource/105cong/f ... .rubec.htm.

Rubec, P.J., F. Cruz, V. Pratt, R. Oellers, and F. Lallo. 2000. Cyanide-free, net-caught fish for the marine aquarium trade. South Pacific Commission, Nomea Cedex, New Caledonia: Live Reef Fish Information Bulletin 7:28-34 (May 2000). http://www.spc.org.nc/coastfish/News/LRF/7/LRF7.pdf

Rubec, P.J., F. Cruz, V. Pratt, R. Oellers, B. McCullough, and F. Lallo. 2001a. Cyanide-free net-caught fish for the marine aquarium trade. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Aquarium Sciences and Conservation 3:37-51.

Rubec, P.J., and J. Palacol. 2001b. Marine Life Alliance. Pp. 134-136, In: C.L. Convis Jr. (ed.), Conservation Geography: Case Studies in GIS, Computer Mapping, and Activism, Environmental Systems Research Institute, ESRI Press, Redlands, California, U.S.A.

Rubec, P.J., V.R. Pratt, and F. Cruz. 2001c. Territorial use rights in fisheries to manage areas for farming coral reef fish and invertebrates for the aquarium trade. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht The Netherlands, Aquarium Sciences and Conservation 3:119-134.

Rubec, P.J. and F. Cruz. 2002. Net-training to CAMP: Community-based programmes that benefit coral reef conservation and the aquarium trade. Ornamental Fish International OFI Journal Issue 40: 12-17 (October Issue).

Rubec, P. J., and J. Palacol. 2002. Farming Coral Reef Invertebrates for Reef Rehabilitation and the Aquarium Trade. Pp. 107-113, In: J. Breman (ed.), Marine Geography, Environmental Systems Research Institute, ESRI Press, Redlands, California, U.S.A.

Cervino, J. M., R. L. Hayes, M. Honovitch, T. J. Goreau, S. Jones, and P. J. Rubec. 2003a. Changes in zooxanthellae density, morphology, and mitotic index in hermatypic corals and anemones exposed to cyanide. Marine Pollution Bulletin 46: 573-586.

Rubec, P.J., V.R. Pratt, B. McCullough, B. Manipula, J. Alban, T. Espero, and E.R. Suplido. 2003b. Trends determined by cyanide testing on marine aquarium fish in the Philippines. Pages 327-340, In: J.C. Cato and C.L. Brown (eds.), Marine Ornamental Species: Collection, Culture & Cultivation, Iowa State Press, Ames, Iowa.

Rubec, P.J., and F.P. Cruz. 2005. Monitoring the chain of custody to reduce delayed mortality of net-caught fish in the aquarium trade. Secretariate of the Pacific Community, Noumea, New Caledonia, Live Reef Fish Information Bulletin 13: 13-23. http://www.spc.inf/coastfish/NEWS/LRF/13/LRF13.pdf

 

[naesco]

Mary Middlebrook had the best compilation of articles on cyanide that I have ever seen.
Can anyone post those sources here?

 

[clarionreef]

Steven,
Whatcha wanna know for?
Ya for it, against it or undecided?

There is too much written and not enough done.
The so called rhetoric comes from strategy differences and the passionate objections to the commercialization of the issue.

Edel and Goldstien are to be remembered 'historically' for early attempts to whitewash the issue and keep people happpy with the staus quo.
The pathology of tissue destruction and metabolic sabatoge from cyanide poisoning is a dry read.
There have been no attempts to claim the harmlessness of cyanide fishing since the Blasiola era when he headed a handpicked fact finding mission for PIJAC to find facts decided upon in the US before the trip.
Now everyones against it and for luke-warm reform.
James Cervino may also help put you to sleep with his histological reseach on the effects of cyanide poisoning in fishes.
For many years Edel, Goldstien and Blasiola tried to claim the there was no proof of the charges against the stuff.
Cervino proved them wrong using their own language.
Have a good time of it.
Steve
In Tonga with former vetern cyanide fisherman who know more about it then appears in all the paper ever produced on the subject. ..but they are not ever consulted and it has not been convenient to mine this resource and it was never done....
.



