ATTENTION TROPICAL FISH LOVERS!

[27k] Colorful tropical marine fish swimming gracefully in a glass aquarium -- so relaxing, so peaceful, so deadly. Most saltwater tropical fish are caught using cyanide poisoning to stun the fish and make them easier to catch. For every saltwater fish that makes it to the collector's home or office aquarium, as many as nine more die and poisonous cyanide residue is left behind to kill other fish, marinelife and living coral. What's more, fish harvested in this way are damaged and weakened, leaving them more susceptible to death in transit, in the aquarium store or with the hobbyist/owner.


In the Philippines, there are approximately 2,500 full-time and part-time fish gatherers who eke out a meager subsistence. Many are being trained to switch back to traditional netting methods, but often the exporters who buy and transport the fish from them also sell them the deadly cyanide. These exporters demand cyanide use to enhance their profits and fisherfolk are indebted to them. REEF RELIEF urges aquarium hobbyists to ask their aquarium fish dealer for net-caught, cyanide-free fish. Or, hold off on purchasing salt-water fish until it can be shown that they are gathered in a sustainable way, without damaging the coral reef ecosystem.

Tell your Congressperson that you support increased enforcement and allocation of the necessary funding for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Customs to test shipments of imported marine aquarium fishes.

Send contributions to support additional training programs to the REEF RELIEF, P.O. Box 430, Key West, FL 33041.

YES, I want to save the coral reefs!