Saw a tiny Sailfin Tang at LFS last night

[Van down by the river]

Hello Bob,
The Tang you saw was most likely a captive raised tang. They are collected from the plankton and raised in an aquaculture facility. It's the closest thing to captive bred for some species that are still beyond captive propagation. It is a far more environmentally sound collection method as lighted plankton traps are used and their is no damage to the reefs.

Millions of these small planktonic fish will settle out of the plankton onto the reef each night. Of these fish only a few survive to adulthood to reproduce. Which is why taking large adult fish from the wild is the least ethical choice. The earlier in the lifecycle fish can be harvested, the less impact it has on adult broodstock.

According to the collectors these traps collect about 1000 fish per night, which is less than 0.05% of the estimated 2 Million larvae that settle on the reef each night. No drugs,no damage to the reef, minimal ecological impact.
The fish are then grown out in a aquaculture facility on commercially available foods (They will eat brine, pellet, and mysis almost out of the bag). As the fish are young you also get the maximum life span and health out of the fish. Some species that become specialist feeders after settling on the reef will eat captive type foods. Other fish that ship and acclimate poorly for larger adults are quite hardy when acquired in this manner.

The price should be comparable, or only slightly higher. A small price to pay for doing the right thing. These fish are also a safer bet than a wild fish, hardier and healthier. Some species are sometimes cheaper and as this industry grows prices may drop. I strongly encourage hobbyists to vote with your wallet, species that are now available captive bred or captive raised should no longer be purchased from the wild.

Not to mention, these are the ONLY fish that can be 100% guaranteed
"net caught".

maybe they're running out of fish out there. Or maybe the young ones are just dumber and easier to catch. -Quinn

Yes, overfishing is an issue and certainly some fish are not as regularly available in the size and ease they once were. But that's not why these guys are so small.

To be fair, most of what you're paying is the transportation costs, and other overhead. Which is going to be the roughly same for a 14" fish or a 1" fish coming from the same place on the planet.-Tony

Yes, to some degree, but a 14" fish would probably take 1/2 to all of a box and certainly have a higher shipping cost attached to it. Not to mention a higher importation risk as if it dies during transit allot more $ is lost and requires many 1" fish to make up for it.

The box of fish is a flat rate to ship, so the more fish in the box, the cheaper each fish is.-Brad

Not true at all, weight is the shipping factor. Hence a balance between bag size, fish size, water level, oxygen, and packing are always being adjusted as to maximize fish survival and health while having the most fish and least amount of water(weight) possible. There are other factors but these are the most important.

the cost of shipping is still I bet the major bottleneck.- Tony

Yes

I got a Large Yellow tang there once and it was $49 (This was the nicest biggest tang I have ever seen in an LFS it was almost the size of my hand, and other places i was at the same day (I was looking specifically for tangs) had smaller ones for more money.-Discuz

So many factors, same fish from different suppliers can be different prices. Different origins/airlines will have different shipping rates. Not to mention different stores with different overhead and pricing strategies.

There you go Quinn haha, I maybe only post once for every 50 of yours, but they are nice long rants!