Steve

 

[Anonymous]

Mary Middlebrook had the best compilation of articles on cyanide that I have ever seen.
Can anyone post those sources here?

There's not much more on the subject, then posted right in this very thread

 

[Anonymous]

http://pubs.wri.org/pubs_pdf.cfm?PubID=3144
http://www.unep.org/PDF/From_Ocean_To_A ... report.pdf


Hey Peter, do you have this one?

Mak, KK., Yanase, H. and R. Renneberg (2005) - Cyanide fishing and cyanide detection in coral reef fish using chemical tests and biosensors. Biosens Bioelectron. 2005 Jun 15;20 (12): 2581-2593

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/p ... p?news=625

 

[PeterIMA]

Gresham,

Yes, I have obtained the paper by Mak et al. (2005). The journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics is published through Elsevier. If you do a search on the web, you can find the journal. For a fee of $30 (payable with a credit card on line) you can obtain the paper.

As previously stated, the IMA has serious concerns about inaccurate statements made in the paper by Mak et al. (2005) about the ASTM method used by the IMA (the CDT). For legal reasons, I am not willing to discuss the paper at this time.

Peter Rubec

 

[PeterIMA]

Steve, You stated that the paper by Cervino et al. (2003) was about cyanide testing in fish. Actually, it was about the effects of cyanide on 8 genera of corals and one sea anemone species.

Peter Rubec

 

[StevenPro]

Steven,
Whatcha wanna know for?

I am considering penning something for one of the online magazines about its usage. My primary focus would be on helping hobbyists avoid suspect specimens.

 

[StevenPro]

Does anyone have any references for where cyanide is currently being used? The Philippines is the obvious big one. I have also read on various places one the internet of its usage spreading to Indonesia, Vietnam, Papau New Guinea, Malaysia, and Fiji. But, I am not sure how much I trust what I read on the web.

 

[Anonymous]

this thread should be stickied and archived

 

[PeterIMA]

The IMA did rapid appraisals throughout SE Asia, the S. Pacific, and various locations in the Indian Ocean. I suggest you obtain a copy of the report by Barber and Pratt titled Sullied Seas.

In any event, all the countries you mentioned except Fiji have cyanide fishing (based on the information gathered by the IMA).

Peter Rubec

 

[Anonymous]

I heard of all those countries, except for Fiji, have usage of cyanide for MO collections.

 

[bookfish]

This thread is now stickied, let's use it for information only and leave o/t and other comments for other threads.
Thx-Jim

 

[clarionreef]

"My primary focus would be on helping hobbyists avoid suspect specimens. "
Steven,
Since there are lots of net cathchers woven into the regions of cyanide use....its getting harder to even arrange this geographically.
For example, the villages East of Singaraja in Bali are netcaught. The divers of Singaraja and to the West of the town have not been influenced as much.
Then, even the worst areas of dope usage, there are lots of clean fishes...especially wrasses, most damsels and tangs [ 'cept hepatus ].
Some areas use kids and teens to collect with it, others don't.
For example, I've seen 15 year old catch sailfin tangs with cyanide off Buhol....in other areas all the sailfins are dope free. And then again, that was in the 80's. How is the same area now?
With that in mind, anecdotal evidence and periodic observation is tentative as its a moving target....and may change with the rise of a good town mayor as in the example of Bolinao Pangasinan.
The mayor there has adopted a zero tolerance policy with regards to the question.
If a single collector gets busted, the whole diver population loses their permits. As of today, no one wants to get blamed for hurting everyone. As of today, Bolinao is pretty clean despite the use of cyanide in a nearby village.
IMO the most valeable info regarding the current picture is from the unsolicited 99% of the stakeholders in the issue, the divers..
I'm taking testimony from them right now...
Steve