I was talking with a young (middle-school aged) relative living in Taiwan and mentioned how, living outside of Taiwan, I would catch small fish and shrimp from local streams to keep in my aquarium. The relative, who has an interest in science and nature (and, probably not coincidentally, is also a vegetarian), quickly replied with “but you’re damaging the environment!”
Now, where I live, it’s common for kids and adults in the summer to play in streams and sweep little nets around in the water, in the hopes of catching some critters like fish, shrimp, crabs, crayfish, metamorphosable aquatic insect larvae, and the like, and then taking those critters back home to raise them in aquariums. Same with insects and butterflies. It’s just something that kids, and sometimes adults, do.
I was a bit taken aback by the middle-schooler’s quick response about “damaging the environment” by catching critters – though on the other hand, I vaguely recall from my own middle-school days seeing some nature video that did advise children to only observe creatures in nature – by for example lifting a rock and seeing what’s under it – but not to disturb the creatures.
In Taiwan, what’s the general attitude towards catching these sorts of creatures (fish, shrimp, etc.) from streams for raising in aquariums? Is there some prohibition or inhibition against it? It’s hard for me to imagine that kids in Taiwan would not naturally go out and catch creatures from nature, but who knows.