The Dark Hobby, A Film About the Violence, Death, Destruction and Devastation of Coral Reefs and Reef Fish for the Aquarium Trade and Aquarium Owners

“The mortality rates of fish for aquarium owners are 99% within one year from the point of capture. The demand comes from the home hobbyist.”

“But you are taking away the fish’s most precious possession – their freedom, and where they belong—the ocean.”

The Dark Hobby is an eye-opening film about the aquarium trade in Hawaii, who capture and traffic reef fish for hobbyists’ tanks, decimating the reef, the ocean, marine life, and the earth’s oxygen. Because of this aquarium trade, many coral reef fish species are now on the verge of extinction or have already gone extinct. The Dark Hobby reveals the truth about the aquarium trade, how deadly and inhumane it is to millions upon millions of fish taken from the ocean for fish tanks every year, and how this theft of wild fish is negatively impacting marine life all over the world.  

The Hawaiian aquarium trade has been catching reef fish for U.S. and global hobby tanks for decades. There have been zero protections, no catch limits, no limit on the number of catchers, no laws, and no constraints on rare, endemic or vanishing species. Our ocean and coral reefs have been plundered, and millions of tropical fish are stolen every year, to die the day of or within days, weeks or months of capture, all for home hobby aquariums. 

Native Hawai’ians, conservationists, scientists, biologists, and animal welfare advocates – along with aquarium fish collectors and breeders – are locked in a controversy over this stunning “treasure of Hawai’i” – the ornamental fish and who has the “right” to them. These fish collectors make a living from catching, taking, and supplying exotic fish to hobbyists who own home aquariums. Others in the business breed fish in captivity to fill U.S. and global demand for home aquariums. Fish advocates report that the number of fish has decreased dramatically, and in many reefs around the world have been decimated from this fish theft, affecting the hierarchy and health of marine wildlife in our oceans. Fish advocates, conservationists, marine biologists and many politicians believe removing fish from their natural habitat should be forbidden.

The Dark Hobby is a vital exposé on this crisis, and on the ongoing political struggle between industry power and the taking of wildlife from the ocean for money. At any given moment, 28 million fish are in the aquarium trade pipeline from point-of-capture to home hobbyist tank. They represent over 1,800 species, and many die within a day to days to a year of capture, generating even more demand and more theft from the ocean.

And what about the fish? Don’t they have a right to their own lives? To live in the ocean where they are born? Where they belong? With their fish families? We cannot ask what they want. Do we humans have the right to take fish from the ocean–for money, causing all of these millions of fish to die within one year of taking them? Watch the film to learn more about this Dark Hobby.

“We are objectifying fish when we remove them from their natural home where they belong–the ocean–the thinking by some people is fish are infinitely replaceable, like they are some type of object for our personal satisfaction. But they have families out there.”

Film Length: 1 Hour, 12 Minutes

Film Premier: May 2021

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More About the Film

Visit the Website

Like the Facebook Page

Learn more about fish from fish expert, scientist, author Jonathan Balcombe

For Educational Screenings, Contact: Kristen Cooney [email protected]

Review of The Dark Hobby by PETA

What You Can Do

1. Be a Reef Advocate – Take this pledge never to buy reef wildlife – Sign the Petition!
2. Speak Up! – Sign up for Action Alerts to bring change and awareness to tropical fish stolen from our oceans.
3. Share this Film! – Share The Dark Hobby trailer with your family and friends. 
4. Share this Film on Social Media – to raise awareness about the disappearing tropical fish for the aquarium trade. 
5. Read this article – Fish in Tanks, No Thanks! To learn more about this industry
6. Read the book – What A Fish Knows, by Jonathan Balcombe
7. DON’T HAVE OR GET AN AQUARIUM – Help make others aware of the cruelty of aquariums by sharing on social media
8. SPREAD THE WORD! Share this and speak up about the dark hobby of aquariums

Some Statistics 

99% of these fish die within a year of capture. That is a very dark hobby. 

