Why Wild?

[Delphinus]

I'll take a stab at playing devil's advocate. For me wild-collected wouldn't be an option because of the risks inherent with tagalong pests and that there will be wild variability between colours of how it comes in and what it ends up being .. but to someone who is better positioned to properly quarantine and treat if need be outside of the main collection, that variability could be part of the fun and something unusual can come out. Further, extending the genetic diversity of captive collections is probably not too bad of an idea because if everything were clones of one another, they could all be susceptible to the same stressors. As long the harvesting was done is a sustainable manner. I'm not sure I see a huge difference between wild-collected corals and wild-caught fish. Both can be abused equally the same, yet both can be managed carefully and can be a vehicle of economic stimulus to an area that might not otherwise have much to work with. Yes of course, the argument could be made that these areas could likely do better by going into aquaculture activities instead, but who's to say that this isn't in progress and this collection isn't just an early step in that process? Or whose to say that these aren't "bycatch" of an activity to repopulate one area of a reef which may be damaged and by releasing a percentage of small colonies to be relocated to the general hobbyist market that this isn't how that process is funded? There's a lot to be read behind the word "wild" and as an end consumer I have no idea what the backstory is. Personally I think I will be choosing aquacultured and ">F2 generational" frags from now on anyhow, just owing to that I prefer less unpredictability (where possible) in my tanks these days, but I don't think I object to wild-collected being available - as long that it be done in as benign and sustainable as possible manner.

[Oceanic]

This post was ultimately about the consumer and not aimed at any "vendor(s)" directly. The consumer is who drives the market, and I am guilty of buying wild corals when I first started just like anyone else; however, knowing what I know now I just simply think people should make better decisions when buying anything that comes directly from the wild...

Certain species will almost always be from the wild like most euphyllia type soft corals etc etc. It is the reef building SPS that I am talking about...

Aquaculture whether by the basement enthusiast or business is the future of this hobby, plain and simple.

[Delphinus]

Originally Posted by Oceanic

Aquaculture whether by the basement enthusiast or business is the future of this hobby, plain and simple.

Well said!

[howdy20012002]

i personally would love to see aquaculture in every aspect of this hobby.
however, until that day, where do you think it is going to come from if not the ocean??
there is certainly not enough aquacultured stuff out there to sustain this industry as of yet.
consumer's individual choice and requests for aquacultured stuff and the willingness to pay extra for said stuff will dictate how quickly the aquacultured aspects of this hobby develop.
I would like to say none of us can preach on the holier than thou aspect....the nature of this business really doesn't give us the soap box to do that.
I personally am spending large sums of money currently to set up a few different systems for coral propagation, fish breeding etc...
however, realistically in Canada..the few setups that I am striving to create would be part of a very small small group of hobbyists who are trying to do this. I am not aware of companies who are breeding on any sizeable scale in Canada. Until this happens...the ocean is where we turn.
and consumer beware, aquacultured will cost more money as it is extremely labour intensive
my 2 cents
Neal

[trilinearmipmap]

I think it depends on the coral and the location it is taken from, just like fish.

There are some species and habitats which would be very vulnerable to collection. Other species and locales would withstand some harvesting.

Kind of like our B.C. forests. For me to make a judgement on some guy in Indonesia collecting corals to support his family, is like some European who thinks all of B.C. is raping their forests.

I go with frags from other hobbyists rather than wild collected corals because I am a casual hobbyist and I figure there is less chance of introducing unwanted pests.