But not only does cyanide irreversibly poison the fish it's used on, the toxin also damages the ocean environment, killing other marine life. Not all are poisoned, but many are, he said. Marine scientists meeting on Indonesia's tourist island of Bali warned recently that more than a quarter of the world's coral reefs had been destroyed by pollution, global warming and poor fishing practices, including the use of cyanide. They said that unless urgent measures are taken, the remaining coral reefs may be dead within 20 years. Mark Erdman, a San Francisco marine biologist who has long worked in Indonesia, said almost all aquarium-bound fish caught in Indonesia are poisoned.
Fishermen often store the cyanide in cans on the ocean floor to escape detection by authorities.
They then dissolve a cyanide tablet in water in a plastic bottle. The deadly mixture is then squirted at schools of fish living around coral outcrops. Holthus said cyanide is also used widely in the Philippines. Aquarium fish from the two countries account for much of the tropical saltwater fish imported by the United States and Europe, he said. All rights reserved.