Keeping animals in captivity is becoming less acceptable to Kiwis. Aquariums do not allow fishes to express their natural behaviour and offer only a fraction of the space fishes need.
Whether you’re writing to your kids’ school or simply voting with your wallet by not visiting aquariums, you’ll be creating a kinder future for fishes.

Instead of aquariums, why not explore your local rock pools or watch an underwater documentary? Swimming, snorkelling and diving are also great ways to observe fishes in their natural habitat.

Contrary to popular belief, fishes do not make good first pets for children. The needs of fishes are far more complex than the needs of cats and dogs, making it easy to unwittingly compromise their welfare or create elevated stress levels that can sometimes result in death. Simply over-feeding fishes, moving them or not paying attention to water temperature and acidity levels can have a disastrous result.

Fishes do not want to swim in circles inside a bowl or tank or be put on display like a painting. When we invite animals into our lives and families, it should be mutually beneficial. Fishes gain nothing from being kept in captivity ‒ instead they are deprived of all that is natural to them.

If you already have fishes as pets, you can help them by making their surroundings as close to their natural environment as possible, with plenty of enrichment, places to hide and as much space as you are able to give them.