New paper out :: Two Decades of In Situ Conservation

Once upon a time we’d sit down and publish new and exciting papers on a (somewhat) regular basis. Sadly that time is long gone, but for good reason, which is the fact we’re far too busy moving fish around the globe.

Regardless, we did find the stamina to compile two decades of in situ conservation efforts powered by our friends from the European Union of Aquarium Curators. Remember we hosted this organization’s annual scientific meeting in Horta last September, correct?

After a couple of years of reviews and chasing data, we finally managed to get this paper published in the Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens and we couldn’t feel prouder of ourselves.

Visit our Literature section to download this and multiple other previous papers.

And, while we’re on the subject, why not read other materials on the role that public aquaria play in ocean conservation, such as this chapter published in 2020 on the Life Below Water, Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Here’s also a presentation given at last year’s Diving Talks covering precisely this delicate subject.

So here’s how we see it:

1. For many decades public aquaria and zoos offered often unsuitable conditions and focused exclusively on displaying wild animals to an ignorant public that couldn’t otherwise see them. On one thing we can all agree: that sad state of affairs needed to change dramatically.
2. And it did… which is why one of the main complains from modern audiences is “We couldn’t see any animals at all”, when referring to modern zoos, that offer superb conditions, often times safer and better than those in the natural world.
3. Consider now that approximately 100 million sharks are slaughtered every year for shark fin soup and meat, not to mention those accidentally killed as bycatch from the swordfish, tuna and other commercial fisheries.
4. Now let’s do some Math: does it make sense to pullout 10 (ok, maybe 20) individuals from the ocean per year and placing them in a HUGE artificial volume (e.g. Sea World Abu Dhabi just opened a 58 million litres exhibit!) with 24/7 veterinarian care and the best husbandry practices that money can buy…
5. …which will help zoological institutions shower hundreds of millions of visitors with an educational message on conservation, climate change, sustainability…
6. …and urging those millions of visitors to VOTE for representatives who actually care about such issues?
7. Does that make sense? In our heads, it most definitely does.

What doesn’t make sense is simply calling for the release of captive animals not having the slightest idea of what tremendous damage that could do to those animals, and those in the environment they are released into.

At the end of the day, this is why we do what we do, and how we do it the way we do.

Public aquaria and zoos have a definite positive impact in ocean conservation, and those who deny it are simply too ignorant to even want to educate themselves on the sbuject.