This was posted over at Aruba-bb.com by someone named Sandra. I agree 100% with her.
DO NOT FEED THE FISH WHEN YOU GO SNORKELING OR DIVING!
Fishes are supposed to eat the parasites that are on the coral. That way the coral stays healthy. By feeding the fishes, you disrupt their natural feeding habits and the coral is no longer freed from the parasites that are detremental to their health. You contribute to the destruction of the Aruban Coral reefs when you feed the fish.
Perhaps you have all seen the advertisement of the Palm Island. Swim with the Blue Parrot fish. The Palm Island claims that they are doing everything to keep the environment healthy. Well if you are feeding parrot fish(es) you are slowly destroying the coral reefs. Not only that you are slowly poisoning the fish. Bread and peas are not their natural food source. They will get sick and die an early death. The Palm Corporation is destroying the coral reefs at the Palm Island and in 5 years or less, you will see what terrible damage they have done. You see, you can destroy a coral reef in seconds, but it takes decades to grow back.
A lot of damage is also done when people touch the coral or stand on it. Try to avoid any contact. Please help keep our coral reefs alive and beautiful and do not feed the fish. If you see anyone feeding the fish you should tell them not to do so. If a captain of a boat offers you bread to feed to the fish, refuse and tell him that you don't wish to participate in this destructive behaviour, that you would rather enjoyt the natural feeding habits of the animals. The same goes if you rent snorkle gear and they offer you bread to feed the fish. There are many people trying to get through to these people to stop doing this, but some only see dollars and will continue to do so unless, you stop buying/taking the bread from them. This will make them realize how important it is to our tourist that our coral reefs are preserved for the future.
So I ask you all: save our coral reefs from destruction so that you can enjoy them on your visits and so that your and my children can also enjoy them in the future.
For those further interested, check out the following links:
I have done some searching on the internet on feeding fish. And I have found several references to fish feeding and that it is bad for them. Now remember (I have said this before) it is not only that it is bad for the fish. By disrupting their natural feeding habits you disrupt the sensitive ecosystem of the coral reef. Hence you are killing the coral reef. They cannot survive if the algea is not eaten of them to keep them healthty. So if all these references I found still does not convince someone that feeding is bad for fish, let the fact that these actions destroy the coral reef be a reason to stop feeding fish.
Now below I give you several quotes from other websites and I have also mentioned the webpage.
The parrotfish has large teeth and a parrot - like beak so it can peel the algae off the coral (http://nh.essortment.com/parrotfish_rzbj.htm.) It can range in size anywhere from eighteen inches to four feet. It mostly only eats algae. Most of the algae grows on the coral. Subsequently, small pieces of coral break off while the parrotfish is feeding.
don't feed the coral fish
- feeding them food from human diet will alter their feeding habit, effect their coloring; making them vulnerable to predators, and food poisoning that can led to their death.
http://www.mns.org.my/article.php?sid=98
Fish eat the algae growing on the coral. If there are not enough fish, the growth of algae gets out of control.
Remember that feeding fish makes them less cautious of humans, and more apt to be harmed by us, as well as more dependent on us for their food. If you can restrain yourself, please try to avoid feeding the fish. Feeding them cheese-whiz, bread, or hot-dogs is not only illegal, but these foods could also introduce disease that could be potentially species-destructive.
http://www.diveworld.com/usa/florida/keys.htm
Parrot fish and urchins are the sanitary engineers of the reefs, cleaning the coral of excess algae. Without them, the algae proliferated out-of-control, causing the entire ecosystem to collapse. Sponges are also keystone species. They act as the lungs of the reef, cleaning and recycling the water. Remove them and a crucial ecosystem function is lost, with consequences for the entire community.
http://www.oneworld.org/patp/vol6_2/hinrichsen.html
Signs abound -- you can barely spend a day on the Red Sea coasts without knowing the rules by heart. No fishing or spear fishing; don't tread on the corals; don't feed the fish; access the water from designated points only; do not litter, do not collect, remove, or damage any material, living or dead; take nothing with you ... leave nothing behind.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2001/548/tr2.htm
Fish Feeding
There is a growing concern about the effects of fish feeding on the reef. While this gives visitors an opportunity to observe fish close at hand, the types of food being offered are often inappropriate. Steak, chicken, cooked prawns; pasta and bread may seem like a good diet but not for fish. They cannot digest the saturated fats and acids in meat, cooked prawns shells contain indigestible chitin and bread and pasta can damage their livers. Fruit and vegetables are not so bad but they are not as nutritious as algae/plankton and pieces are often to large for herbivorous fish which come to be fed. Fish will often snatch at these foods when they thrown in the water but in reality they fill the fish up without providing the nourishment received from natural foods.
