When a heavy hitting environmental news organization like National Geographic publishes an article, many in the general population assume its accurate, without questioning the statistics given. For marine aquarists, this article is of particular interest, as it suggests that the vast majority of fish imported into the U.S., have been caught with sodium cyanide. Most aquarists know, sodium cyanide delivers fish that die within our aquariums, long after a trail of dead coral and invertebrates are left behind on the reef. However, the practice has been made illegal in most countries that source marine fish, and National Geographic may have checked honest reporting and current statistics at the door, when they published this piece.
The Article
National Geographic published, “The Horrific Way Fish Are Caught for your Aquarium – With Cyanide,” just a few days ago, on March 10th. Several extraordinary claims are made, starting with a statistic that “98% of – yes, almost all – species of saltwater fish, can’t be bred in captivity.” This is untrue, and totally discounts the work of Rising Tide Conservation, and other breeding efforts that have made progress in propagating marine fish in captivity. I would have expected National Geographic to interview some of the scientists working to breed marine species, but they are conspicuously absent. It goes on to state that, “Up to 90% of the [marine] tropical fish that enter the U.S. each year, are caught illegally with cyanide.” This is a false statement. While cyanide fishing still exists, among fisheries that supply live marine ornamentals, it has been greatly reduced and certainly doesn’t account for 90% of the fish that enter the U.S. If it did, there would not be a viable marine aquarium hobby, as the majority of marine fish would die. Also stated under the heading “But it’s oh so lucrative”, is that “Live fish make fisherman a lot more money than dead ones, so more and more fishermen have turned to the fish-for-aquariums trade.” While in some areas, supplying fish for the aquarium is more lucrative than supplying them for the food industry, many of the collectors that supply marine fish live in poverty. I certainly wouldn’t call it lucrative for the collectors. 
The Data
National Geographic claims that, “An estimated 70 to 90 percent of the 12.5 million tropical fish that enter the U.S.… More:
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