Renting Nemo

Oahu

From his aquaculture farm outside of Tsingtao, China, Richard Xie raises thousands of marine ornamentals — eight species of clownfish, three species of angel fish and two different kinds of damsels — selling them to wholesalers in 34 states and 27 countries. Last February, Xie’s company, Honolulu-based Hawaiian Sealife Inc., began offering his farm-raised fish to Island consumers, for rent.

Hawaiian Sealife’s rental program features a choice of three acrylic aquariums (20 gallons, 55 gallons and 125 gallons) and five plans, which offer differing levels of service and equipment and number and kind of fish. Prices range from $139 a month for an “Affordable” 20-gallon aquarium setup to $439 a month for a 125-gallon “World Series” tank. Besides all the equipment, supplies and fish, Hawaiian Sealife also provides biweekly maintenance of the tank and replaces any fish that die.

Xie’s immediate target markets are hotels, restaurants, bars, dentists’ offices and high-end homeowners, who appreciate the living art but don’t have the time or the expertise to maintain the complicated habitats. However, his long-range goals are far more far-reaching.

“In the typical marine aquarium, 99 percent of the fish are wild caught. In our tanks, 50 percent are caught and 50 percent are farm raised,” says
Xie. “Since our fish are raised in captivity, they adjust to new environments better and live longer. But, more importantly, that is one less fish you are
taking from the ocean.”

In its first couple of months in business, Hawaiian Sealife has secured contracts with a few bars, restaurants and dentists along with a handful of Hawaii Kai homeowners. While he hopes that his rental program will be a $4 million operation in several years, he says that it will always be secondary to his fish-raising business, providing valuable market research and education. It also might save a lot of fish in the process.

“Fish distributors don’t care whether it’s aquaculture or not. All they care about is price, so they aren’t interested in farm-raised fish,” says Xie. “So our rental program is a way to reach directly to the consumers: If you buy aquaculture, you’ll be saving fish in the wild.”

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