Media
International Meeting on Important threatened fish, Humphead Wrasse
17 Jun 2009
| An international meeting on the trade in the endangered and highly valuable fish, popular in restaurants in Hong Kong, the Humphead wrasse or ‘So Mei", in Cantonese, was held in Hong Kong on June 10. Participants at the meeting discussed the implementation of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) listing of the species and identified key challenges to its sustainable international trade. Recognizing the decline in the wild population affected by international trade, CITES listed the species in its Appendix II in 2004. The Convention is a powerful conservation tool that requires international trade in the listed species to be conducted in a sustainable way through a permit system. While key exporting countries have already introduced sustainable export quotas and Hong Kong, the major importer of the species, has implemented additional measures to control and monitor the trade, illegal shipments of fish continue. These illegal activities undermine the efforts being made by governments in the region to control trade and continue to pose threats to the species.
The meeting was attended by government delegates from the CITES Management Authorities of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, China and Hong Kong , as well as WWF-Hong Kong, TRAFFIC EastAsia, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Ocean Park Conservation Foundation, Hong Kong (OPCFHK) and the University of Hong Kong (HKU). It provided an important platform for delegates to exchange views and information on the control of the species and also identified one major problem to be international trade in Humphead wrasse by sea. The many islands and large expanses of sea in countries where the fish come from and the many areas and times at which fish can be landed, make this aspect of the trade particularly challenging to manage. Legal international trade in the species is now mostly transported by air. Professor Yvonne Sadovy, the Chair of the meeting, said: "If the problem of illegal shipment by sea is not properly addressed, the future of the species as a viable fishery is doubtful. There may not be enough fish in source countries to sustain the industry for generations to come. . If we are not going to effectively regulate the trade, this valuable species will disappear along with the income it generates. This meeting helped us identify one particularly weak point of the system - sea shipment, and the government delegates agreed that collaboration would be a major step towards resolving the problem."
The meeting enabled the relevant management authorities of major importing and exporting countries to exchange experiences and challenges and plan for improvement. Plans to further develop international communication links were made to enhance enforcement efforts. A study will be initiated on illegal, unregulated and unreported trade of the species. The meeting brought together many interests, ranging from fisheries management and trade, to conservation and sustainable use. The workshop was supported by contributions from HKU, WWF-Hong Kong, OPCFHK and the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department. Efforts will be stepped up to educate the public on the importance of sustainable management of fisheries. Managing threatened commercial species is an important contribution to maintaining healthy fisheries. Timothy Ng, the Deputy Director of OPCFHK said: "In addition to legislation and enforcement, public education is also important to let the community know how to help conserve this beautiful and precious fish. Ocean Park is holding 25 fish in its Atoll Reef for educational display. In the past, guests used to talk about what fish they had eaten when visiting the aquarium, but now guests appear to be much more appreciative of their beauty. We believe this is a crucial first step to inspire the public about the beauty of nature, and to engage them to support conservation efforts." |
 photo by Valerie Ho  photo by Patrick Colin |
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