cyanide
Contents:
- [M] Question on aquisition of fish.
by pprior/magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Paul A Prior) (Sat, 27 Mar 1993)
- [M] Question on aquisition of fish.
by dbs/hprnd.rose.hp.com (Dave Sheehy) (Mon, 29 Mar 1993)
- [M] Question on aquisition of fish.
by cbingman/magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Craig A Bingman) (Wed, 31 Mar 1993)
by pprior/magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Paul A Prior)
Date: Sat, 27 Mar 1993
Newsgroup: rec.aquaria
In article <1otehtINN5qe-at-gap.caltech.edu> laurence-at-cco.caltech.edu (Dustin Lee Laurence) writes:
>pprior-at-magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Paul A Prior) writes:
>
>[cyanide testing]
>
>>Let's get a dose of reality here... VERY few dealers check for cyanide
>>capture. Why? Because there is no way to currently do it, short of
>>having access to a pathology lab. There have been efforts, and continue
>>to be efforts, to develop tests for the average joe dealer/hobbiest to
>>check, but they are not yet available to the general public, AFAIK.
>
>I think (anecdotal evidence, grin) that the signs are fairly obvious
>_after_ the fish has died. I remember something about degeneration of
>the liver and other organs. I bet it's not so easy when the fish has
>a month to live, though.
>
it has been my understanding that post mortem changes found in the
liver and other organs are not specific enough to determine whether
or not it was caused by cyanide (at least without pathology-level
equipment).
--
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Paul A. Prior Ban anchors, not reef tanks | |
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by dbs/hprnd.rose.hp.com (Dave Sheehy)
Date: Mon, 29 Mar 1993
Newsgroup: rec.aquaria
Dustin Lee Laurence (laurence-at-cco.caltech.edu) wrote:
: There is evidence that in fact 'most' (there's that dangerous word again)
: cyanide-caught fish are sold as net-caught. I would not believe _any_
: retailer's word; they may even believe that their fish are clean, but
: assuredly they are only taking the wholesaler's word for it.
Just got off the phone with Steve Robinson. He's the guy who's been writing
a few recent articles about cyanide caught fish. He presented some numbers
at MACNA this year and I called to verify those numbers before I posted.
According to Steve, 2/3 of all marine tropicals come from the Phillipines
and 3/4 of them are cyanide caught. There current market share of ~60% is a
marked decline from previous years when they held 80-90% of the market.
Unfortunately, their decline in market share is not due to people shying away
from cyanide caught fish but to the virtual extinction of many species in the
area. Even worse, the available market share is being taken over by the
Indonesians who are adopting the cyanide capture techniques used in the
Phillipines.
Dave Sheehy
by cbingman/magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Craig A Bingman)
Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1993
Newsgroup: rec.aquaria
In article <1993Mar30.214525.17063-at-Cadence.COM> bruceg-at-Cadence.COM (Bruce Gustafson) writes:
>In article <1otehtINN5qe-at-gap.caltech.edu> laurence-at-cco.caltech.edu (Dustin Lee Laurence) writes:
>>pprior-at-magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Paul A Prior) writes:
>>
>>[cyanide testing]
>>
>>
>>As to a standard test, one exists that is supposedly being (slowly)
>>implemented to test outgoing exports from the Philippines. I'm not
>>crossing my fingers, and it's not an appropriate test for a hobbiest
>>anyway (few people will puree a fish in order to find out it's chances
>>of survival...).
>>
>
> You know, I just bought a Bass-o-matic (TM), and it doesn't
>have a "puree" mode. It's got blend, rend, chop, crop, powder,
>chowder, maul, and grunion, but no puree. Should I bring it
>back?
> -Bruce-
Bruce,
The test runs something like this. You weigh the fish. You throw the
fish in a blendor (or bass-o-matic.) Then you add concentrated sodium
hydroxide, and reflux (boil with a condensor) the mixture for several
hours. Then, you measure the cyanide concentration with an ion-
selective electrode, and back-calculate the tissue concentration in
the fish.
So, if you were meaning to do the test yourself, you might need to buy
some other toys as well. Rather expensive toys, at that. As for
other uses for the bass-o-matic, well, I leave that to your own
imagination.
(anyone want some white bass and veg-o-mite juice? burp.)
Craig
The Krib
Marine/Reefs
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