The Jakarta, Indonesia, team of health and science reporter Victoria Milko, video journalist Andi Jatmiko, reporter Edna Tarigan, reporter-photographer Firdia Lisnawati and photographer Tatan Syuflana, collaborating with New York video journalist and motion graphics producer Marshall Ritzel, video journalist Kathy Young, global enterprise photo editor and designer Maye-E Wong and Washington video journalist Angie Wang produced a unique two-part series about how and why aquarium fish are captured and transported around the world, whether legally or not.
Not long after Milko moved to Jakarta for the AP’s Health and Science team, she noticed aquarium fish at a market near the office. She suspected there would be a story connecting the fish seen in fancy aquariums in the West to the sensitive tropical reefs in Southeast Asia. She was right — and like many good stories, this one had multiple layers, some of them dark.
Fish are caught using cyanide to stun them; it weakens the fish but kills many while destroying the reefs they inhabit. As Milko learned more, it became clear that many AP journalists would be needed to show how the trade stretched around the world and how difficult it was for authorities to regulate it. The team in Indonesia went on a dive with a fisherman in Bali, visited breeding operations and met with middlemen at a warehouse in Jakarta to show how the fish were caught and gathered for export.
In a still image from video provided to the AP, a fish is sprayed with cyanide solution to stun it and make it easy to capture for the trade in aquarium fish. But the cyanide technique is illegal; many of the fish caught this way die and the cyanide destroys the reef habitat.
Image from UGC video via AP
Made Partiana uses a net to catch aquarium fish on the north coast of Bali, Indonesia, April 10, 2021. Partiana became part of a group of local fishermen who were taught by a local conservation organization how to use nets, care for the reef and patrol the area to guard against cyanide use. He later became a lead trainer for the organization and has trained more than 200 fellow aquarium fishermen across Indonesia in use of less harmful techniques.
AP Photo / Alex Lindbloom
Made Partiana, foreground, and a fellow villager bring caught fish to shore in northern Bali, Indonesia, April 10, 2021. Millions of saltwater fish are caught in Indonesia and other countries every year to fill ever more elaborate aquariums in living rooms, waiting rooms and restaurants around the world with vivid, otherworldly life.
AP Photo / Alex Lindbloom
Made Partiana and another villager sort fish caught in northern Bali, Indonesia, April 11, 2021. “I hope that [healthier] coral reefs will make it possible for the next generation of children and grandchildren under me,” Partiana says. He wants them to be able to “see what coral looks like and that there can be ornamental fish in the sea.”
AP Photo / Alex Lindbloom
The town of Les, in northern Bali, Indonesia, a saltwater aquarium fishing town tucked between the mountains and ocean, shown April 11, 2022.
AP Photo / Alex Lindbloom
A worker scoops up baby clownfish at a breeding facility in Buleleng, Bali, Indonesia, April 13, 2022.
AP Photo / Tatan Syuflana
A worker sorts saltwater aquarium fish at a breeding facility in Buleleng, Bali, Indonesia, April 13, 2022.
AP Photo / Tatan Syuflana
Workers sort aquarium fish caught and delivered to an export warehouse in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, April 12, 2021. Fish from around Indonesia are shipped through the facility.
AP Photo / Alex Lindbloom
Workers sort aquarium fish at a middleman house in Les, Bali, Indonesia, April 11, 2021.
AP Photo / Alex Lindbloom
A worker checks a sort-and-order list at a middleman facility for saltwater aquarium fish in Les, Bali, Indonesia, April 10, 2021.
AP Photo / Alex Lindbloom
Naso tang fish for sale swim inside a display aquarium at a market in Jakarta, Indonesia, Oct. 13, 2022.
AP Photo / Tatan Syuflana
A vendor counts money under bags of aquarium fish for sale at his stall in a market in Parung, West Java, Indonesia, June 23, 2022.
AP Photo / Tatan Syuflana
In the U.S., the team needed months to get skittish U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials to agree to an on-camera interview. The journalists had to overcome similar issues getting pet stores and enthusiasts to talk about such a sensitive topic. The second story, about captive breeding, presented its own challenges, mainly because the tricks and techniques of captive breeding are such closely held, valuable secrets. But after months of newsgathering the team had it all — a deeply reported package stocked with vivid photos and video of fisherman, middlemen, experts, officials, pet stores and enthusiasts.
The sprawling and innovative enterprise package highlighted the global reach and depth of the AP, from Indonesia to Bali to Florida and Rhode Island, while a robust social media plan engaged readers and viewers.