Why are Dragon Fish So Expensive?
- May 28, 2022
- Anshika Mishra
- 1656 0 0
What would you rather have, a new car or a Dragonfish? It turns out they cost around the same. A single Dragonfish can go for tens of thousands of dollars. So, what is so special about this fish?
Why is the Dragon Fish So Expensive?
It might not look that way, but this endangered fish is so coveted that people have gone to prison over it.
The Dragonfish gets its nickname for how it resembles a Dragon is a fish as it swims. However, its real name is Asian Arowana.
It is a freshwater fish native to Southeast Asia, and it has taken the aquarium market by storm.
Today, these fishes are so priced that some have their motor case, and breeders protect their stocks with layers of a concrete wall, complete with guard dogs and security guards.
There is even a market for cosmetic surgery to help subpar fish who need eye lifts or chin tucks. And while that may sound like overkill, it's not.
It is a precious commodity, which has driven a tremendous amount of crime around the areas where it is bred. So we are talking murder and midnight fish snapping.
The History Behind the Scarcity
This wasn't always the case, however. Until the first half of the 20th century, these fish weren't flaunted. Instead, they were filleted and eaten by locals.
Then, in 1967, an aquarium trader traveling through Northern Malaysia saw a dead Arowana at a food market and found it so attractive that he sought one out to keep as a pet.
By the 1980s, Arowanas had turned up in Taiwan, and eventually, people all over Asia wanted one. In particular, the red and gold variety of Arowana came to symbolize luck and wealth in several Asian cultures.
All that has led to whole mythology about the fish: it is supposed to bring luck and prosperity, even to jump out of its tank to save its owner.
Nowadays, breeding for a new color combination is all the rage, like the Chilli Red variety that you can get for around $1,400 each or the Emerald Violet Fusion Super Red, which goes for about $1,200 each.
But no fish is more rare and valuable than the Albino variety. In 2009, one of these set a record, selling for $300,000 to an anonymous high-ranking official in the Chinese government.
Most people who buy Dragonfish are middle-class Chinese men who will collect her fish as a status symbol.
Why is the Fish Illegal?
Keeping this fish is very much a macho hobby; there are not a lot of women who do it. It is almost like collecting cars or something like that.
So, in the mid-90s, when the Dragonfish were successfully bred in captivity on certified farms, it was a big deal because they were becoming rare in the wild due to overfishing and harvesting or the pet trade. Since then, more demand has led to breeding operations all over Southeast Asia. And while it is perfectly legal to buy a Dragonfish in the area, it may not be in other non-Asian countries.
In the US, for example, you can only find the Asian Arowana on the black market, and you can't bring it into the country because the US endangered species act bans it.
So, if you have an itch to have a dragon-like pet, maybe you should stick to something safer, like bearded dragons.
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