France Stops Selling Bowl Aquariums Because It Makes Fish Crazy And Quickly Dies

JAKARTA - A leading French aquarium vendor has decided to stop selling round fish bowl aquariums because it drives fish crazy and makes them die quickly.

French pet grooming market leader AgroBiothers Laboratoire will no longer sell any aquariums with a capacity of less than 15 liters and only rectangular ones because placing fish in small bowls without filtration and oxygenation is violence against animals, he said.

"People buy goldfish for their children on impulse, but if they knew how torturous it is, they wouldn't. Swirling around in a small bowl drives the fish crazy and kills them quickly," AgroBiothers CEO Matthieu Lambeaux told Reuters, as quoted by Antara, Monday, January 24.

Goldfish can live up to 30 years and grow to about 25 cm in a large aquarium or outdoor pond, but in small bowls, the fish often die within weeks or months.

He said goldfish are social animals that need the company of other fish, a large space, and clean water, and people who own an aquarium need minimal equipment and skills.

Germany and several other European countries have long banned fish bowls, but France has no laws on the matter.

"We can't educate all of our customers to explain that keeping fish in bowls is cruel. We consider it our responsibility to no longer give consumers that option," Lambeaux said.

AgroBiothers, which has a share of the French pet care products market of about 27 percent, sells about 50,000 fish bowls a year at around 20 euros a piece in previous years.

"There is a demand for fish bowls, but the reality is that what we offer the children is the possibility of seeing the goldfish die slowly," he said.