From James Cervino,
Mary here's one for your Cyanide info web page....
For Immediate Release.
Contact: Kathryn Winiarski-Cervino, xxx.xxx.xxxx
CYANIDE FISHING PROVEN TO KILL CORAL REEFS
New published findings support a ban of the practice and a reform of the hobby aquarium trade
NEW YORK CITY, July 1 - The widespread practice of squirting cyanide into coral reefs to stun and capture ornamental fish causes the large-scale death of corals and anemones, according to a new study in the peer-reviewed journal Marine Pollution Bulletin.
Since the 1960s, fishermen have been using sodium cyanide to capture live reef fish and sell them to the hobbyist aquarium trade as well as to restaurants. The poison stuns the fish, slows their breathing and allows them to be more easily captured. While it has been known for some time that cyanide fishing results in extensive fish mortality, the effect on living coral animals had never been proven.
Lead author James M. Cervino and colleagues exposed eight coral species and one sea anemone species to varying concentrations of cyanide— substantially lesser amounts than used by fish collectors—over varying durations. The exposed coral animals immediately retracted their tentacles and discharged huge quantities of mucus. All of the exposed animals died, while control corals and anemones remained healthy. The mucus that is discharged is filled with zooxanthellae, the microscopic plants that reside within coral tissue and provide corals with brilliant color, a food source, and most of their ability to rapidly grow their limestone skeletons. Without zooxanthellae, corals can die.
Cervino said the findings should be a wake-up call for hobby aquariasts, who are in effect supporting the decimation of Indo-Pacific reefs by purchasing ornamental fish that were likely captured using lethal methods. Some reefs in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Papua New Guinea have been extensively damaged by cyanide-squirting fishermen.
"Given the state of the world's reefs, due to climate change and man-made pollution, it is immoral for us to exploit the last remaining healthy reefs on the planet today," Cervino said.
Those who still want to have gorgeous fish and reef tanks in their homes or offices can do so in an environmentally safe manner, Cervino said. "Consumers should make sure they're purchasing from stores that get their corals and fishes from farm-grown operations," he said.
Healthy and vibrant reefs have corals with lush kaleidoscopic colors and are replete with strikingly beautiful fish residents. But the reefs turn ghostly white and devoid of life after cyanide exposure. Those fish that do survive the cyanide exposure leave the degraded reefs, which are no longer viable food sources. Fishermen then move on to the next reef with cyanide-squirting bottles in hand, leaving countless dead zones in their wake.
Approximately 50 percent of cyanide-exposed aquarium fish die while still on the reef, research has shown. More than 80 percent of the remainder die before they're sold to retailers in North America and Europe, homes of the biggest hobby aquarium industries.
Corals have a symbiotic relationship with zooxanthellae, gaining food and color from these algal plants while providing a safe home within which zooxanthellae can live and photosynthesize. Acropora, the branching coral that is most heavily targeted by cyanide fishermen because it is a favored hiding spot of tiny ornamental fish, proved MOST susceptible to cyanide's lethal effects, Cervino’s research showed. It can take decades for reefs to again become hospitable homes for fish and for zooxanthellae to repopulate corals, he said.
Kathryn Cervino
Associate Director of Communications
The New York Academy of Medicine
1216 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10029
xxx.xxx.xxxx
www.nyam.org
--
*******************************************
James M. Cervino, Ph.D. Candidate
Coral Physiology & Pathology
Marine Sciences Department
University of South Carolina
Mobile: xxx.xxx.xxxx
[email protected]
*******************************************
Mike
Mary here's one for your Cyanide info web page....
For Immediate Release.
Contact: Kathryn Winiarski-Cervino, xxx.xxx.xxxx
CYANIDE FISHING PROVEN TO KILL CORAL REEFS
New published findings support a ban of the practice and a reform of the hobby aquarium trade
NEW YORK CITY, July 1 - The widespread practice of squirting cyanide into coral reefs to stun and capture ornamental fish causes the large-scale death of corals and anemones, according to a new study in the peer-reviewed journal Marine Pollution Bulletin.
Since the 1960s, fishermen have been using sodium cyanide to capture live reef fish and sell them to the hobbyist aquarium trade as well as to restaurants. The poison stuns the fish, slows their breathing and allows them to be more easily captured. While it has been known for some time that cyanide fishing results in extensive fish mortality, the effect on living coral animals had never been proven.
Lead author James M. Cervino and colleagues exposed eight coral species and one sea anemone species to varying concentrations of cyanide— substantially lesser amounts than used by fish collectors—over varying durations. The exposed coral animals immediately retracted their tentacles and discharged huge quantities of mucus. All of the exposed animals died, while control corals and anemones remained healthy. The mucus that is discharged is filled with zooxanthellae, the microscopic plants that reside within coral tissue and provide corals with brilliant color, a food source, and most of their ability to rapidly grow their limestone skeletons. Without zooxanthellae, corals can die.
Cervino said the findings should be a wake-up call for hobby aquariasts, who are in effect supporting the decimation of Indo-Pacific reefs by purchasing ornamental fish that were likely captured using lethal methods. Some reefs in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Papua New Guinea have been extensively damaged by cyanide-squirting fishermen.
"Given the state of the world's reefs, due to climate change and man-made pollution, it is immoral for us to exploit the last remaining healthy reefs on the planet today," Cervino said.
Those who still want to have gorgeous fish and reef tanks in their homes or offices can do so in an environmentally safe manner, Cervino said. "Consumers should make sure they're purchasing from stores that get their corals and fishes from farm-grown operations," he said.
Healthy and vibrant reefs have corals with lush kaleidoscopic colors and are replete with strikingly beautiful fish residents. But the reefs turn ghostly white and devoid of life after cyanide exposure. Those fish that do survive the cyanide exposure leave the degraded reefs, which are no longer viable food sources. Fishermen then move on to the next reef with cyanide-squirting bottles in hand, leaving countless dead zones in their wake.
Approximately 50 percent of cyanide-exposed aquarium fish die while still on the reef, research has shown. More than 80 percent of the remainder die before they're sold to retailers in North America and Europe, homes of the biggest hobby aquarium industries.
Corals have a symbiotic relationship with zooxanthellae, gaining food and color from these algal plants while providing a safe home within which zooxanthellae can live and photosynthesize. Acropora, the branching coral that is most heavily targeted by cyanide fishermen because it is a favored hiding spot of tiny ornamental fish, proved MOST susceptible to cyanide's lethal effects, Cervino’s research showed. It can take decades for reefs to again become hospitable homes for fish and for zooxanthellae to repopulate corals, he said.
Kathryn Cervino
Associate Director of Communications
The New York Academy of Medicine
1216 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10029
xxx.xxx.xxxx
www.nyam.org
--
*******************************************
James M. Cervino, Ph.D. Candidate
Coral Physiology & Pathology
Marine Sciences Department
University of South Carolina
Mobile: xxx.xxx.xxxx
[email protected]
*******************************************
Mike
