Captivity: An Important Tool for Conservation and Education
Josh Pysanczyn
When you hear the words: “animals in captivity”, what comes to mind - cruelty to animals? Deprivation of space and socialisation? Lack of welfare and enrichment? Sadly, a lot these statements are true. However, many aquariums proudly act as genetic reservoirs. They hold stable populations of native and foreign species that can then be captively bred and released into the wild when required. Aquariums also fill an educational void in the school curriculum, teaching the next generation about the importance of conservation, pollution prevention and environmental awareness! The Marine Diaries met up with Mike Iwachiw, assistant curator at Bristol Aquarium, to gain his insight.
Education is a crucial aspect of the aquarium’s philosophy. Photo: Unsplash.
Hi Mark! Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background
I’ve been diving since I was 8 years old, so I have always been interested in the underwater world. My whole life has been directed towards marine animals and the underwater life – that was kind of my thing! I started my career at Swansea University where I studied Marine Biology. I then worked at a dive shop for 2-3 years teaching people to scuba dive, before moving to Mozambique with a company called ‘Love the Oceans’, where we worked on projects focused around overfishing of sharks and coral reef degradation. After that I moved to aquariums, starting at Blue Planet Aquarium in Cheshire for 3 years before beginning my position as Assistant Curator at Bristol.
What drew you to becoming an aquarium curator?
At Blue Planet aquarium, I was working with animals on a day-to-day basis, diving - but I wasn’t doing that much, no planning or anything like that. I wanted something a bit more. I don’t get to dive as much here at Bristol Aquarium, but it has allowed me to progress with what I really want to do. I have a bit more control over what we get out to the public.
I wanted to get into an institution where I could reach more people, and educate more people - somewhere like here. The main thing is educating people!
There are many arguments for the restriction of keeping animals in captivity. So, why do you think the aquarium can help with conservation and education?
A lot of the time, I think the big focal point at aquariums are the large animals…. which I don’t agree with. Cetaceans for example, shouldn’t be in captivity. The most I would go for with cetaceans is partial captivity, whereby an area in the wild is monitored and controlled by conservationists when animals require looking after and rehabilitating. Other than that, they shouldn’t be in there!
The good thing about the UK is that there is a blanket ban on cetaceans, which is fantastic! I think the main benefit of aquariums is education. I’ve been quite fortunate, being able to dive and relate with wild animals and the issues they face. However, most people don’t have that opportunity, so the next best thing is to come to the aquarium and learn about keystone species and the problems they face. It’s all about teaching the public!
Destructive fishing practices contribute significantly to habitat loss. Photo: Unsplash.
Bristol aquarium is obviously an environmentally aware facility. How do aquariums contribute to the conservation of the marine environment and their inhabitants?
It’s all about bringing people in and leading by example, that’s how you get people to change. Bristol as a city is one of the best cities in the UK for doing that. All aquariums should be at the forefront of doing that. I’m not sure what the curriculum at schools are regarding pollution and the conservation of the marine environment and their inhabitants, but this is where aquariums can fill the gap!
Captive breeding and release programmes are an important aspect of zoological facilities like aquariums, why is this so important for the conservation of certain species?
I think captive breeding and release programmes are the main drivers to try and stabilise a population. Lots of aquariums hold and breed decent captive populations of near-threatened and threatened species which are either released out, or held as a captive population, so that if there is a big crash they can then release them.
One of the big problems in the UK is destructive fishing practices. It’s destroying the habitat for a lot of animals, so I think it’s important that we’re looking at breeding ecologically important species. Take undulate rays for example, they are an endangered species, but there’s quite a good population of these in captivity within the UK. Although this isn’t great, and there are other issues that need to be resolved to tackle this; we do have a big captive population that we can release into the wild if needs must.
This stems into the other big issue. The IUCN status of a lot of animals is data deficient. The studies just aren’t there! It’s only the big, iconic animals that people like to interact with.
It’s important to raise awareness about threats to UK species. Photo: Unsplash.
Are there any success stories from Bristol aquarium regarding captive breeding and/or release programmes?
Since I’ve been here, we’ve not been able to release anything out.
One thing we are looking to rear are a captive population of short snouted and long snouted sea horses - native sea horses - as they are currently endangered! They aren’t a highly mobile species and their habitat is threatened because of destructive fishing practices such as dredging.
Bristol has one of the biggest native sections in the UK. A lot of other aquariums emphasise their tropical displays because they're deemed as nice and colourful, but then - dare I say, you look at native fish species and they’re all a bit, well… drab… not to me obviously, but sadly to a lot of people they are. It’s important to raise awareness about species we have in the UK. For example, take the native ray tank we have here at Bristol, the amount of people that don’t realise they’re native is crazy! These guys are endangered because of unsustainable fishing practices.
In an ideal world, how would you like to see aquariums develop and contribute further to the conservation of marine animals their habitats?
In an ideal world… we wouldn’t have aquariums! Because the oceans wouldn’t be under threat. We wouldn’t need to have populations in captivity to try and help them because everything is fine and balanced and…perfect.
Sadly, it’s not an ideal world. So, I think a focus on the educational and conservation side of things would be the direction I would like to see all aquariums go. Making kids aware of…. just…. animals, really!
If you’ve enjoyed this interview with Mark Iwachiw, you can follow Bristol Aquarium here @bristolaquarium or @BristolAquarium