1000 Flowers for the Planet - #207 Discourage Exotic Fish as Pets

1000 Flowers for the Planet - #207 Discourage Exotic Fish as Pets

Having beautiful things around us is a very human thing to do. We see something that makes our heart sing, we naturally want to look at it all the time. Tropical, exotic or ornamental fish (whatever you want to call them) are usually very beautiful creatures and make magnificent displays when shown off in a large fish tank or aquarium. However, as suggested in Flower #206 about unusual pets, we need to question if keeping fish as pets is purely to make us feel good or because we genuinely believe we are doing the right thing by the fish. As fish usually swim in large oceans I doubt that putting them in a limited environment could be classified as doing the right thing.

Transporting fish is an unpleasant business, if you look at it from the fish’s perspective. Usually they are transferred into plastic bags containing just enough water and limited oxygen, and then jostled about in their tiny space for the length of the journey, which can vary from local to interstate, or even overseas. There are online stores selling tropical fish with guaranteed delivery. This can only mean they use the mail service. Despite constant guarantees on these sites that the fish are provided the utmost care, imagine being a fish parcelled up in a bag of water packed into a box for shipping, then being left on someone’s front porch in the sun waiting for your new owner to come home.

Leave the fish where they survive best – in those parts of the oceans where they have adapted to particular living conditions, where they are part of their own school, can breed naturally and ultimately be part of the food chain.