Tropical Fish Trade By Alex Allen

Also know as aquarium keeping The diversity, frequency, and scale of human impacts on coral reefs are increasing to the extent that reefs are threatened globally. Projected increases in carbon dioxide and temperature over the next 50 years exceed the conditions under which coral reefs have flourished over the past half-million years.

However, reefs will change rather than disappear entirely, with some species already showing far greater tolerance to climate change and coral bleaching than others. International integration of management strategies that support reef resilience need to be vigorously implemented, and complemented by strong policy decisions to reduce the rate of global warming.

Coral reefs are critically important for the ecosystem goods and services they provide to maritime tropical and subtropical nations . Yet reefs are in serious decline; an estimated 30% are already severely damaged, and close to 60% may be lost by 2030.

There are no pristine reefs left . Local successes at protecting coral reefs over the past 30 years have failed to reverse regional scale declines, and global management of reefs must undergo a radical change in emphasis and implementation if it is to make a real difference.

The human threats to them now and in the near future, and new directions for research in support of management of these vital natural resources.

Species extermination through this trade alone is scarcely conceivable, but local extinctions may occur, and indirect effects of collection of these fishes include accompanying destruction of the coral-reef habitat, changes in natural ecosystems, and the possibility of successful introduction of exotic species into areas where they did not occur previously (notably, Indo-Pacific species into the Caribbean). Clearly the trade will continue; but the current exploitation is inefficient, and controls must be applied both towards rational utilization of the resource and, as the most accessible and richest reefs are the most heavily exploited, towards a reduction of conflict between different uses of the resource.