Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 8
Developing an International Standard
for the Trade in Live Reef Food Fish
Geoffrey Muldoon and Peter Scott
8.1
Introduction
This chapter presents first, a summary of the process used to develop and implement
an International Standard (the Standard) for the live reef food fish trade (LRFFT).
The Standard was initially developed as a voluntary code of conduct for use by in-
dustry, government and marine conservation organisations to improve the operation
of their live reef food fish (LRFF) fisheries. The aim of the Standard was to make
these high-value fisheries more sustainable and, specifically, to make them more
capable of providing improved livelihoods for local fishers, providing a stable and
healthy supply of LRFF to the market, and supporting the conservation of reef habi-
tats. The Standard covers a range of the important aspects of production, transport,
handling and sale of live fish, and is expected to make an important contribution
to improving the sustainability of the highly diverse, and politically complex, set
of industries that comprise the production and trade of live reef fish for food. The
second part of the chapter discusses the prospects for implementing the Standard,
including a framework for assessing the potential for establishing a certification
programme within the LRFFT.
8.2
The live reef food fish trade in Asia-Pacific
Live fish have long been traded throughout South-east (SE) Asia as a luxury food
item. Because of their superior qualities (taste and texture), species captured on coral
reefs have become the most preferred for the trade (Sadovy & Vincent 2002). Live
reef food fish destined for Hong Kong markets are currently sourced from across
the Asia-Pacific region (Plates 8.1 and 8.2). Those countries closer to Hong Kong
have been in the trade for a considerable time while other more distant countries
are more recent, and often infrequent, participants. Beginning with the Philippines
in the mid-1970s, there has been a gradual infiltration of the LRFFT into other
SE Asian and the Indo-west Pacific countries (Figure 8.1). Industry expansion
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