Ornamental Aquatic Trade Association (OATA Ltd)

23/10/2025

We are very pleased to welcome our new Scientific Support Officer Leigh-Marie Hobday to the team!

Leigh joins us from The Coral Centre where she was Operations & Propagation Manager. And before that she worked as a marine taxonomist studying the health of UK waters.

She studied at the University of Portsmouth where she gained both a BSc in Marine Environmental Science and a Masters in Applied Aquatic Biology.

Leigh said: “This will be a great opportunity to use my previous experience to become a voice for an industry that has been a part of my personal and working life for a long time now. I’m excited to work alongside a fantastic team of people and contribute towards the longevity of the trade.

“This is something very close to my heart because I’ve been a fish keeper since I was eight years old and, more recently a reptile keeper. I currently have a planted Betta fish tank (he’s named Blu), an axolotl tank (he’s named Nahuatl) and a nano reef tank with a pair of Clownfish (Jim & Pam), a single Yellow Watchman Goby (Toby) and a Firefish named Angela.”

In her spare time, Leigh shares her love of marine life by volunteering with marine conservation charities, helping with beach cleanups and giving community talks on ocean life.

22/10/2025

We’ve put together this explainer video in case you are thinking now is the time to invest in staff training as animal activity licensing comes around again.

Our City and Guilds accredited Foundation and Advanced training programmes are perfect for helping your business meet licensing requirements to train staff in the species they sell.

The training will help improve staff knowledge and contribute to your business being seen as a trusted resource for your customers.

Don't forget - OATA member businesses get a discount on fees!

Find out more about the training here.

https://ornamentalfish.org/training/

15/10/2025

What’s irritating about this story is that the headline so many publications are using comes from the original press release from the University of Sydney (see below). The research makes it clear it’s talking about marine fish, not all aquarium fish.

The vast majority of tropical fish kept in aquariums are freshwater and these are mainly captive reared so of course almost all aquarium fish kept in the US are NOT from the wild.

OATA has been in touch with the lead researcher to ask him to correct it. You would hope that he – and indeed the University - would value accuracy as a scientist.

Research by Dr Bing Lin in the School of Geosciences has raised alarm bells about where most aquarium fish originate. He calls for stronger traceability and regulatory oversight to ensure that fish are sourced responsibly.

10/10/2025

Are you supporting SHOAL’s Save Denise’s Friends to save the popular home aquarium favourite the Denison Barb? It’s part of its SOS campaign fighting for endangered freshwater fishes across the globe and we’d love you to share information and support the campaign in your business.

“You know how hard it can be to keep fish but also how thrilling. It’s a spiritual experience. But in order to do so we need spirituality back home in Denises’s own place and for that we need your support.”

Find out more about the campaign here. https://shoalconservation.org/denisons-barb-film/

https://youtu.be/rgoLx0lqeYU?si=K3mfRB1xbA1apAZ_

The Denison’s barb a popular aquarium fish, but the species' wild home in India is under threat. Together we can stop the fish going extinct.

09/10/2025

Good biosecurity is good for business! Here’s why you should check out our handy online self-assessment tool on our website to help you identify areas that need some work in your business.

https://ornamentalfish.org/what-we-do/set-standards/biosecurity/

08/10/2025

Animal activity licensing inspections are approaching! Have you downloaded our QR codes to use near shop tanks that give your customers access to species-specific caresheets? It’s a great way to show your local authority inspector you’re satisfying that requirement of the license.
https://ornamentalfish.org/what-we-do/advice-information/care-sheets/

07/10/2025

Have you checked out our Annual Review yet? Get the lowdown on what OATA has been doing for members and the industry over the past 12 months.

A story told with Adobe Express

06/10/2025

As the leaves start to fall thoughts turn to garden and pond tidy-ups in readiness for winter. So now’s a great time to talk to customers about Be Plant Wise – particularly the compost with care message. Here are some ideas to share around what to do with aquatic plants cleared from garden ponds. Please help us spread the message!

02/10/2025

Latest recruit to the OATA team... no, it's not our new Scientific Support Officer! They will be revealed in a couple of weeks. This is Percy, our PR & Parliamentary Officer Pauline's JRT. Pauline has added a few more hours to her part-time position to work on a host of new ideas we have for improving our membership. So Percy's coming along to lend a paw.

First job was to familiarise himself with the industry with our Fishing for Facts report. If you fancy reading it for yourself you can find it on our website. Percy highly recommends it. 😁💯
https://ornamentalfish.org/what-we-do/represent-the-industry/fishing-for-facts/

01/10/2025

The beginning of October sees some changes to the OATA team, following the retirement of Dominic Whitmee, so we thought we'd reintroduce you to some familiar faces!

Matthew Bond is now OATA's Chief Executive and Emily Maunder steps up to become our Scientific & Technical Adviser.

We'll be making an announcement very soon about who will fill Emily's shoes as our new Scientific Support Officer when they officially join the team!

29/09/2025

Did you know we have free caresheets on our website for businesses to use when they sell animals?

A key requirement of animal activity licensing is to have care information available to customers when they buy their new pets. So we’ve created QR codes for each of our 60+ caresheets so shops can display these near tanks. Customers can then use their smartphones to access the information straightaway.

So they're a great way to show local authority inspectors you are meeting this requirement of your licensing conditions. Find them here, along with the QR codes to download. https://ornamentalfish.org/what-we-do/advice-information/care-sheets/