Peter Unmack
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 11 Feb 1999 19:51:50 -0500 (EST)
From: Shireen Gonzaga <shireen at clark.net>
Reply-To: nanfa at aquaria.net
To: nanfa at aquaria.net
Subject: NANFA-- endangered native fish in captivity
I'm being chatty today ... :-)
There's something I've always wondered about endangered native fish.
Obviously, habitat restoration is the way to save them. But are there
any efforts, particularly at research institutions, to keep them and
breed them--that is, indefinitely sustain them--in captivity? I'm not
suggesting they should be returned to the wild (tho' tell that to the
American Condor :-), but the idea of keeping a species "alive" in
captivity has a sort of creepy appeal.
Given this question/comment, how do people feel about keeping an
endangered fish going in captivity--I mean, besides having the fish
as a pet, what other value does it hold? Should aquarists be allowed
to do this, and if it is a good idea, do local DNRs issue permits for
this purpose? How does it affect the overall gene pool, and should
there be coordinated breeding programs among breeders to prevent
in-breeding?
I've started thinking about all this because I recently acquired fish
from the Dominican Republic that are in trouble in the wild (it was
legally collected), and I am trying to understand why I was so anxious to
take them in and breed them, and delighted to have that opportunity.
Perhaps it's about guilt, trying to make up for what other humans have
done to their habitat. But that's a selfish reason. It also started me
wondering about our endangered natives...
cheers,
shireen
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shireen Gonzaga, Freelance Science Writer, Baltimore, MD.
Telephone: 410-338-4412 E-mail: shireen at clark.net
/-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
/ This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes Association
/ nanfa at aquaria.net. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get help, send the word
/ subscribe, unsubscribe, or help in the body (not subject) of an email to
/ nanfa-request at aquaria.net. For a digest version, send the command to
/ nanfa-digest-request at aquaria.net instead.
/ For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org