25 major reef fish dealers ship out a million Yellow Tang fish per year, for 25 million Yellow Tangs that disappear from the ocean—the majority die immediately. 

There are 27 million reef wildlife people in the aquarium pipeline, from capture to when it ends when the fish dies in the home aquarium.

Nearly all of the reefs in the Caribbean have been damaged or destroyed.  

90% of all of the ocean’s creatures in infancy spend their youth on coral reefs where they are protected. But reefs are in peril all over the world. To pull beautiful, bright-colored fish off these reefs by the millions for an amusement industry—is obscene, it is immoral, it should stop—it should be illegal. We are trying to make it illegal.

1969 – Hawaii passed its own Environmental Protection Act (ESA). It states that the original Hawaiian culture must be respected and protected, but it is not being honored.

Other Careers For Aquarium Fishermen Than Stealing Fish From the Ocean

1. We could buy them out – a buyout to transition to a new trade
2. Incentivize them with new careers, new trade – they could become marine biologists, marine scientists, marine conservationists, etc., that would help the planet and nature
3. They could learn to ‘aquaculture’ these fish instead, these are captive-bred. But this is breeding in captivity, just like factory farming, and is not humane or natural for fish and causes harm too
4. They could take up photography to show the beauty of fish and marine life
5. They could go back to school to learn a new trade

Also Watch These Short Films

Reefs Are In Peril

Not Seen

Not A Good Quality of Life

Jonathan Balcombe, Fish Expert, on Fish

The Fish Are Our Public Trust

Quotes from the Film

“Aquarium fish removal is a form of violent exploitation.”

“Reef fish are seen as livestock to these people.”

“You are taking away the fish’s most precious possession – their freedom.”

“Pet stores just see fish as a commodity for profit. They don’t see or care about the animal.”

“The natural life span of a fish can be decades. But the fish stolen from their home in the ocean, may live only a few weeks. We take their natural, deserved full lives away from them.”

“This is a Hawaiian treasure, and they are stealing it.”

“It all comes down to wildlife trafficking for the pet trade.”

“The small, beautiful aquarium fish are the ONLY unprotected living beings in the ocean in Hawaii.” 

“These guys are emptying our reefs for greed. It’s not right.”

“Fish are able to sing to each other, they develop complex social structures, they develop cultural traditions, they can even talk to one another. Most people don’t know this about fish.”

“What we see happening on land is happening under the water, exploiting animals and the environment, for money and greed. Fish don’t scream out the way that animals on the land, do.”

“The reefs are dying because of humans. The fish are dying because of men.”

“Most people who have aquariums, don’t know that overfeeding them—kills them. The wrong type of water—kills them. The wrong temperature—kills them. Lack of knowledge—kills them. Then people who own aquariums, just go out and buy more fish because they have killed them all!”

“Hawaii needs to ban the aquarium trade state-wide, to save the coral reefs and coral reef fish.”

“Fish change their behavior depending on if they feel pain, or are suffering, or are hungry, or feel pleasure. They have wants, needs, desires. They have feelings, they are individuals. Most people don’t understand fish at all. They are fully conscious beings.”

“Many of these reef fish are gone forever.”

“Fish have thoughts, they plan, they play, they have sex, they have interesting social lives, they are smart, they communicate, they feel. People who fish, take fish, eat fish, kill fish – don’t honor this or their lives.”

“The aquarium trade hired big-gun lobbyists and lawyers, because they are supported by big money and industry. But the people, citizens, conservationists, naturalist, biologists, elders, Hawaiians – are speaking for the fish.”

“Reef-based tourism generates hundreds of millions in Hawai’i annually, and many Hawai’i residents want aquarium collecting banned.”

“People think fish are only ‘instinctual’ but it is their way of diminishing the animal. But they have a complete inner life and are fully conscious animals.”

“It makes much more sense to have tourists’ snorkel and dive to see and enjoy the fish. Not to remove and steal all the fish from Hawaii to die in aquariums.”

