The vibrant color of the yellow tang adds a depth of beauty to the rainbow of colors on Hawaii’s coral reefs. These fish school, a natural behavior that offers numerous benefits from mating and the search for food to protection against predators.

Their beauty attracts many visitors to snorkel and scuba dive on Hawaii’s living reefs. But it is also the reason why they are the most heavily collected and among the most severely depleted coral reef fish.

Yellow tangs have been captured in limitless numbers from Hawaii’s fragile reefs for decades. Despite the use of nets rather than cyanide, which is widely used elsewhere in fish capture, many yellow tangs don’t survive the trauma of capture and captivity and end up in trash dumpsters.

In January 2010, over 600 yellow tangs, captured for the aquarium trade, were discovered dead in a dumpster in a Hawaii harbor. As outrageous as it was, it’s just a drop in the bucket. An estimated 3%—a minimum of 10 – 20 thousand annually— of all wildlife captured in Hawaii dies before being exported.

The lifespan of coral reef fish is much longer than people may think. For example, many yellow tangs that make it through the initial trials of life will live for decades on a reef and some will even survive over 40 years. In contrast, less than 1% of coral reef wildlife in captivity will survive over a year.

Of newly hatched yellow tangs, 99.9% will become food for other fish as they drift along Hawaii’s offshore waters before settling onto a coral reef. If their chosen reef is one protected from aquarium collecting, they’ll select a spot in a finger coral patch and stay within a few meters of that very spot for many months where they will eat algae, grow and hide from predators.

On this protected reef, an estimated 99% of these young tangs will also be eaten by other fish, which plays an important role in the ocean food web. But a surprising 1% of those who first made it to the reef will survive to be at least 5 to 7 years old, and as an adult fish, will spawn for the first time and contribute to the survival of their species.

As adults they’ll move into shallower areas where they’ll graze on the algae growing on sunlit reefs, keeping everything on the reef in balance. Many of these adults will live for decades on this protected reef

This is the life of a yellow tang in the wild.

But, for those initial open water survivors who happen to choose a reef frequented by aquarium collectors, not only are their days numbered, but the reef will suffer the loss, as well.

They’ll be captured within months, and of those who manage to survive the cumulative stressors of capture and shipping, very few will survive a year in a personal aquarium.

According to experts, next to cyanide related deaths, the highest mortality rates from reef to retail are shipping related and due to stress and starvation. But the mortalities begin with capture and many animals are dying while under the “expert” care of their captors and wholesalers, before they’re ever shipped.

Injuries and stress associated with capture and shipping include:

• Barotrauma, an expanded gas injury to organs and tissues (e.g. swim bladders, brains, eyes) resulting from being surfaced too quickly.
• Organ piercing (known in the trade as “fizzing” or “venting”) used to mitigate barotrauma swim bladder injury at the surface, or underwater for deep water/high dollar value species.
• Unnecessary exposure to air and fin and spine trimming (i.e. cutting tissue, bone and nerves), a practice used by some to avoid the extra packing materials and costs typically used in shipping fish with sharp spines.
• Starvation for 2 – 10 days prior to shipping is used to completely purge the digestive system and facilitate packing and transport in minimal water. This is done solely to reduce freight costs.

For each animal that dies in a personal aquarium, many more are taken from reefs to replace them.  Help us keep the yellow tang and other precious coral reef wildlife in the wild!

Hawaii’s coral reefs are home to beautiful wildlife that people come from all around the world to see. More than 20 percent of the fish on Hawaii’s reefs are found nowhere else on Earth.

Large numbers of fish and other reef wildlife are taken off Hawaii’s reefs by aquarium collectors to supply the global demand for personal aquariums including in homes, restaurants and hotels. Hawaii is the third largest source of aquarium wildlife worldwide and yet the State of Hawai`i, which is responsible for managing this trade, has not been doing its job to protect these fragile ecosystems.

