Can the global marine aquarium trade (MAT) be a model for sustainable coral reef fisheries?

Abstract

Globally, 6 million coral reef fishers provide ~25% of emergent countries’ catch, but species have low value. The marine aquarium trade (MAT) targets high-value biodiversity, but missing data amplify draconian governance and demand for international prohibition. To stimulate sustainability and reef conservation investment, we generate a fiscal baseline using the first global analysis of numbers, diversity, and biomass of MAT-traded organisms. Each year, ~55 million organisms worth US$2.15 billion at retail are traded comparable with major fisheries, e.g., tuna. A sustainable MAT also requires overexploitation assessments. We identify 25 species/genera with “Extremely High” risk ratios and place the Indonesian and Sulu-Celebes Seas in the highest exploitation category. Despite predicted hobbyist number increases, unabated reef degradation and low governance will transform the MAT into an aquaculture-dominated industry decoupled from communities (i.e., culture located in importing countries). A “MAT-positive” future requires evidence-based management/governance, consumer education, and sustainable practice incentivization but can address the biodiversity and social and economic inequality crises.

An Updated Review of the Marine Ornamental Fish Trade in the European Union

“…According to European imports and total demand, marine ornamental fish are becoming more expensive. The global trade of marine ornamental fish has always been much more valuable than that of food fish [ 49 ]. In the 1980s, marine aquarium fish were priced at USD 750/kg, while marine food fish were priced at USD 9/kg [ 62 ].…”

“…Productivity–susceptibility analysis (PSA) has been employed to assess the vulnerability of wild-captured marine ornamental fish [ 39 , 45 , 46 , 47 ] to identify species on the IUCN Red List likely threatened by international trade [ 48 ] or calculating relative exploitation ‘risks’ exclusively using trade data [ 49 ]. However, the present work builds upon a previously assembled and validated dataset, and the authors aimed to compare the most recent data retrieved from TRACES that have already been consolidated (2018–2021) to older data already curated by the authors (2014–2017) [ 5 ].…”

An updated review of the marine ornamental fish trade in the European Union

“…According to European imports and total demand, marine ornamental fishes are becoming more expensive. The global trade of marine ornamental fishes has always been much more valuable than that of food fishes (Watson et al 2023). In the 1980s, marine aquarium fishes were priced at US$ 750/kg, while marine food fishes were priced at US$ 9/kg (Holcombe et al 2022).…”

Status and prospects of the ornamental fish industry in Kenya

“…Marine ornamental fish culture has several advantages, including fast turnover, which leads to a rapid recovery of capital and operating costs, reducing dependence on credit (Groover et al, 2020). Additionally, as the production of fish in an aquacultural setting is more predictable, in terms of supply and price (Watson et al, 2023), there exist prospects to establish a direct connection between production and markets, guaranteeing the sale of fish at a relatively stable price. Farmers should be at less risk as a result.…”