The
Live Reef Food-Fish Trade
Robert E. Johannes[1]
To stun and capture reef fish for the live reef food-fish market,
hundreds of tons of sodium cyanide are being pumped annually into the coral
reefs of Southeast Asia, degrading these - the most species-rich marine
communities in the world. In addition,
intensive hook-and-line fishing to supply this market has eliminated completely
some grouper spawning aggregations. The
trade is worth well over a billion dollars annually and is expanding
continuously, with no end in sight. As
a result, destructive fishing practices have spread from Southeast Asia into
the Western Pacific Islands and the Indian Ocean. The trade damages seriously not only coral reef resources but
also the economies and the social fabric of coastal fishing communities in the
region. It is also resulting in the
death or paralysis of many untrained divers due to the bends. The Philippines, Indonesia, and Hong Kong
have all taken steps recently to control the trade and help put it on an
environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable basis. It is clear, however, that the
environmental, social, and political problems arising from the trade are not
just enormous but also complex; there is no one simple solution. These issues must be addressed at a variety
of levels using regulatory, educational, scientific, and economic tools. Expansion of aquaculture of reef food-fish
is one strategy but there are many difficulties to overcome