Professor Chewy’s Look at the Internet
by Chewy Ltd
Aug. 4, 2019
As my friend Scott of King And Queen Cichlids pointed out a while ago on a released video from their channel, I have been in the hobby for quite some time even when I was knee high to a grasshopper I have been affected by the fish hobby. When you think of the old methods of how clubs would do slide shows and video night involving the clubs it was just like watching with the local family but the Internet has been around for quite some time and though it is said you can not teach old dogs new tricks some can figure out certain things to be involved, but now a days the young whipper snappers have become more involved in the aspects of the hobby especially on YouTube and other social media. In some ways this has taken away from the local club scene in some places but generally it can be said that it is part of the growth of civilization and the hobby. When Aqua Funk of Aqua Funk Aquatics Dared me to write an article I let him pick out the topic which has come up on many different channels. How it is to be a part of the hobby from the aspect of a person that has been in the hobby over 55 years? Many things have changed in this aspect from the 60’s to today and at one time some local fish clubs had locally presented TV shows with Cable Companies. Now with YouTube the professors, doctors and well known speakers in the hobby are basically not as well known as some of the younger people that are involved in the Hobby Today however when you think of people like Wayne Liebel, Laif DeMason and Dr Paul Loiselle most of the people in the Youtube audience do not know these people that have influenced the hobby by writing books and articles for publications that a lot of hobbyists may or may not of heard of. When I began in the hobby we would watch films like this in the hobby and just look at the difference in the equipment between then and today Here is an example of footage that was shown in clubs in the 60’s now if you take the time to look at this type of film you can see some of the limitations and time that is taken to go into these productions and updated into digital format.Do we expect the Experts in the hobby to keep up with this type of learning curve and meanwhile some of them are well respected in such organizations such as the C.A.R.E.S. Education Program.
Publication date 1957
Usage Public Domain
Topics science vs. religion Publisher Moody Institute of Science
I do believe Aqua Funk Aquatics that you asked a very intriguing subject so why not take it to someone that has got a channel and ask her while you dared her to impersonate yourself for a portion of the stream. I do believe that some of these answers to the issues are problems within the fish community we can only express what we know meanwhile they are trained biologists and experts in the field so I took the questions to Suzy from Que Aquatics and asked her these questions as to how can we bring the knowledge that they know to the YouTube Fish Community as well as the internet as a whole but I also would recommend joining the local fish club and the national fish clubs like the American Cichlid Association, American Killifish Association, The American Livebearer Association and the various different other clubs and National Organizations that specialize in that particular line of fish. These clubs tend to have speakers all the time, that the knowledge should be brought forward to the public and many other channels have interviewed several different speakers . Listen and Watch this URL and think about how the old timers in the hobby are at a disadvantage of the YouTube Media because of the learning curve of production while most of them are basically senior citizens that have directorship rolls in the hobby. Suzy’s Sunday Stream #12
So what would you do as a YouTuber and a hobbyist to spread this information?
With the current political unrest in the United States concerning immigration, I could not help but draw a parallel line from invasive species and “Hoarding Immigrants” from the south. I was taking a walk through Turkey Creek Park in Plant city Florida. I was trying to get a feel for what types of species of fish would be in this big beautiful lake. My intentions were to scout out areas for a new YouTube video. I thought I would ask the local fisherman what types of fish have they pulled up and have they came across any invasive species. I was surprised that the three different young men that I asked said “no” but when I rattled off a list of species that I was looking for they would stop at the Oscar fish and say, “Oh Oscar’s! Yeah there are plenty of those in here.” At first I was amused that these young native Floridians didn’t know that Oscar fish are not native to Florida.
Locals from the area.
But as I walked further I could not get my mind off of the three identical scenarios concerning that question. You see, these young men grew up catching Oscar fish since they could cast a line. To their knowledge, Oscars are as normal to them as Bass are in Florida line waters. As for me, I am not a writer. In fact I am a fishtuber that recently migrated to Florida myself. Being a fishtuber, I watch a lot of YOUTUBE. One of my favorite YouTube channels is “Wild Fish Tanks.” Ryan the host of the channel and Floridian has begun to do a lot of videos highlighting Florida native and invasive fish species. As I watch his videos I can’t help but be fascinated that a lot of these invasive species have a healthy and long-standing colonies living in harmony alongside native fish, at least for now. What that tells me is that Mother Nature seems to be trying to fix the problem of invasive species that we created, but she doesn’t seem to be fixing the problem the way we want her to or as fast as we demand. She seems to be doing her own thing regardless of how much money we throw at the issue or how many times we hash tag the newest catchphrase. Since life began on this planet living creatures have migrated to new areas. Some in search for food and water. Some in search of a safe place without predators. Some fled from or traveled to new areas because of climate change or a sudden meteor slamming into the planet. Not to mention animals being trapped on continents moving closer and farther away from each other on shifting tectonic plates. In recent years the major cause of animal migration whether it be directly or indirectly is without a doubt, mans interference. For whatever reason these animals have been moving from one place to another. Settling and claiming new territories as their own. Often at the expense of the original inhabitants. Mother Nature seems to have a strict rule when it comes to territory. Be stronger and faster. If not, adapt. If you can’t adapt then run. If you can’t run then go extinct. Man has a difficult time remembering these rules in regards to our pets and how we dispose of unwanted fish. We continuously and carelessly release fish in the closest body of water. Then when that environment is forced to live under the rigid rules Mother Nature has set for us we decide as a society that something must be done. Oftentimes trying to circumvent Mother Nature’s law so these solutions are met with disastrous results making the problem worse. Let me play devil’s advocate for a moment. What if we do nothing? We allow Mother Nature’s rule to run its course. I would be the first one to agree that it would drastically change the lakes and rivers as we know it. And because of the sped up time frame of it all there will be many bumps in the road in regards to the other Wildlife that depends on it. But, as I stated earlier, animals have been migrating from place to place on their own for hundreds of thousands of years. Also climate change, while I agree is drastically sped up by man’s intervention, its an inevitable natural phenomenon. So with a warmer northern hemisphere who’s to say that Oscar fish and other predatory cichlids wouldn’t have made their way North overtime on their own?
Really, what would happen to our artificial lifestyle if that natural lake at the park that we seldom visit, but often trash, and at one time had Minnows, Perch, and Bass in it, that now has Mollies, Convicts and Oscars instead? Let me be clear, I am not advocating releasing exotic fish into our natural waters all willy-nilly. In fact, I believe many species of exotic fish should have to be registered and the owners be licensed in some cases. But we can not be naive. With the economic advantages that Florida gains from a booming pet trade, the practice of importing and farming exotic fish will continue regardless of the environmental impact. Here’s the kicker. We have created a problem with no realistic solutions. The one guaranteed solution of letting mother nature fix our screw-ups the way she sees fit we are incapable of allowing. So on one hand we interfere with Mother Nature’s natural order by introducing fish into our waterways. On the other hand we interfere with Mother Nature’s natural law of survival of the fittest. We continuously change our environment but refused to accept the changes we created. So I ask you again. What would be the harm in doing nothing? It can’t be any worse than what we have done already. Would it really be so bad to have a North American Oscar? Or a Mississippi Green Terror? Is it only predatory fish that we have a problem with? Would we be okay with California Tetras?
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