Millions of coral reef fish are collected for the aquarium trade annually, with collection and transport methods causing significant welfare impacts on these wild-caught animals.
Wild reef fish collected for aquaria experience acute stress from capture, handling, and transport that causes significant mortality and suffering in survivors. Cyanide stunning, widely used in parts of Southeast Asia, causes immediate injury to gill and liver tissue that results in delayed death in a proportion of surviving fish. Transport conditions including crowding, temperature fluctuation, and reduced oxygen cause stress and immune suppression. Fish that survive transport arrive in weakened condition and may die within weeks from delayed effects of capture stress. The welfare case for captive-bred aquarium fish is clear - they have never experienced wild capture stress, are adapted to captive diets, and typically have lower mortality rates in home aquaria. Consumer choice of captive-bred species directly reduces wild capture welfare impacts.