Hawaii harvesting of tropical fish for aquariums approved

[Jamie S]

Although only 8 species would be allowed to be caught, it appears we may see wild caught yellow tangs again.
Hawaii harvesting of tropical fish for aquariums approved | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

 

[NanoJoe]

Nice, would be great to see a drop in price on yellow tangs. Although i have been eyeing up the biota ones. Glad we were able to still figure out how to breed them. Cool stuff.

 

[NJTaxMan]

I actually went to the hidden reef today. Yellow tangs for 149. Wondering if the price breaks are already making their way through the hobby.

 

[Jamie S]

If they get back down to $100 or below I may pick one up

 

[horseplay]

all of a sudden, no one wants a yellow tang anymore

 

[NJTaxMan]

all of a sudden, no one wants a yellow tang anymore

I guess they went from the cheap must have, to the expensive must have to the 'meh' fish

 

[DEL]

*starts making a list of fish to buy* hahahahaha

 

[Salted]

Somehow they just never really did anything for me. Recently got a mimic eibli tang that I’ve been looking for for about a year. Really liking it.

 

[brokereefer]

Seeing a lot of posts recently about relatively cheap yellow tangs. But are those wild caught or the Biota ones? The Biota ones have always been between $100-200 though spiked a little when the Hawaii first went into effect. Yes, it’s great that there’s captive bred option for these fish. But the adult colors for the Biotas tend to be muted compared to adult wild caught yellows. Just know what you’re getting when you jump at that $150 small yellow tang - it’s probably a Biota (at this time) and isn’t really that great a deal.

The most interesting fish for me that’s coming back is the Potter’s Angel. Gorgeous fish, and is relatively reef safe (as much as any pygmy angel is). Now if we can only get Potter’s wrasses, flame wrasses, and Achilles back…

 

[Jamie S]

I agree I don’t think we’re going to see a price drop right away and may never see them as cheap as they were before the ban. My guess it may take at least until the first of the year before the market is flooded enough to see a significant price drop.

 

[Sunny]

This is a good move. We always said leave the Achilles in the ocean - it has such a poor record of survival in captivity. Same goes for Hawaiian Flame wrasse. The most they live is 18 - 24 months.
On the other hand - yellow tangs are hardy and add a lot of character to the tank. It would be good to have them back in the hobby for a reasonable price.

 

[eholceker]

Honestly if a fish is captive bred then I don't see the rationale for allowing wild caught specimens in the trade. If it comes down to cost that I would say stick to freshwater. $150 investment for a fish you should have for 20 years to me is reasonable. If you don't want to spend $150 on a fish because you will kill it with poor caretaking that is your issue. Most of the fish on their list are not just endemic to Hawaii so really in terms of adding species diversity this is a big nothing.