
The Amazon Research Center (ARCOF) is the first research facility devoted solely to the study of aquarium fishes established on land located outside of Iquitos in the Peruvian Amazon. Approximately 10,000 indigenous people earn an income from the aquarium fish trade. As such, the capture and exportation of aquarium fishes is both a key contributor to the local economy as well as a key factor in the overfishing of these fishes. ARCOF helps local villagers make a living in a manner that does not do further damage to the vulnerable rainforest ecology through education and aquaculture.