Ornamental fish are one of the most popular pets in the world, with a massive number of thriving hobbyist groups both online and off. The global trade of Ornamental fish, both marine and freshwater is growing rapidly. However, documentation of the production of fish is limited, due to the complexity, origin, number of species, and limited reporting. Despite this, there is a considerable desire to document this production due to Animal welfare, invasive species, and conservation concerns where a lack of information limits stock management, future research and encourages detrimental practices and isolationism between the industry and the scientific community.
This study aimed to document the number of hobbyists who are involved in the production of ornamental fish. A Google forms survey was distributed using the snowball sampling method within Facebook fishkeeping groups and two online forums. A total of 3304 valid responses were collected, representing a 12.7 % response rate.
This study identified that 66.29 % of hobbyists were actively engaged with breeding fish. With another 23.57 % indic ating that they had experienced fish breeding in their aquarium accidentally. There were clear increases in active breeding effort with experience in freshwater hobbyists, increasing from 47.11 % to 97. 75 % of those with over 50-year experience in the hobby. There was less effort on the marine side with only 4.38 % overall actively breeding fish, with no difference in experience groups.
There was a high level of dissatisfaction with vet care from hobbyists with 90.99 % indicating that they felt there was not enough access to vet care for hobbyists. Additionally, a number of respondents highlighted a significant issue in, deformity, microbial issues and egg quality issues within the production of their fish. This number also correlated with 68.8 % indicating that greater access to primary information would benefit their production, with a further 79.8 % indicating they would like to see species guidelines produced similar to aquaculture species.
In conclusion, this study has identified that there is a significant level of ornamental fish production by the hobbyists’ community. Despite any potential for error in the data of this survey, there is significant evidence of meaningful levels of fish production by hobbyists. This effort towards breeding fish appears to be a natural progression for many within the hobby. There appears to be a higher level of effort engaged in the freshwater side of the hobby, than the marine most likely due to the perceived complexity of marine species reproduction. As such it sets a baseline for future engagement with the hobby and identifies that a large number of those in the hobby are also eager for such engagement.