John,

The demand for rare and beautiful fish for personal aquariums is causing the near extinction of Banggai cardinalfish. These tiny, iridescent fish live in the intricate coral reefs of Indonesia. For the past three decades, they’ve been taken from the wild at an alarming rate to be shipped across the globe.

It’s time for the United States to ban the import and sale of these fragile creatures.

Ninety percent of the wild population of these shimmering swimmers were sucked from the ocean in under 15 years to supply the aquarium trade, and they’re still in decline. They’ve been completely wiped out in several places where they were once common, and the remnant populations are small and fragmented.

The United States is the world's largest importer of aquarium fish and a leading consumer of this species. Though the cardinalfish is listed under the Endangered Species Act, it’s still legal to import and sell in the United States. 

If business goes on as usual, they could vanish completely from the wild.

Tell NOAA Fisheries to ban the import and sale of the Banggai cardinalfish before it's too late.