Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
High value
Other Grouper
Other Marine Fish
Snooks & Basses
22,000
20,000
18,000
16,000
14,000
12,000
10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Year
Figure 8.2
Total imports (tonnes) of live reef food fish into Hong Kong from 1997 to 2005. (From Hong
Kong Census and Statistics Department (HKCSD), Hong Kong Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation
Department (AFCD).)
The California LRFF fishery commenced in 1988, mainly to supply local Asian
communities and has rapidly expanded from a small hook-and-line and trap fishery
targeting only a few species to a multi-gear fishery targeting more than 10 ma-
jor groups representing more than 50 species. The fishery expanded rapidly from
producing 24 tonnes in 1988 to a peak production of more than 900 tonnes in
1995. Since 1997, catch has remained fairly steady at between 500 and 700 tonnes
annually (Lucas 2006). These data on landings are thought to underestimate the
actual volume of fish caught, given misreported and unreported landings, mortali-
ties and illegal catch, although no indication of the extent of this underestimation
is available (Lucas 2006). As with fisheries elsewhere, the expansion of the fishery
is attributed to willingness by consumers to pay a premium for live, as opposed to
dead, product - a premium which is passed on to fishers in the form of higher ex-
vessel prices. Plate-sized fish of approximately 1 kg in weight are the preferred size
in the US market, with such fish fetching an ex-vessel price of between US$ 4/kg
and US$ 22/kg (Tegner & Dayton 1997).
Within SE Asia, supplies of LRFF come predominantly from artisanal and sub-
sistence fisheries that are characterised by low technology, remoteness, long trans-
shipment distances to export hubs and markets, dispersed landing sites and rudimen-
tary storage and transport infrastructure. The market chain for the LRFF product
can therefore be both extended and complex, with product passing though many
levels of trade between the fisher and the consumers (Figure 8.3).
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