Current techniques used to capture fish for the aquarium market, including use of explosives and poisons, can severely damage coral reefs.
Coral reefs are rich ecosystems that are home to thousands of plant and animal species.
They are breeding grounds for many economically important fish, which makes them just as important to the world food supply as the rich farmlands of the American Middle West. The underwater beauty of the reefs, with their exotic looking sea plants and jewel-toned fish, has made reefs an important resource to the tourism and travel industries. Coral reefs are suffering worldwide from coral bleaching, sedimentation and pollution from shoreline development. Losses from these causes are very serious. The harvest of food fish and aquarium fish adds further damage to coral reefs.