The marine ornamental fish trade captures approximately 30 million reef fish annually, with cyanide poisoning, stress during capture and transport, and high post-collection mortality raising significant welfare concerns.
Wild marine ornamental fish experience welfare harms at multiple stages: the acute stress and physiological damage of cyanide exposure during capture, the subsequent transport stress through multiple supply chain stages, and the mortality that culls the majority before surviving animals reach home aquariums. Fish that survive exhibit immune suppression and organ damage from cyanide that manifests as delayed mortality in aquaria. The scale of mortality embedded in the supply chain means that for every fish in a home aquarium, multiple others died to produce that animal. Captive breeding programs that eliminate wild collection and cyanide exposure represent the most significant welfare improvement available for the marine ornamental trade.