Brazil wishlist

[HaakonH]

Hey guys! So, the news are out: Brazil opens for export of all fish not on the negative list (endangered species) on May 1st. Obviously this is exciting news, not least for retailers and breeders like myself. Surely it may take some time before we can truly enjoy this new reality, especially given the current Covid situation. But also, the export industry in Brazil may need some time to pick up on this, and the fishermen also have to figure out what to collect to create income. Nonetheless, there is now new hope to see some species of fish which have been unavailable finally entering our hobby. So I'm just curious; what would be your most wanted species from Brazil? Which species are on your wishlist?

[bekateen]

Leporacanthicus heterodon, but not till I get a big tank.

[Jools]

Neblinichthys. And all that lives in leaf litter and is brown.

Jools

[MarcW]

Neblinichthys pilosus

does look very cool! I presume it'd just be the males which get the Mohawk?

[Jools]

Neblinichthys pilosus

does look very cool! I presume it'd just be the males which get the Mohawk?

I believe so, and I think they drop them when "being the alpha" is not required rendering them even duller than the most common of common plecos. Which, to my way of thinking, makes them all the more awesome. I have never seen one alive, they've never been exported and, I would guess, quite easy to bred and they don't get too big...

Not sure they're all Brazilian mind you, which would make it a pretty dumb answer to Haakon's question. So I will change my answer to

Conorhynchos

or indeed most cats endemic to the Rio Sao Francisco because it's right up there with the Xingu in my book.

Jools

PS It's not lost on me that this awesome boon for fishkeepers may be more broadly bad news as it's part of Brazil's increasing disregard for its natural resources. That old argument surfaces about that position versus being able to access these fishes and preserve them via captive breeding etc.

CW111

is a good example, this was exported out of Brazil illegally (smuggled in the vernacular), but surely it's DNA is now safe in the tanks of the global hobbyist community. Pick the ethical bones out of that...

[MarcW]

Yes I had noticed the current administration, well at least the person at the top of it, don't appear to be taking conservation seriously.

More of a case of its ours to make money from so why not.

Hopefully any new fisheries developed out of this new opportunity, are treated with respect and well managed rather than decimated for short term gain.

Still as Haakon said we probably aren't likely to see any new exports for a while until the current virus situation changes for the better.

[Jools]

Just by way of an update, I've finally completed the Brazil Negative List page and you can access it via the catalog menus.

Merry Christmas ,


Jools

[TwoTankAmin]

I just want to be sure I am understanding the situation clearly.

First, am I correct in understanding that it is now legal to export any fish from Brazil that is not on the list to which Jools linked above.

Second, if the answer to the above is yes, does this also mean all of the L numbers which have not been formally identified to date are all legal to export?

Third, if the answer to the above is yes then this should mean that any Hypancistrus like L236, L173 etc. are all now legal to remove from Brazil? Of course, it would also mean a lot of other "species" would also fall into this category.

If the answer to the above three questions is basically yes, it seems to me that this will guarantee the extinction of a lot of species. The flow of fish previously banned from export by not being on the approved list are now allowed to be exported uncontrolled.

The expression "stupid is as stupid does" is a play on an earlier idiom, "handsome is as handsome does." In 1862, people first wrote down the latter term. When the film Forrest Gump was released in 1994, the word "stupid is as stupid does" became famous, and it has been extensively used since.

*sigh*

[Jools]

So, yes - to all of the above.

Jools

[yellowcat]

Good news! According to the list regarding pseudopimelodidae, the lophiosilurus alexandri, formerly banned remains so but the fish formerly known as cephalosilurus fowleri, now included in to the genus lophiosilurus as lophiosilurus fowleri may now be exported once again after being banned for something like 14 years or so, nice!

[Captainandy]

Brazil species will become extinct not because of commercial fishing.
Global warming and deforestation will take care of that long before overfishing.
Also, I cannot think of a single ornamental species that become extinct because of the aquarium trade

[Jools]

There are some point examples where species have become endangered by the aquarium trade, but not many. It seems industrialisation/deforestation by an increasing population is always their main threat. Bear in mind also that the negative list covers catching a fish for any reason, not just for the ornamental fish trade.

I come at it from the angle of other human activity which takes fishes exported to the aquarium trade into the bracket that could be critically endangered by their trade? If a species is endangered for whatever reason, should it be caught and exported?



Jools

[Janne]

TwoTankAmin,

The answer are no on all your three questions.

It does not exist any “approved list”, all species that legally can be collected and exported as ornamental fish must be scientifically described and not listed in any state or federal list of species under research/investigations that by precaution are listed as EN (there are other lists than only “livro Vermelho” that are an identification book based on the law “Portaria 445 from 2014”. Species not scientifically described must be in any official collection of university or museum with a reference code, if not they are not allowed, and they need to be accessible here https://www.sibbr.gov.br/
There are also laws regulating species considering as food fish that even the ornamental fish activity must follow.

