I'm not sure if what I am about to say would be considered irrepsonsible or not, but these are some thoughts I have on the matter of anemones (and corals in general).
There are some very valid arguments why hobbyists shouldn't be keeping certain species like goniopora, dendronepthya, etc. (or any corals, for that matter). Likewise, I believe there are some strong arguments that support an ethically and responsibly-run reef industry that includes the importation of these same animals.
It is undoubtedly true that most anemones end up dying within a year of their purchase. I worked at an LFS and we would sell many, many anemones and often to the same customers. Almost everyone I know in the hobby has lost an anemone or two (or more). There clearly are some species which do poorly and some that do well. Does the fact that anemones are short-lived in captivity, by itself, mean we shouldn't be keeping them? I don't think so.
Corals, sponges, gorgonians, anemones, etc. are not the same as dogs and cats or even brittle starfish. I don't think we necessarily have an ethical responsibility to guarantee these animals a long life in captivity like we would a goldfish. I think a dog or hermit crab owner does have an ethical responsiblity to ensure the animal leads a "long and happy life". Corals and anemones are like cactus and tulips. They are pretty to look at but they don't have feelings and they don't suffer the way a higher vertebrate would.
If Entacmaea quadricolor were captive reared in greenhouses by the millions, who cares if thousands of them die in hobbyist's tanks each year. There isn't any environmental impact and people get pretty decorations for their homes. I know a lot of people who have an amazing ability to kill houseplants. I wouldn't consider these people to be unethical human beings.
But everything above is basically moot since these animals are not captive bred (for the most part) and we are probably not harvesting them from the wild in a sustainable manner. Let me backpedal a bit and make it clear that I do think hobbyists have an ethical responsibility to keep animals alive if their collection/sale has a negative impact on the natural environment. I don't know too much about anemone collection, but I would hazard to guess that we are collecting the more popular species at an unsustainable rate/
Like I said at the beginning of the post, it might be irresponsible to say these things because it is practically impossible to separate all these issues. So if nothing else just some "food for though". Let me state for the record that at least 75% of my livestock is captive reared and that there are many invert species I wish would be left in the ocean. I do have a quadricolor, and it has split on two occasions!
