The Ornamental Aquatic Trade Association has warned the aquatic industry to beware of pressure groups seeking a ban on the sale of all non-domesticated pets, including ornamental fish. 

Chief Executive Keith Davenport said: "These organisations often have big marketing budgets – way in excess of OATA’s annual budget – and they’ve already having some success."

Here Keith reviews 2013 and then looks forward to the year ahead.

What have been the successes of 2013?

OATA has fought a number of battles this year where we can at least say we’ve won some battles if not the whole war. We managed to save some aquatic plants – including the oxygenator Lagarosiphon major, water hyacinth and water lettuce - from being banned by DEFRA when it announced five other plants can no longer be sold from April 2014. Saving these plants ensured continued retail sales of several million pounds.

We managed to secure a reprieve for barley straw products that would have had to come off the shelves due to the new Biocides Regulation. We’ve also saved the industry hundreds of thousands of pounds by challenging AHVLA over its border inspection charges – which are put on all shipments of fish coming into our airports. And we’ve worked closely with the Fish Health Inspectorate during its review of the Import of Live Fish Act which should safeguard the future trade of species such as sturgeon.

What are the challenges still facing the industry?

A big challenge is tackling the issue of non-native species. As an industry we bring into the country a huge number of plants and animals that aren’t native to our shores and could cause problems to our countryside if they’re released. Anyone involved in the industry – whether its dry goods manufacturers to retailers on the High Street – have a role to play in educating customers about the dangers of inadvertently releasing things into the wild. There’s legislation coming out of Europe about this which could stop the trade in certain species – and that means no more goods or fish to sell to customers. Needless to say we’re lobbying to make sure the industry has a voice in what’s happening.

Another growing challenge is coming from pressure groups which want a ban on the sale of all non-domesticated pets – and that includes ornamental fish. These organisations often have big marketing budgets – way in excess of OATA’s annual budget – and they’ve already having some success. OATA is a tiny organisation up against some big players so we really need all the support we can get from the industry – particularly by joining us as members.

What are the opportunities going forwards?

We can’t be the only people to have noticed a more optimistic note in recent news stories about the state of the economy which is good to hear. And it’s great to see the number of stories in magazines and on the TV at the moment about building garden ponds. We see Charlie Dimmock is talking about just this on the Great British Garden Revival on BBC2 (January 9) so there are opportunities for canny retailers and pond consultants to capitalise on this sort of coverage.

What are the reasons for optimism?

One of the things that really stood out at the AQUA show in October was number of people visiting our stand because they were setting up new shops. It was particularly good to hear that people see a future in investing in bricks and mortar aquatic businesses and it was definitely gratifying that they saw the benefits of joining OATA. Like all industries, we need to adapt to changing times but there’s still nothing quite like seeing beautiful fish, corals and plants in good aquarium settings to inspire the consumer.