The little pet fish that saved a town in the Amazon

The cardinal tetra is one of the most popular pet fish in the world. They look like little red and blue sequins. You've almost certainly seen them at the pet store or the fish tank at your dentist's office. They're everywhere. Not so long ago, most of the world's supply of cardinals came from just one place. It's a little town deep in the rainforests of Brazil, where locals still catch these fish by hand. But the business that this town has relied on for decades has come under threat. Recently, we hopped on a plane to see this unusual economy for ourselves — and, two different visions for how to save it. For more information about these fish, check out Project Piaba. Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift . /

You can listen to The little pet fish that saved a town in the Amazon online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

The little pet fish that saved a town in the Amazon is an episode from Planet Money by NPR.

This episode is 33:15 long.

This episode was published on Mar 18, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Planet Money when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.