Are Aquariums Getting Too Lifelike?
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On the reefs in the Florida Keys, plenty of snorkelers and scuba divers take in the sights, and others fish with spear guns for sport. But a small third group collects blue-legged hermit crabs, peppermint shrimp and other invertebrates, not for food or fun, but for the aquarium trade.
There are an estimated 700,000 saltwater home aquariums in the United States, and tropical fish with a bit of rock and a plastic Diver Dan are no longer enough to satisfy the keepers of many of these miniature oceans. The fish are still there, but as technology and technique have improved, the aquariums are now often small-scale reef ecosystems, with living coral and "live" rock brimming with anemones, shrimp, sea urchins, crabs and snails.
The result has been a growing market for these and other reef invertebrates, many of which are supplied by about 165 licensed collectors in Florida. Those involved in the Florida fishery, which is concentrated in the Keys, say that it is sustainable and more closely managed than many others, with no new licenses permitted and daily limits on many species.
But scientists argue that the collecting poses a threat to the very ecosystems aquarium hobbyists aim to replicate. Aside from the long-recognized ecological impact of the trade in live coral itself, these researchers say the demand for invertebrates -- creatures that often serve the same cleaning and pest-control roles in a tank that they do in nature -- is such that the fishery may be unsustainable.
"We may be increasing the catch up to a point where you push something over the edge," said Andrew Rhyne, a marine biologist with Roger Williams University and the New England Aquarium who has studied the Florida invertebrate fishery. "The question is, where is that edge?"
If a species is overharvested to the point where its numbers decline dramatically, Dr. Rhyne and others say, there can be a cascading effect in the ecosystem. Without invertebrate grazers and herbivores, for example, a reef may be overrun with algae.
First Published March 23, 2010 2:00 am
