USFWS Port of Los Angeles notifying aquarium trade

Know your enemy

On this point I feel it is important to be very clear: NMFS is not your enemy. They have no interest in taking away your ability to keep Percula clownfish or any other [invert or fish] species in aquariums. Rather, they are charged with the task of determining whether or not the risks this species faces in nature are sufficient to afford it protection under the ESA. If indeed Percula clownfish (or any other aquarium species, for that matter) is truly at risk of becoming endangered, or of going extinct in the wild, then itshould be listed under the ESA. Losing this species from the marine aquarium hobby would be extremely regrettable, but that possibility is of trivial importance when compared to the idea of the species being driven to extinction in the wild. Marine aquarists, if they are both honest and ethical, should support good conservation policy, even where it conflicts with their own interests. Having said this, I do not feel that listing A. percula under the ESA is warranted based on the best available science, as I will discuss next time. If you choose to submit testimony regarding this proposed listing, I strongly encourage you to be well informed and respectful. Combative, uniformed, or overly emotional testimony will undermine your argument. It would be an overstatement to suggest that NMFS doesn’t care how marine aquarists and other stakeholders feel about the proposed listing, but a well-reasoned, scientifically valid argument will carry more weight than an emotionally charged, ill-informed one. NMFS wants to get this listing right, and they are requesting testimony from the public to help ensure that they do get it right.

Likewise, the CBD is not your enemy either. From my interactions with employees of the CBD, though limited in scope, I can confidently say that they are acting in good faith. Many coral reefs have been severely degraded around the world over the last few decades, and if declines continue at current rates or if they accelerate (as many scientific projections suggest they will if human stressors are not reduced), then in a few decades there won’t be much left to protect. I disagree with the CBD here on the science, but I strongly agree with their sentiments that effective action is needed to prevent the global collapse of coral reefs—a sentiment I’m sure almost all aquarists also share.

So, if neither of these organizations qualify as enemies of the marine aquarium hobby, who does? As mentioned above, and as I will detail more explicitly next time, climate change, ocean acidification, and our inability thus far to effectively limit these two global stressors are the major threats to coral reef organisms. The real enemies of the marine aquarium hobby are those special interest groups and politicians who argue that these threats don’t exist, or aren’t caused by humans, or we shouldn’t do anything about them anyway. The enemies of the marine aquarium hobby are those folks who are working to prevent effective policy to limit climate change and ocean acidification. Let me be very clear: if we continue with business-as-usual emissions of greenhouse gases (especially carbon dioxide), then within the next few decades almost all coral reefs will be severely damaged, and most will utterly collapse by the end of the century. If we experience the devastating declines which are likely under business-as-usual, then listing the Percula clownfish and a handful of coral species under the ESA is the least of our worries. Under severe reef declines, I would fully expect that many if not most of our favorite aquarium species would be listed as Endangered. This would be effectively the end of the marine aquarium hobby, and could occur within the lifetimes of many readers here. In order to preserve our hobby and the reefs we love, we must take significant and effective action to reduce climate change, ocean acidification, and a variety of local human impacts on coral reefs. A small contingent of very vocal people in the U.S. and other countries are working hard to roadblock and delay the required climate policy solutions. Know your enemy.

Conclusion

With this article I hope that I was able to help you to understand how the Percula clownfish and seven other reef fish species came to be petitioned for listing under the ESA, the process involved in listing a species, and the implications of listing of listing A. percula for the marine aquarium hobby. Next time I will discuss the scientific data relevant to the proposed listing. In particular, I will discuss the science NMFS considered in making their 90-day finding regarding A. percula and the scientific data which I believe suggest that listing of this species is not warranted. It is my hope, particularly if you choose to submit testimony regarding the proposed listing of A. percula under the ESA, that you will come away from these articles with a better informed position and understanding of the factors surrounding this complex issue.