Advancing Aquaculture at QM Labs

Quality Marine is now (and has been since our inception in the late 1970s) an ardent supporter of both responsible wild harvest and aquaculture efforts around the globe. From the tiniest boutique clownfish breeders to the hugest South Asian coral farms, we have tirelessly sought out sources for the best livestock for our partners everywhere. To this end, we have in recent years made massive investments in our own aquaculture efforts here at QM Aquaculture Labs.

Today, our valued retail partners can choose from more than 22 species aquacultured by our scientists here. We offer many of the industry's best sellers like Snowflake Clowns and continue to break new ground with species previously unattainable as aquacultured specimens like our Purple Tangs. (See full list below) This allows us to offer our customers a regular, reliable source for stock that they actually need, that has spent its entire existence under our direct supervision. Here we have gone great lengths to ensure our aquacultured offerings are reared in a sterile, state-of-the-art facility, tightly controlling their exposure to anything and everything, including all the different foods we are rearing here to feed these fish from their earliest larval stages!

In addition to the fish, we culture ourselves, we offer hundreds of fish from public and private aquaculture efforts around the globe. Supporting the breakthrough of other scientists advances the frontier of what is possible in aquaculture, and we believe this is vital for the health of our industry.

We remain staunch supporters of responsible wild harvest and have no plans to disrupt this ethical and sustainable pathway for fish and invertebrates to enter the trade. When done ethically and with the best interest of the livestock at the forefront of our mindset, this practice can be carried out in perpetuity without lasting impact on local environments and directly supports fishermen in areas of the world that are frequently overwhelmed by poverty. Independent studies have repeated shown that the harvesting ornamental fish offers greater economic impact and vastly less environmental impact that the sustenance fishery they would be dependent on if wild collection was to cease entirely. There are many instances where these local fishermen and women have been able to segue successfully into aquaculture and mariculture of many of their local species, which we also fervently support.

In our quest to deliver the highest quality fish and inverts to both public aquariums and our retail partners, we have cultivated (and continue to embrace) thriving relationships with these same local fishermen around the world, instead of middlemen and exporters. This has shortened the transit time and reduced the number of stops and hand-offs our livestock takes, eliminating inconsistencies in care and handling. We reserve our SSC label (Short Supply Chain) for the fastest and most direct of these suppliers and this is another article. We have shown through decades of intense record keeping that this has a profound effect on the quality of the fish we offer and has a marked effect on reducing the mortality of these fish in house and further down the road.

It's onward on and upward for Quality Marine Labs Aquaculture in the future, and our goals revolve around continued innovation to increase yield, while optimizing and scaling production of the species currently in production. We are continuing to break new ground, with a focus on aquaculturing both demersal and pelagic species, which have little or no history of being commercially cultured.

We, at Quality Marine, are one of the longest standing marine ornamental livestock distributors in the world. We have always championed research and development in aquaculture, alongside our support for responsible and sustainable wild ornamental marine fisheries. Doing so supports livelihoods of coastal fishers, along with a growing number of aquaculturists in developing nations throughout the tropics. We have countless exclusive relationships with aquatic ornamental industry partners around the globe, and work tirelessly to support both responsible wild-harvest operators and others that pioneer development of aquaculture innovation and expansion of scale and output. The industry’s ongoing support of aquaculture efforts is an increasingly essential component of a more sustainable aquarium trade.

As of June 2024, these fish are currently available from Quality Marine Aquaculture Labs:

Gulf Blenny

False Percula Ocellaris Clownfish
Snowflake Ocellaris Clownfish
Misbar Ocellaris Clownfish
Semi Picasso Percula Clownfish
Misbar Percula Clownfish
Platinum Percula Clownfish
Darwin Ocellaris Clownfish
Misbar Darwin Ocellaris Clownfish
Black Ice Clownfish
Premium Snowflake Ocellaris Clownfish
Gold Stripe Maroon Clownfish
Mocha Ocellaris Clownfish
Maldives Black Pearl Clarkii Clownfish
Wide-band / Latezonatus Clownfish
Neon Aldabraensis Dottyback
Orchid Fridmani Dottyback
Neon Dutoiti Dottyback
Neon Blue Cleaner Goby
Neon Gold Goby
Purple Tang
Misbar Wide-band / Latezonatus Clownfish
Picasso Clownfish
Da Vinci Grade A Clownfish
Da Vinci Grade B Clownfish