I would state the opposite, the more species that legally can be exported as ornamental fish will decrease the risk of extinction, you are not aware of the legislations exporters in Brazil need to follow to be able to export any ornamental fish at all, licenses for their activity and facilities, all documents needed to execute an export, registration of all species and qtd to obtain the export permit for each shipment etc.
More species allowed to collect and export decrease the total qtd of export of other species, e.g. If working with 200 species before and today 500 species, the variety offered by an exporter increase but the total quantity are not in proportion. You need also consider the seasonal fluctuations, under 4-6 months the same species cannot be collected, they are natural protected by the yearly rain season which are different in different areas of the Amazon or south of Brazil etc. All species not allowed are of interest of the illegal trade, both domestic as with neighbor countries, that part are uncontrolled and will always be.

Captainandy,

Both Global Warming and deforestation (Soy and cattle) are long term threats, the short term threats are both legal and illegal gold mining that both contaminate and destroy the rivers as we speak, another threat are all the agro toxic’s used in Brazil that poison all living things, in many areas are almost no birds, no insects, no fish. All developing projects like new mines and hydropower dams, both built and will be built, followed by new settlements are speeding up the devastation of the Amazon. Another problem the ornamental fishery are facing under the last 2 years are the high inflation and increased living costs in Brazil, basic food like beans, rice etc. have increased almost 100% (everything from fuel to food have increased 50-100%), costs to collect fish have increased so much that many species have become too expensive, by that many fishermen have abandoned to collect ornamental fish and instead started to work with illegal gold mining as “garimpos”.

Jools,

The negative list does not really cover catching a fish for any reason, locals are allowed to catch for food even species listed in “Livro Vermelho”.

Following species in “Livro Vermelho” are exempted and continue permitted to collect and export as ornamental fish, the argument used are that the ornamental fishery compose no threat for these species, and in fact ornamental fishery are no threat for the majority of all species in Brazil.
Ancistomus snethlageae, Leporacanthicus joselimai, Parancistrus nudiventris, Peckoltia compta, Scobinancistrus aureatus and Scobinancistrus pariolispos

Brazil may not continue using a negative list, IBAMA have just before Christmas published a new suggested regulation/laws for ornamental fishery, private, business and science have to respond before 11th January 2022. If the new suggested regulations and laws are implemented in full, the ornamental fishery in Brazil have no chance to survive and continue and will become a fragment of what it was before, more fishermen will change for a destructive activity, business owners will start with other activities for example cattle or Soy and so on…
https://www.gov.br/ibama/pt-br/assuntos ... o-202-2008

Janne

[TwoTankAmin]

I would state the opposite, the more species that legally can be exported as ornamental fish will decrease the risk of extinction

I do not agree with this. Consider the case of the recent trend in my country to legalize marijuana for recreational use. One would think that this would put a cramp into the illegal marijuana trade. The fact is it has not. All that happened was that the price for the non-legal pot went down to below the price for it in the legal shops. The illegal trade still thrives.

As for the price pressures from higher wages etc. Sooner or later the demand for the fish will result in the prices going higher or the flow of certain fish out of Brazil will simply stop.

From my point of view Brazil is not been having things going well for some time. I see no indication that this will change. Corrupt politicians and big money businesses will insure that as long as they can. They do not care about the people, the land or the rivers.

[Captainandy]

Incorrect analogy. There is a near
Limitless amount of marijuana available

[Janne]

TwoTankAmin,

Not sure how you are thinking, but the amount of fish per species collected and exported is not high, ~90% of all fish collected and exported are from the yearly reproduction, ~95% of the yearly reproduction do not reach maturity and reproductive size by natural causes. Numbers per species collected and exported is counted by thousands except maybe Cardinal tetra that may reach a few million individuals now days. The export of ornamental fish from Brazil have decreased under the last 10-15 years, mainly because of the competition from breeders in other countries, many species from being exported in thousands are now exported in hundreds because of the availability and cheaper prices from breeders in other countries. Fishermen and rural communities are losing income and need to be compensated by permitting new species, if not they will leave a non-destructive activity for a destructive activity for their livelihood, in the whole Amazon lives ~50.000 people depending on ornamental fish collection (fishermen and their families). All new species of higher interest for the market have a short period as profitable for fishermen and exporters, 3 to max 5 years before they are reproduced in other countries and outcompete Brazil on the same species. This is already facts well known, many species have become unfeasible to collect and export. Marijuana you can produce all year around and everywhere in the world, ornamental freshwater fish native to Brazil can only be collected in Brazil, and for the majority of species only under 5-6 months per year, then you can breed them in any other country and outcompete a non-destructive activity that use far less nature resources to collect a fish than a breeder use to breed the same fish. Breeding ornamental fish can be both good and bad, rare and endangered species benefit from breeding as high demand species where the outtake from nature not can sustain to keep the natural population stable, but common species with high natural populations and species of low demand not endangered in nature, breeders are competing directly with people that are depending on a nature resource for their livelihood.

Since I said no to all your three questions, the risk that any endangered or critical endangered species would go extinct caused by ornamental fishery in Brazil are insignificant, by the legal activity.

