Live fish trade

The live fish trade can refer to the live food fish trade (for human consumption) or to the ornamental fish trade (for aquariums). The fish can come from many places, but most comes from Southeast Asia.

The live food fish trade is a global system that links fishing communities with markets, primarily in Hong Kong and mainland China. Many of the fish are captured on coral reefs in Southeast Asia or the Pacific Island nations.

Within the live food trade there are certain types of fish demanded more often by consumers, particularly smaller and medium-sized fish. According to the book While Stocks Last: The Live Reef Food Fish Trade consumer demand has caused the fish captured on coral reefs to be the most valued fish in the trade. Consumers are important because they are directly purchasing these fish species at restaurants and stores. In addition to these types of fishes, many juvenile fish are used for the live food trade. There are also cultural and regional preferences among consumers, for example, Chinese consumers often prefer their fish to be reddish in color believing the color to be auspicious. These preferences inevitably affect the biodiversity of marine life making certain fish species rarer to find.

The life fish food trade is a lucrative business. According to University of Washington Professor Patrick Christie, live fish caught for food export earns approximately $6000 a ton. To help support themselves and their families, fishermen in Oceania and Southeast Asia sometimes use illegal fishing methods. Although many feel the fish are worth the cost, a typical dinner can cost up to one hundred dollars per kilogram. The wholesale value on these fish is anywhere from eleven US dollars to sixty-three US dollars per kilogram, meaning there’s a large markup and resale value. (Hong Kong alone is estimated to be about four hundred million US dollars a year.) Because this trade frequently uses illegal methods of collecting (using cyanide), there is no way to know for sure how much money is being made each year on live fish trade, although estimates conclude probably over one billion US dollars each year.

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