“We are taking away the fish’s most precious possession – their freedom. When we put them into small glass aquariums, or fish bowls, we are supporting habitat destruction, extinction of species, an extremely poor quality of life, and confirms that humans are ‘manipulators of wildlife’ and fish are the framed objects that exist purely for human gratification.”

“These men who steal the oceans’ wild fish, use cyanide to shock and stun the fish–and the ones that survive the dynamite and cyanide–they take, but millions of fish die from the explosion or toxic cyanide. And the coral reefs die as well.”

“These men who steal these wild fish from coral reefs, will use cyanide to shock and stun the fish, most die. The ones that survive the dynamite or cyanide — they take, but millions or the majority of these fish die from the explosion and cyanide poisoning. And the coral reefs die as well.”

“90% of all of the ocean’s creatures in infancy spend their youth on coral reefs where they are protected. But reefs are in peril all over the world. To pull beautiful, bright-colored fish off these reefs by the millions every year for an amusement industry—is obscene, it is completely immoral, it should stop—truly it should be illegal. We are trying to make it illegal.” 

“The state is doing a poor job of managing fish, it’s not right.”

“You need two things to be an aquarium collector—a pulse and $50 bucks. They are coming from all over the place to take our fish.”

“This is a Hawaiian treasure, it’s Hawaiian culture – and these people are stealing it.” 

“Gillnets are called “Walls of Death” because they kill reef fish. Gillnetters overharvest fish.”

“The Gold Coast, on Kona Island or the Big Island – is where the stealing of fish is happening. They ‘take and steal’ 365 days a year, stealing as many fish as they can, for money. It’s not right, it’s wrong.”

“It’s overfishing by these people. The only industry I know that can go 365 days a year and take as much as they want. That’s not right.”

“Science shows that fish recognize themselves in a mirror reflection. They recognize people that visit them often.”

“Certain fish mate for life.”

“When fish are put out in the open air, even for moments, they cannot breathe. These men grasp the fish by hand, which is traumatic. Then the men bring the fish up too quickly in the ocean because they are anxious to get the fish to market before they die, and they use a needle to puncture the fish’s swim bladder, getting rid of the air that is inside them – it is TRAUMATIC! Then the men trim the spines because they’re sharp to put them in a plastic bag, but trimming their spines is like amputating the fingers—it is TRAUMATIC! Then the fish are often out in the open air, and they can’t breathe, fish need to be in water to breathe—MORE TRAUMA! Then the men put the fish in a cooler—TRAUMA! Then bring the fish back to the dock—TRAUMA! Then put them into a truck—TRAUMA! Then if the fish defecates, most of the fish die. Or they are starved. ALL TRAUMA!”

“If the fish are stolen, and disappear, the coral will die. We lose the coral reef ecosystem. The corals are becoming increasingly stressed due to — water pollution, global warming, oil and chemical spills, overfishing, garbage, plastic, suntan lotion, cyanide and dynamite used to capture aquarium fish, invasive species, and the AQUARIUM TRADE EXTRACTION.”

“When you see coral jewelry think about where that comes from. Don’t buy it. It’s stolen from the ocean and coral reefs are dying because of humans.”

“Cuba is doing it right – 100% reef rejuvenation in the world. No place else on Earth has this. They have completely protected their reefs, and brought back the shark, and the wildlife that lives off the reefs. Biodiversity is at an optimum. But China is demanding Cuba’s sharks for shark finning–shark fin soup, so Cuba is selling out its sharks. Causing a massive lionfish problem and overbalance. It is the biggest catastrophe in the modern era.”

“Everyone making money on this, collecting fish, are converting nature to money.”

“Finally, after 12 years of fighting this, in 2021, The Hawaiian Circuit Court upheld the Supreme Court decision, aquarium collecting is now a criminal activity in Hawaii. People are watching! Even though the government may not enforce it. The people will!”

Film Credits

Producer, Director, Writer – Paula Fouce

Editor, Co-Producer, Writer – William Haugse

Editor, Co-Producer – Tim Kettle

Executive Producers – Stephen Nemeth, Maria Florio

Music Composer – Luciano Storti

By Paradise Filmworks International