Business as usual is no longer an option. The aquarium community is facing a huge challenge to protect the species we care for; of the nearly 80,000 species assessed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, almost 30% are threatened with extinction. Conservation efforts continue to be surpassed by the pressures on biodiversity, especially in the aquatic realms. Aquariums are critical players in protecting species in the wild, utilizing funds, expertise, facilities and public profiles to drive conservation efforts within their organizations and in the field. However, in the face of so many challenges, we need to collaborate strategically, combining our differing strengths and resources. To do this, many aquariums are strengthening relationships with the IUCN Species Survival Commission. These relationships focus on collaboration for Red List Assessments, conservation planning, and global networking to play a more integrated and global role alongside the world’s largest conservation network.
In 2016, nautiluses (Family Nautilidae) were adopted into Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The listing requires countries to provide non-detrimental findings (NDFs) showing that export of the species does not affect wild populations. However, there are no standard methods for how countries determine the NDFs. Often, a consequence of increased regulation is illegal trade. Simply placing a species on CITES does not guarantee its survival, as countless examples show. Thus, it is paramount that all stakeholders involved in the successful CITES proposal continue to expand on work already done. In reality, the success of CITES might be better gauged by how long a species remains on CITES. As education, awareness, and management plans improve, thereby increasing populations, a species would no longer meet the requirements for CITES and should be de-listed, resulting in a success! The road to de-list nautiluses starts now.
The outlook of marine ecosystems is bleak; overfishing, by-catch, coastal development and climate change are among the biggest threats to marine biodiversity. Corals, marine mammals and sea turtles are among the groups with highest threat of extinction. This project assessed the number of threatened aquatic species in the Species360 ZIMS database network in comparison to the IUCN’s Red List. The results indicate the wealth of species and knowledge curated by the aquarium community can be crucial to support projects such as assisting propagation of new coral colonies, the provision of samples for biomarkers to identify illegal products, and determining the limits of captive breeding of species that are laundered under false pretenses through international markets. As aquariums continue to focus efforts on captive breeding and species conservation work, the importance of record keeping and sharing information for captive animals becomes increasingly relevant for conservation work well beyond the walls of our facilities.
The Ocean Genome Legacy Center (OGL) is a non-profit genome bank that preserves marine DNA samples and makes them widely available to scientists around the world. Marine organisms contain a wealth of information hidden in their DNA about their unique adaptations, vulnerabilities, interactions, and history. The DNA also contains information about cell growth and replication, which is similar across the tree of life. OGL works with aquariums and other contributors to collect DNA from marine species and then distributes the DNA to researchers working in medicine, biotechnology, and conservation. A recent result of these cross-disciplinary collaborations involves the analysis of DNA from a diverse group of species, including fish, to investigate the development of diseases and how they can be diagnosed and treated. Projects such as these highlight the importance of exploring, preserving, and conserving the vast biodiversity contained within our oceans.
Public aquaria aspire to be centers for research, conservation, and education, as well as models for sustainability. In this endeavor public aquaria inspire their visitors through representation of marine and freshwater ecosystems, displaying a wide variety of aquatic organisms. To remain effective and relevant aquaria must: (1) Set an example of sustainability; (2) Continue to optimize industry best practice; (3) Increase pure and applied research activities; (4) Increase conservation activities, esp. in situ; (5) Advance well-researched and practical advocacy; and (6) Augment up-to-date and effective education. Aquaria must actively advance each of these domains, more coherently police industry best practice, better connect their visitors to the wild spaces they represent, and work together to more effectively communicate their value to the environment and society. The New England Aquarium alone presents over 850 different species. When selecting species for exhibition, it is critical to consider the following: justifiable rationales for acquiring a species; available infrastructure and operational capacity; animal husbandry capacity and animal welfare implications; a long-term deaccession plan; and sustainable sources for chosen display animals. The New England Aquarium addresses these demands through a structured planning process, using a set of Strategic Program Criteria and an Exhibition Species Selection Flowchart, implemented through a sustainable collection committee. One mechanism employed at the Aquarium to improve collection sustainability is the strategic breeding and rearing of fish species highly demanded within the industry, yet rarely (or not yet) bred in human care. Examples include the blue chromis (Chromis cyanea), lookdowns (Selene vomer) and the smallmouth grunt (Haemulon chrysargyreum). In addition to careful stewardship of its living collection, the New England Aquarium regularly reviews its animal food sources to ensure sustainable practice is employed.
Each summer, the Gulf Stream is responsible for transporting tropical fish, larvae, and eggs north to the coast of New England. Many, if not all, will fail to survive their first New England winter as water temperatures drop below the tolerance of these Caribbean species. For decades, marine research institutions, universities, aquariums, divers, and hobbyists have known about this seasonal phenomenon and have independently collected data and specimens but the transmission of data has been largely anecdotal. The goal of the GSO project is to build a comprehensive data set with contributions from researchers and citizen scientists to better understand the phenomenon of Gulf Stream Orphans and their environmental impact. In addition to abundance and distribution, Gulf Stream Orphan sightings may be useful in gauging climate change and environmental perturbations in the northwest Atlantic.