The illegal trade of species is an impossible task for the Brazilian government to solve, just like it is for US to control the illegal drug traffic, the only way to solve that problem would either be that no one buy any illegal species or illegal drugs, or all species and drugs become legal and under government control.

The legal trade of species are controlled and the authorities receive all information they need, from what species collected and amount by fishermen, who that collected the fish, price paid to fishermen, how many fish and species received by the exporter, how many fish and species exported, average size of the species etc. Ornamental fish exporters have much more regulations, laws and different licenses required then for example agriculture. Even if there are space to “cheat” the risk is high that the exporter lose his license and get the company blocked, with more species permitted the less companies will cheat, the control of the activity in Brazil are fairly good, far better than most other countries that collect and export wild ornamental fish.

The increased costs in Brazil do not stand in proportion either to inflation or the decreased value of the currency. Brazil are a very rich country in nature resources, richer then US but the government and the bad culture by living day by day and where everyone only think on their own pockets, make the country poor except for few very rich people. Under the 15 years I have lived here have the living costs increased +500%, even that inflation official have been around 5-7% yearly, under the last year basic food have increased almost 100% and that only because of the bad government. Poor people in the Amazon can catch their fish for food and collect some food from nature, bushmeat and hunting are increasing since they not have afford to buy meat, bushmeat have also become a fashion among rich people, even that it is forbidden you can find restaurants that serve bushmeat. The ornamental fish activity also face competition from gold, price for gold have increased and fishermen chose between collecting fish or to become a “Garimpo” working with illegal gold mining, this have always been a problem and that is the reason why some species of fish are more expensive, under 2020-2021 approx. 25-30% of all fishermen have abandon ornamental fishery and work with illegal gold mining.

There are many things that regulate the activity of ornamental fishery in Brazil, not only the government, increased costs lower the demands on the market, competition with reproduced fish in other countries, competition with other activities (construction sites for example hydropower, big mining companies where fishermen are offered jobs etc.), devastation of rivers both from the legal and illegal gold mining, agriculture and all agro toxics and of course the seasonal changes that make it impossible to collect same species all year around, there are also periods of “Defesa” (protection) 3-4 months/year in many river basins or states when it is not allowed to collect at all or certain species, that also apply to commercial food fishery. For example Mato Grosso it is not allowed to collect ornamental fish between 1st October to 31st January, in middle Rio Xingu it is not allowed between 15th December to 28th February and there are similar periods over the whole Brazil when it is not allowed.

Brazil have never going well, it is just a little worse the last years because the president made people less afraid to illegally exploit the Amazon incl. protected areas and native reserves. The culture is and have always been to make things simple, take what you can and pay if you need too. Small businesses like Ornamental fishery are much easier to control than large companies with more money, that is why the focus from environmental departments are on the small with low impact instead for the big with huge impacts on nature.

It is not that simple that all species of fish can be taken from nature just like that and no one know nothing, just because they not are listed in the Brazilian endangered list, it don’t work like that at all.

[TwoTankAmin]

@Captainandy

Bit there is not a near limitless supply of marijuana any more than there is a limitless supply of corn or rice or almost anything else. Until marijuana is legalized all over the world, a lot of it never makes it being sold.

@Janne
We can discuss all the regulations, processes etc. involved with the legal export of the fish. But what actually matters the most is how many ornamental fish collected for export actually arrive in tanks not only alive, but also healthy enough to live a reasonable lifespan?

A legally exported fish can be properly house, fed and cared for prior to being packaged and sent out of the country. In fact this a good business practice to do so. The journey and conditions an illegal fish undergoes before it has left the country are a lot different. Such fish must be hidden all the time and this means they will kept in the poorest conditions. Many will die along the way and those that arrive out of the country may be in poor shape.

And what happens when two boxes of fish are going from illegal and legal sources and routes in terms of the risk they will actually end up at their destination? If a box of zebra plecos is found by the Brazilian authorities before it leaves the country, what do they do with the fish? My understanding is the fish are killed. Am I wrong?

Moreover, what happens to the fish if they are stopped and seized by the authorities in the countries to which they were shipped? I cannot figure out what the USA does with a box of zebra plecos it seizes.

The more fish of any of the more pricey species that arrive alive, the fewer of them that are needed to meet the demand fish keepers.

None of this is simple nor easy especially when greed often overrules common sense.

This is from may of 2019.
UN Report: Nature’s Dangerous Decline ‘Unprecedented’; Species Extinction Rates ‘Accelerating’
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopme ... ed-report/

[Janne]

TwoTankAmin,

Yes, exactly the problem with illegal traffic of species and I could add many more issues that follow with the illegal traffic, that is one reason it is necessary to improve the legal activity and the legal activity will not be improved without more and new species to offer.

UN report, I wrote above the threats for species in Brazil, I'm fully aware and work for sustainable use of nature resources, ornamental fishery are no threats in Brazil against freshwater ornamental fish, marine ornamental fishery may have a few problem. If we remove the ornamental fish activity in the amazon, the destruction will increase even faster.

Janne