Damselfish (Pomacentridae) make up almost half of the trade, with species of angelfish (Pomacanthidae), surgeonfish (Acanthuridae), wrasses (Labridae), gobies (Gobiidae) and butterflyfish (Chaetodontidae) accounting for approximately another 25-30 per cent. These data have permitted the most accurate quantitative estimates to date of the size of the global trade in marine ornamental fish and corals, and the first ever estimates for invertebrates other than corals, a previously overlooked section of the industry.Ī total of 1,471 species of fish are traded worldwide with the best estimate of annual global trade ranging between 20 and 24 million individuals. In August 2003 the dataset contained 102,928 trade records (7.7 million imported and 9.4 million exported animals) covering a total of 2,393 species of fish, corals and invertebrates and spanning the years 1988 to 2003. Trade data have been obtained from wholesale exporters and importers of marine aquarium organisms, most often through copies of trade invoices, integrated and standardized into quantitative, species-specific information which has been placed in the public domain: Fifty eight companies, approximately one-fifth of the wholesalers in business, and four government management authorities have provided data to GMAD. (MAC) and members of various aquarium trade associationsĬollaboration, to address this need for better information and created the Global Marine Aquarium Database (GMAD). In 2000, the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), the Marine Aquarium Council In the main, this debate has taken place without access to impartial and quantitative data on the trade and, with so many different viewpoints, achieving consensus on its impacts, and hence the identification of suitable responses, has been difficult. As a result the trade has seldom been free of controversy as traders try to generate a profit, conservationists try to avoid further decline in coral reefs also suffering from other pressures, and policy makers try to assemble a legislative framework that protects coral reefs without threatening a legitimate business activity or the incomes of communities engaged in aquarium fishing. However, damaging techniques occasionally used to collect the animals, possible over harvesting of some species and the high levels of mortality associated with inadequate handling and transport of sensitive living organisms undermine this potential, and continue to pose significant challenges to achieving sustainability. If managed sustainably, the trade could support jobs in predominantly rural, low-income coastal communities and so provide strong economic incentives for coral reef conservation in regions where other options for generating revenue are limited. Very few of the species in trade are exploited directly for other purposes, and there is little doubt that aquarium animals are the highest value-added product that can be harvested from a coral reef. Ornamental marine species (corals, other invertebrates and fish) are collected and transported mainly from Southeast Asia, but also increasingly from several island nations in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, to consumers in the main destination markets: the United States, the European Union (EU) and, to a lesser extent, Japan. The trade which supplies this hobby with live marine animals is a global multi-million dollar industry, worth an estimated US$200-330 million annually, and operating throughout the tropics. Between 1.5 and 2 million people worldwide are believed to keep marine aquaria.
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