Wildlife capture for personal aquariums is not only degrading the fragile Hawaiian reef ecosystem, but is also identified as a major threat to 18 of these native species.  Help keep fish on the reef! Take action now

Read more about Hawaii’s reef fishes and what we are doing to protect them:

Read more:

Impacts of the Aquarium Trade in Hawaii, Presentation (2016)
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7VLzaDacRvzMGlyalFEQi1kX2M

Evidence of Aquarium Trade Impacts to Hawaii Reefs and Wildlife
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7VLzaDacRvzQXdnZmlhQUdTVkE

Letters from Hawai`i Environmental Agencies on Aquarium Fish Trade (2015)
http://forthefishes.org/wp-content/uploads/OEQC_EC_Letters_and_PR_from_Groups.pdf

South Kohala Reefs in Dire Straits (2013):
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B7VLzaDacRvzLUFlTzVIZGlISGM

Letter from Maui Mayor to Hawaii Governor Urging Statewide Ban on AQ Trade (2011)
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B7VLzaDacRvzLUFlTzVIZGlISGM

Hawaii County Urges Statewide Ban on AQ Trade (2011):
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B7VLzaDacRvzLUFlTzVIZGlISGM

Kauai County Submits Legislation for a Statewide Ban on AQ Trade (2012):
http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/Archives/measure_indiv_Archives.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=1780&year=2012

Hawai`i Wildlife Conservation Strategy Chapter on Marine Fishes (2005)
http://forthefishes.org/wp-content/uploads/DAR_Marine_Species_of_Greatest_Conservation_Need_CWCS.pdf

Hawai`i Audubon Society Video, Impacts of the Aquarium Trade in Hawai`i (2004)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73ubulR9JwQ

Hawaii State of the Reefs Report (1998)
http://forthefishes.org/wp-content/uploads/1998_DLNR_State_of_the_Reefs.pdf

The State of Hawaii is the largest exporter in the United States for reef fish and invertebrates intended for the aquarium trade, and the third largest supplier of aquarium wildlife worldwide. At a reported 600,000 fish a year, the number of wildlife collected from Hawaii’s reefs exceeds, by several times, that from Australia’s Great Barrier Reef — the largest coral reef system in the world, with many more animals and greater biodiversity than Hawaii.

The aquarium fish industry has been largely unregulated in Hawai`i, despite the environmental impact caused by the fishery. Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) is responsible for managing Hawai`i’s marine environment and has a broad conservation mandate to “enhance, protect, conserve, and manage Hawaii’s unique and limited natural, cultural and historical resources.”

The Hawai`i’ Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) is the division within DLNR that issues aquarium collection permits. A limitless number of wildlife can be captured and sold with a permit, and DAR issues these permits in unlimited numbers to anyone who applies and pays the minimal fee.   The aquarium permit holders self-report the number of animals they collect — and DAR admits that there are indications of underreporting.  This self-reporting data is the only source of information the DLNR has to determine how much wildlife is being taken from the reefs for aquaria.

Despite scientific evidence of the negative impacts of the aquarium trade, including from DLNR reports, and efforts by For the Fishes and others to advocate for increased regulations of the collection of reef wildlife, no meaningful actions have been taken to better manage the aquarium trade in Hawai`i.

In 2012, For the Fishes formed a coalition and secured pro bono representation by Earthjustice, the nation’s leading non-profit environmental law firm, to bring a case against the DLNR for violations of the Hawai`i Environmental Policy Act (HEPA).

A successful outcome would require the state to conduct environmental reviews and examine the cumulative damage before granting permits that allow unlimited collection of reef creatures for the aquarium trade. This case has been making its way through the courts and will be argued in front of Hawaii’s Supreme Court in March 2017.

Sign up for updates to find out how the Hawai`i Supreme Court rules

Resources:

Aquarium Fish Suit Taken To State Supreme Court (2016)
http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/33684533/aquarium-fish-suit-taken-to-state-supreme-court

Oral Arguments on Aquarium Trade Case Scheduled for Hawai`i Supreme Court on March 30, 2017
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3vOSD4VqM0jd3JYMDhtckdVVDQ

Hawaii’s aquarium fish industry in deep water over collection controversies (February 15, 2015)
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/tropical-fish-show/

Protecting Hawai`i’s Reef From the Aquarium Trade (2012)
http://earthjustice.org/our_work/cases/2012/protecting-hawai-i-s-reef-ecosystems-from-the-aquarium-trade

Aquarium Collection Complaint (2012)
http://earthjustice.org/sites/default/files/aquarium-trade-complaint.pdf

Citizens and Conservation Groups File Suit to Protect Hawai`i’s Reef Ecosystems (2012)
http://earthjustice.org/news/press/2012/citizens-and-conservation-groups-file-suit-to-protect-hawai-i-s-reef-ecosystems