The little pet fish that saved a town in the Amazon
3/18/202633 min
The cardinal tetra is one of the most popular pet fish in the world. They look like little red and blue sequins. You've almost certainly seen them at the pet store or the fish tank at your dentist's office. They're everywhere.
Not so long ago, most of the world's supply of cardinals came from just one place. It's a little town deep in the rainforests of Brazil, where locals still catch these fish by hand. But the business that this town has relied on for decades has come under threat.
Recently, we hopped on a plane to see this unusual economy for ourselves — and, two different visions for how to save it.
For more information about these fish, check out Project Piaba.
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This episode was hosted by Jeff Guo. It was co-reported and produced by Luis Gallo. It was edited by Marianne McCune, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Kwesi Lee. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money*’s executive producer.*
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:00
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Luis Gallo0:19
This is Planet Money from NPR.
Jeff Guo· Host0:22
A couple weeks ago, Planet Money producer Luis Gallo and I found ourselves on a dark, glassy river in the middle of the Amazon rainforest. We climbed into a small canoe.
Luis Gallo0:37
Jeff, don't tilt us.
Jeff Guo· Host0:39
[laughs] After settling in a bit- Jeff, you have to be in the middle.
Luis Gallo0:41
Weight always in the middle ...
Jeff Guo· Host0:43
we headed upriver. And we're off. We were here to investigate a change that's been happening in the worldwide multibillion-dollar business of pretty little fish. You know, those tropical fish you often see at the pet store, the neon-colored ones, the ones that shimmer like sequins? Some of them actually come from the wild. In fact, one of the world's most popular species of pet fish is caught right here in the Brazilian Amazon. Our guide for the day is Valderiz Sequeira. People call him Deco. [water splashing] Deco says, "Get ready for an aventura, an adventure, to see what we can catch." Will you ask Deco just to tell us a little bit more about where we're going?