Apart from the nutritional aspects, fish can become dependant on a source of food, which will not always be there, and it may attract larger numbers or species of fish which do not naturally inhabit that area. In addition, artificial feeding can also change the behaviour of the fish. They can become aggressive and even dangerous to swimmers. On the other hand, fish which have become naturally tame are very vulnerable to fishing.
Feeding may also have detrimental effects on other parts of the reef when large amounts of extra nutrients are added to the water. For example, excessive growth of algae can damage the coral. Water quality may be affected, especially if fish feeding is used as an excuse for dumping of rubbish at sea.
http://www.divingcairns.com.au/marinelife_fish.html
Health problems for the animals fed: Feeding typically disrupts and alters normal foraging/feeding patterns, and may lead to a lessened ability to find/capture natural foods, and/or create a lasting reliance on people (Blount 1998; Wilkinson 1997). Also, animals are often fed items that they are not equipped to digest or process properly, including a wide variety of so-called "junk foods". Finally, "fed" wild animals also tend to lose their natural wariness of humans and their devices, putting them at greatly increased risk from accidental strikes or entanglement with human devices (i.e., cars, boats, propellers, nets/fishing gear, etc.) and from poachers or hunters. The magnitude of such problems for terrestrial wildlife recently prompted a summary warning to visitors to Canada's national parks: "A fed animal is a dead animal".
Harm to "fed" fishes: Experts on fish nutrition point out that many of the foods (hot dogs, baloney, cheese-in-a-can, bread, pretzels, potato chips, etc ) commonly fed to fishes by divers and snorkelers will predictably result in health problems for these animals, which do not naturally encounter such substances. As fish nutritionist Dr. David Ford (cited in Perrine 1989) pointed out, "Fish cannot handle hard fats..the fish packs the hard fats into the organs of its body with serious consequences to its health…excess carbohydrates…are not suitable for fish". Even presumably "natural" foods sometimes prove harmful or lethal to marine animals. Testimony presented in Federal court attributed the deaths of human-fed wild dolphins to bacteria of a type frequently associated with spoiled fish (NMFS 1994). Increased vulnerability to underwater hunters and poachers presents a particularly serious threat for "fed" fishes - particularly to certain of the larger predatory species such as groupers and snappers - the very kinds of reef fishes most in need of protection today. The author personally knows of a number of locations where "tamed" (by feeding) reef fish have been killed in this way.
http://www.reefrelief.org/science_body4.html
This is a Pdf file so I cannot copy from it. Open it and go to page 17 bottom of the page: To conclude…..
http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu/fac/hultquis/SeaGrant%20Final%20Report%201997.pdf
Five Reasons Why We Shouldn't Feed The Fish
Although we think of our reefs as huge aquariums that we can play in, there is no need to feed fish found within. The reasons are as follows:
1) The addition of nutrients (food) alters the nutrient balance of the reef and can cause a decline in the water quality and clarity of the reef.
2) Fish feeding alters the natural feeding behaviour. By feeding the algae eaters that control algae growth, they become handout feeders that soon neglect their important role of eating algae that could overgrow coral.
3) By feeding night feeders, such as the snappers and jacks, during the day, we disrupt the natural predator-prey interactions that are needed to keep the circle of life on the reef in balance.
4) As has happened at many popular dive sites around the world, fish that are hand fed can become aggressive and therefore a nuisance to divers and snorkellers.
5) The food that we feed the fish doesn't meet their nutritional requirements. By eating human food instead of their natural food, the fish become malnourished and more susceptible to lesions, sores and parasites around the mouth and gills.
So the next time you have trouble finishing a meal, don't save the leftovers for the fish, just eat them . . . after all, you are on vacation!
Julie Overing is a marine biologist
http://www.bviwelcome.com/articles/fish/
Fish feeding
Most food fit for eating, particularly bread and meat, is generally not suitable for fish and may damage their health.
Be aware that feeding fish may result in undesirably aggressive behaviour in some fish and can be dangerous to people in the water.
http://www.env.qld.gov.au/environment/coast/reef/cftr.html
Animals are often fed foods that they are not equipped to digest or process properly, including a wide variety of so-called "junk foods." Experts on fish nutrition point out that the "hard" fats found in some of the foods commonly fed to fishes (hot dogs, balogna, cheese-in-a-can, etc.) remain solid at ambient sea temperatures, and will predictably result in health problems for animals that do not naturally encounter such substances. Similarly, excess carbohydrates (bread, pretzels, potato chips, etc.) are also known to be unhealthy for marine fishes. Even presumably "natural" foods sometimes prove harmful or lethal to marine animals. Testimony presented in federal court attributed the deaths of human-fed wild dolphins to bacteria of a type frequently associated with spoiled fish (NMFS 1994).
http://www.xs4all.nl/~balemans/Article,Feedfish,EN.htm
