The tropical fish trade has a deadly secret. Each year up to 90 percent of the 12.5 million tropical fish entering the United States as pets are caught illegally using cyanide poison.
The process is as horrific as you imagine -- divers in countries like Indonesia and the Philippines squirt deadly liquid cyanide directly onto coral reefs. The poison wreaks havoc on the environment, killing coral and as much as 75 percent of the nearby fish population on contact. The dead fish are left floating along ruined reefs, while the stunned survivors are collected and shipped to the United States to be sold for aquariums. As much as 500 metric tons of cyanide are dumped annually on reefs in the Philippines alone. The damage done is incalculable.
It must stop.
Take action -- urge federal authorities to use their power under the Lacey Act to halt illegal imports and help end this outrageous practice.
Dear Director Ashe,
I'm writing to urge you to take immediate action to protect imperiled coral reefs and the thousands of marine species that depend on them for survival by using your authority under the Lacey Act to halt the illegal importation into the United States of tropical fish caught using cyanide.
As you well know, "fishing" with cyanide is common in countries that supply the U.S. market for tropical aquarium fish. This horrific practice entails squirting deadly cyanide poison directly onto sensitive coral reefs, killing as much as 75 percent of all nearby fish on contact and leaving the stunned survivors to be collected and shipped to the United States for the pet trade.
Cyanide fishing is ecologically destructive, cruel, indiscriminate and all too common. Up to 90 percent of the 12.5 million tropical fish entering the United States as pets each year are caught illegally using cyanide poison, and as much as 500 metric tons of cyanide are dumped on coral reefs in the Philippines each year alone.
[Your comment will be added here]
Healthy coral reefs support a multitude of marine species and are critical to maintaining healthy ocean ecosystems, yet they are threatened by climate change, pollution, shipping and cyanide fishing.
Please take action to curb this deadly, destructive practice and protect coral reefs and healthy oceans by using your authority under the Lacey Act to immediately halt the import of fish illegally caught using cyanide.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
