Is it over yet? Can I come back out? Is 2020 safely tucked behind us?

Yeah, what a year that was, huh? Brexit AND a global pandemic. Thing is, I have my ear to the ground and I know just how close we came to not making it through last year. It turns out that fishkeeping isn’t such a lucrative industry for shop owners, with many living a perpetual state of financial hand-tomouth.

If the industry hadn’t gained an exemption to continue trading under the ‘essential retailer’ umbrella, I speculate that — and this is conservatively, too — around two thirds of the UK’s aquatic stores would have permanently closed. Imagine that; a future where you couldn’t browse a store, couldn’t even pick out an individual guppy. But it gets worse. No shops means no wild collections, and the conservation that supports. No farms. No R&D for new products. Be grateful we pulled through, my friends, and embrace new hope for 2021!

Nathan Hill, Editor