Project Piaba
A cardinal tetra, or piaba
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| Established | 1991 |
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| Founders | Ning Labbish Chao, Gregory Prang |
| Type | Non-governmental organization |
| Legal status | Charity |
| Purpose | Conservation of the Amazon River basin |
| Headquarters | New England Aquarium |
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Director
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Scott Dowd |
| Slogan | Buy a Fish, Save a Tree! |
| Website | http://projectpiaba.org/ |
Project Piaba (pronounced: [pi:ˈɑ:bɑ:]) is a fishery initiative located on the Rio Negro tributary of the Amazon river. The program both promotes and researches sustainable aquarium pet fish collection and its impact on the environment. The name of the project comes from the Brazilian Portuguese word, piaba, which means "little fish", referring specifically to the cardinal tetra (Paracheirodon axelrodi). Project Piaba is an ongoing project with annual research expeditions to the Rio Negro region. Because of the sustainable nature of the project, its slogan is "Buy a Fish, Save a Tree!"
Many ornamental freshwater aquarium fish, including the cardinal tetra and the discus (Symphysodon ssp.), are sourced from the Amazon River basin area. The Rio Negro region is the home of more than 100 different species of fish that are important to the pet fish trade. In fact several species, including cardinal tetras, show the adaptive trait of iridescence which may provide lower visibility in a blackwater environment.
Project Piaba started with an ecological baseline study of the region which was conducted in 1989 by a group of researchers and students from the Universidade do Amazonas (UA) and the National Institute of Amazon Research (INPA). This initial survey discovered and documented the importance of the fish trade to the local economy and it led the researchers to wonder about the impact the fishing had on the environment.
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