FCTC is a partnership between Private Corporation, Tampa Electric Company, government, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), and not-for-profit, The Florida Aquarium (FLAQ). Their goal is to create educational and environmental resources for our state and community.
With support from the State of Florida, these institutions have been able to create and implement a 5 year plan to start Phase I. The site encompasses a 400 acre strip of land on Tampa Bay. With coral research facilities (FLAQ) and an environmental education building (FWC) running, we are also months away from accepting our first patient in our sea turtle rehabilitation center (FLAQ).
FCTC is off to a great start conserving our Blue Planet, teaching about and researching our Florida shores. We house full time biologists and host visiting scientists and 100’s of school children each year. Expansion plans include fish stock enhancement and shark research tanks.
The role of aquariums and zoos as “storefronts” for science and conservation related to the collection of aquarium fish.
For decades, the global trade in freshwater fishes for home aquariums has provided livelihoods for rural people, often serving as the economic base in regions of critical biological importance. There is also evidence that these fisheries drive environmental protectionism and help maintain vital ecosystem services. However, the social and environmental benefits from these fisheries are threatened by many external factors. Public aquariums and zoos have a unique opportunity to not only educate visitors about these fisheries, but also foster environmental outcomes by exhibiting fish which showcase examples of fishery-driven social and environmental benefits. Research conducted by New Knowledge reveals opportunities for future exhibits, messaging, and educational programming that inspire passion for science and conservation action. In addition, new avenues of research by the recently launched sub-group of the IUCN's Freshwater Fish Specialist Group aim to better identify and catalogue case studies of fisheries which result in socioeconomic and environmental benefits.
We recently finished a 3-year IMLS funded project to teach aquarists to rear the fish that spawn on exhibit. We created a small turn-key modular larval rearing system (MoLaRS), and held workshops to train aquarists on using the MoLaRS, along with techniques for how to grow appropriate foods for the larvae. In total, we worked with eggs and larvae from 84 species that could be reared to a size where they could be positively identified. Of these, 4,926 individuals of 61 species were placed back onto exhibit at participating public aquariums. This project increases the ability of zoos and aquariums to rear their own exhibit marine fish, reducing the need to collect fish from the wild. It also adds greatly to the basic scientific knowledge of early life histories of fish, and creates additional exhibit opportunities in showcasing the full life history of marine fish.
Project Coral is a multiyear research project focusing on coral reproduction and climate change. In environmentally controlled research systems at the museum a number of experiments, in collaboration with our partners are being conducted. There are many targets over the years, ultimately leading to understanding the role that genomics and proteomics plays on coral reproduction. In December 2015 synchronous spawning was successfully induced in our Australia research system enabling 6 genetic crosses of Acropora tenuis & 2 genetic crosses of Acropora millepora through in-vitro fertilization, producing 176 new juvenile colonies (1 year old). In March 2016 the second synchronous spawning event was induced in our Singapore research system, resulting in 2 genetic crosses of Acropora hyacinthus producing 43 settled new colonies.
Inducing broadcast coral spawning in captivity is a new frontier in coral conservation that may open a whole new area of coral reef research and reef restoration potential.
Thymallus arcticus (Arctic grayling) and Oncorhynchus nerka (Kokanee salmon) are local Colorado species housed at the Downtown Aquarium. In years past, Aquarium biologists would collect wild specimens with the help of Colorado Parks and Wildlife on an annual basis. However, we decided we would like to do this sustainably. With the aid of Colorado Parks and Wildlife who graciously provided the eggs, we decided to try hatching and raising these species in-house to create a more sustainable population. To do so, we constructed and set up a cold water hatch system capable of hatching and raising both species. We first started with Kokanee salmon which hatch in three months, followed by Arctic grayling, which hatch in approximately 20 days, and had success with both species. Similarities between them include treatments for fungal growth prior to hatching. Major differences between raising these species include hatch time, temperature and egg size.
The North Carolina coast serves as a migration route for Carcharias taurus, but some degree of residency may exist. Aggregations of C. taurus have been observed with coordinated seasonal reproductive movements with birthing grounds loosely defined in southern coastal waters.
For this study, mature female sand tiger sharks will be tagged and tracked using acoustic telemetry to explore habitat utilization, residency time and to quantify movement patterns along the NC coast and define essential fish habitats in the Cape Fear. Identifying critical habitats inform conservation management decisions for the protection of future generations of sand tiger sharks in the wild. Partnered with the NC Aquariums and SEZARC, comparative reproductive research will be conducted alongside this study to provide baseline data for sustainable collections in aquaria.
Data collection began in 2016 and continues into 2017 as part of the primary investigator’s thesis. Preliminary findings may be available at time of conference.