From reefs to restaurants; live

reef food fish trade in Asia, the

role of importing countries

Yvonne Sadovy de Mitcheson

University of Hong Kong

IUCN Groupers & Wrasses Specialist Group

Live Reef Food Fish Trade (LRFFT)

moves into and through Hong Kong: involves

groupers and wrasses destined to be luxury

seafood. Most species are wild-caught

Patrick L. Colin

CITES APP II

Threatened-IUCN

/2000s

Complex trade chain

with few controls and

poor understanding

of resource status,

trade volumes/values

Catches from thousands of fisherman

consolidated through few traders

Issues

• High demand/value and biological characteristics

of species have led to unsustainable fishing

levels

• Consolidation (within and between countries)

obscures low natural densities/serial declines

• High prices/profits, especially downstream,

strong incentive for traders/importers

• Considerable illegal, unmonitored and

unregulated (IUU) trade in both source and

destination countries

Tens of thousands of FISHERS

Millions of CONSUMERS

Tens of thousands of FISHERS

Hundreds of ……………

• Retailers/Distributors• Investors• Buyers/Exporters • Traders• Government

Millions of CONSUMERS

Opportunities: import side

• Monitoring imports and addressing IUU

(especially for CITES-listed species)

• Government policy on sustainable seafood

and wildlife trade/crime (e.g. govt.

sourcing/wildlife crime/enforcement)…………

Opportunities: import side

• ………..Corporate Social Responsibility

initiatives (traders/transporters)

• Understanding trade flows/investigations in

major import centres

• Facebook and education campaigns

Monitoring trade and addressing IUU

From vessel-tracking to checking on-line sales

Monitoring trade and addressing IUU

e.g. CITES-listed speciesNapoleon or Humphead wrasse

From vessel-tracking to checking on-line sales

Countries, i.e. Indonesia, Philippines,

Malaysia

Hainan

Land Air Sea

Hong KongGuangzhou &

Shenzhen

Guangzhou

Beijing

ShanghaiHangzhou

Fujian

MongoliaXinjiang Chengdu

Fuzhou

Tai Yuan (Shanxi)

Guangzhou

Shenzhen

Shenzhen

Beijing Wenzhou

ShanghaiHangzhou

Fuzhou

Hainan

Hainan

Xiamen

Minor

Unknown sources

Unknown

China HHW -- Baseline survey on trade in live

reef food fish in mainland China (WWF & China Aquatic Products

Processing and Marketing Alliance unpubl. data)

Understanding trade flows; investigations

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

No.

of

ind

ivid

uals

Month & Year

75-8565-7555-6545-5535-4525-35

Corporate Social Responsibilityinitiatives

Options for inspection window in cover of hard carrier

Bonus: could help replace polystyrene boxes

Facebook and education campaigns

Thank you!