Help Protect the Banggai Cardinalfish from Import and Sale in the US
Dear John,
Indonesia's Banggai archipelago is the only wild home of the boldly striped and spotted Banggai cardinalfish. Their distinctive markings, however, make them a popular ornamental fish in public and private aquariums. In recent decades, millions have been captured and shipped around the world.
Overcollection of this diminutive fish has caused a catastrophic 90% population decline in the wild. The species has been eliminated from former strongholds, leaving only small, fragmented populations behind in other areas. Compounding the crisis, up to 80% percent of captured cardinalfish die before they even leave Indonesia.
The United States is the world's leading importer of fish for the aquarium trade. Although the species is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, an estimated 120,000 Banggai cardinalfish are imported into the US annually, and there is a robust domestic trade in the species.
In response to a petition from the Animal Welfare Institute, the Center for Biological Diversity, and Defenders of Wildlife, NOAA is proposing to ban the import and export of Banggai cardinalfish. Unfortunately, the agency plans to allow continued domestic sales of the fish. Doing so would encourage wildlife traffickers to smuggle in wild-caught cardinalfish for domestic sale.