The Loach Forum Archives (1)

The System

Posted By: Ken Childs <kjchilds@aol.com>
Date: Monday, 12 October 1998, at 3:52 a.m.

JL asked in a previous post for a rundown on how the wild fish get from their natural habitat to your aquariums. I'm going to attempt to explain how it works. Usually the fish are collected from the rivers/streams/lakes by locals that know virtually everything about a certain collecting area that they live in or near to. It's their job to know when the needed fish will be available and where they will most likely be found. They will collect and then hold the fish until they can either sell them directly to an exporter or if they are in a hard to get to region, they may sell them to a broker who can consolidate fish from many different collectors. This broker can then send one large worthwhile shipment by air to the exporting city. The exporter then offers what he has available to his customers worldwide. They place orders based on what