ISSN 1026-2040

Secretariat of the Pacific Community L IVE REEF FISH The live reef fish export and aquarium trade

Number 4 — April 1998 INFORMATION BULLETIN

Editor and group coordinator: Bob (R.E.) Johannes, 8 Tyndall Court, Bonnet Hill, Tasmania 7053, . [In Australia: phone: 03 62298064 - fax: 03 62298066. From overseas: phone: (61) 3 62298064 - fax: (61) 3 62298066. E-mail: [email protected]] Production: Information Section, Marine Resources Division, SPC, B.P. D5, 98848 Noumea Cedex, . [Fax: (687) 263818; e-mail: [email protected]]. Printed with financial assistance from the Government of France.

EditorÕs mutterings The APEC-sponsored conference on destructive fishing held in Inside this issue Hong Kong in early December l997 produced some noteworthy papers on the live reef-fish trade. Revised and updated versions of two of them are presented in this issue. (Recommendations Turning the poison tide . . . arising from the meeting had not been finalised in time for this by C.V. Barber & F.P. Cruz p. 3 issue, so they will appear in the next issue.) The Haribon Netsman At the workshop, Yvonne Sadovy predicted that ciguatera (a Program p. 7 kind of toxin that makes reef fish poisonous to human con- sumers) was likely to become a problem in Hong Kong sooner or Lessons learned from later (see her ciguatera article, this issue, p. 51). It proved to be attempting to curb cyanide sooner; within weeks an outbreak occurred, with over l00 hospi- fishing in Maluku, Indonesia tal cases (see her appendix to the above article). Consumption by D.S.Adhuri p. 12 plummeted along with prices. Combating destructive fishing This was not the only cause of reduced consumption in Hong practices in KNP: Kong, however. One of the major figures in the Hong Kong live Ban the hookah compressor! reef food-fish trade told me at the workshop that AsiaÕs eco- nomic dive was taking its toll on the demand for live reef fish. by J.S. Pet & R.H. Djohani p. 17 His company supplies live reef fish to a hotel chain over the Chinese new year period, a time of many banquets and much An overview and comparison consumption of live reef fish. This year, he said, the hotel chain of destructive fishing practices ordered 40 per cent fewer fish than it did last year at this time, in Indonesia anticipating a major slump in demand because of the plummet- by L. Pet-Soede & M. Erdmann ing Hong Kong stock market. p. 28

Another paper given by Lida Pet-Soede and Mark Erdmann at Wild collection of juveniles the workshop provided a lot of food for thought. Among their for : interesting conclusions (see their article in this issue, p. 28) is just another capture ? that, in at least some parts of Indonesia, fishermen are making an by Y. Sadovy & J. Pet p. 36 extremely good living from the trade, which is driven more by Ôgreed than needÕ. They also speculate that repeated use of and much more ... cyanide by aquarium fish collectors in an area is more likely to

MARINE RESOURCES DIVISION – INFORMATION SECTION 2 SPC Live Reef Fish Information Bulletin #4 – April 1998 cause serious damage to reefs than typical live reef isfy consumer demand. If efforts were made to food-fish cyaniding operations. In addition, they educate the industry everyone would benefitÑ provide evidence that, as predicted, target stocks including the fish. are rapidly diminishing in Indonesia, and that as they decline, fishing methods appear to evolve ******** from (a) , to (b) hook-and-line and Recent experience in some Pacific Islands shows trap fishing, to (c) trap fishing for juveniles for that governments should give their grow-out, to (d) an Ôalmost post-apocalypticÕ no departments the primary responsibility for grant- live reef fishery at all. ing permits for live reef-fish operations and ensure that department personnel are trained appropri- ******** ately. If other agencies, such as foreign investment Ignorance of the most basic procedures for han- boards, are given the responsibility, they run a dling and holding fish seems to be the rule rather much higher risk of promoting activities that are than the exception among live reef food-fish opera- harmful economically and environmentally be- tors in Indonesia, the Philippines and the Pacific cause of lack of familiarity with the pitfalls of the Islands. Improper decompression of fish brought trade. Fisheries departments should be trained in up from deep water continues to damage fish appropriate licensing procedures and, in turn, unnecessarily. Fish are often much too crowded in should assist traditional fishing rights owners in holding pens. Diseased fish are not quarantined. negotiating fair contracts with LRF companies. Antibiotics are not used properly. Feeding is often haphazard and feed quality is poor. Water quality is ******** poor. Because the industry is made up of many How many times have we heard that humphead small, competing companies, there is little incentive (Maori, Napoleon) wrasse must be caught with for good operators to disseminate their knowledge. cyanide because they cannot be caught with hook and line. I am convinced that at least some of the Such bad practices help explain why there are so fishermen who say this actually believe it. Can many reports of high to very high mortalities in the anyone explain how this unfortunate myth arose? trade. This is not just harmful to the companies involved; every fish that dies before it reaches the R.E. Johannes plate means that an additional fish is needed to sat-

LettersLetters toto thethe EditorEditor

The Live Reef Fish Information Bulletin welcomes ÔLetters to the EditorÕ. This column may be useful for those who have something to say but donÕt want to write a full-length article, or who wish to comment on previous material in the bulletin. We start this column with a letter from Peter Doherty.

Poodle-mania In the second issue of this bulletin, you expressed A contrary case can be based on the poor sampling concern about the paucity of information available characteristics of that are often mobile, or on the biology and ecology of the largest reef cryptic, and rare. These attributes limit the power fishes. I share some concern for what we do not of surveys and contraindicate destructive sam- know about these charismatic stocks, but I do not pling, although much critical information about blame this gap upon Ôpoodle-maniaÕ. You lam- fish demography is only available post-mortem. basted a literature replete with work on small, ter- The absence of direct information need not paral- ritorial, demersal-spawning species, which you yse managers and conservationists, however, given designated as atypical and insignificant taxa. You the strength of the arguments that can be estab- questioned whether convenience had triumphed lished by analogy, especially when interpreted in over relevance and implied that ecologists were the context of the Ôprecautionary principleÕ. My shirking a moral imperative to research the species main point, of course, is that small reef fishes are most at risk of overexploitation. suitable analogues for their larger relatives. SPC Live Reef Fish Information Bulletin #4 – April 1998 3 are the laboratory rats of reef-fish mics of large commercial fishes taken from the ecology. Their abundance and easy access facili- . tates intensive study, allowing understanding based on manipulation and falsification. They have We do not need further research to know that provided the opportunity for two generations of Cheilinus and the largest serranids have life histo- students to gain a close and