Also I have never met a fisher who used bleach although one tried to use
menthol but this is to catch invertebrates and not to catch aquarium fish.
Some use derris root [rotenone] but this is to catch food fish and usually
in brackishwater areas.
I am more concerned about the possible effects of fish poisons [quinaldine
and NaCN included] on benthic components of reefs, most important and
obvious, the corals. We have little information save for anecdotes on the
apparent effects. It seems that corals do not immediately die but bleach.
This effects of the poisons may be on the zooxanthellae symbiosis itself.
With regards to the effects of cyanide on reef corals, we have very little
science.
If anyone wants to know more about the effects of cyanide on fishes, there
is a better collection of scientific works here than on invertebrates. You
can check out your nearest aquatic science library.
I believe that we must remember that aquarium fisheries is just like any
other coral reef fisheries in the world. It is a multi-species fishery. In
many cases especially in the Philippines and other developing countries, it
seems to display what Pauly et al. (1989) describe as "Malthusian
Overfishing" or the kind of fishing activity which occurs in a condition of
poverty, declining catches and the lack of alternatives. Fishers initiate
wholesale resource destruction to maintain their incomes. One of the
indicators of this kind of resource overexploitation include 1.use of gears
not sanctioned by the government, 2. use of gears not sanctioned by the
fisherfolk community and 3. use of gears that endanger the fishers such as
explosives and poisons.
Benjamin Vallejo, Jr.
Marine Aquarium Program
Aquarium Science Association of the Philippines, Inc. (ASAP)
Quezon City, Philippines
benval at mnl.sequel.net
----------
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>From: Rjga at aol.com
>Date: Thu, 9 May 1996 09:29:31 -0400
>To: acn-l at pinetree.org
>Subject: Re: Caribbean Fish Collecting (fwd)
>Sender: owner-acn-l at pinetree.org
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>I would like some documentation that quinaldine is damaging to reefs in the
>manner in which it is applied to specific fishes hiding in holes. I've used
>it, and frankly have never found it to be any more abusive than chasing a
>fish into a cluster of stony branching corals. - Bob Goldstein,
919-872-1174
>or RJGA at AOL.COM. As to cyanide collecting, other than the rabid rantings of
>one writer in FAMA, it seems cyanide is a method of collecting food fish,
not
>aquarium fish, so can we please drop that garbage from the discussion? In
the
>Philippines and some other places, bleach and other cheap chemicals work to
>collect fish that sometimes temporarily recover. And frankly, cyanide kills
>or it doesn't; there is no such thing as a chronic effect. The report a
>couple of years ago of damaged intestinal lining was a classic of
>pseudoscience, which ought to be dumped from our discussions too. If you
want
>information on cyanide's effects, look to qualified veterinarians,
>physicians, biochemists, and other qualified scientists, and forget about
the
>work of dummies with stains and no background in pathology.
>
>