> I think you need to look a little deeper into the problem, Bruce.
> Conservationists and scientists do not want fish once they've reached
> the hobbyist's hands.
Cary makes a number of good points in his post regarding the problems of
aquarists and fish conservation. It's not impossible, but not easy
either. We still have much to learn and your contrast with the zoo folks
would seem to be a pretty good one. Of course, for species extinct in
the wild, aquarists are essentially their only hope for survival. We can
only do the best we can.
A couple of points on NFA's breeding program. They are dealing with long
lived fish some of which some have probably been in captivity for 10 years
or more. (I still have (well, a friend looks after it these days) a
golden perch (my sister calls it lurch!) which has been used in NFA
displays that's been in captivity since march 1988.) It's nice having fish
which you don't need to breed all the time to maintain your stocks. :-)
All the fish in the breeding program are wild, hence, inbreeding over
several generations is not an issue as long as wild broodstock continue to
be available. The fish are released into the wild relatively young, hence
nature has plenty of time to weed out the less successful individuals so
that we don't just end up with "hatchery" quality fish. So, there are
many aquarist issues which NFA can avoid. However, it still needs to
keep careful records of who fertilised who to ensure the same exact
pairings are not used twice if at all possible and which location the fish
came from (Murray R vs Seven Cks) as the two (last I knew) are being kept
seperately (ie, no crosses). Folks should check out the NFA web site,
it's really cool. http://www.nativefish.asn.au
Tootles
Peter J Unmack peter.unmack at asu.edu
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DESERT FISHES RULE: To boldly thrive where no other fish can make it!
Australian desert fishes pages at http://ozdesertfish.base.org (don't
forget to visit the Desert Fishes Council pages too)
Native Fish Australia pages at http://www.nativefish.asn.au
North American Native Fishes Association at http://www.nanfa.org
Aquatic Conservation Network at http://www.acn.ca