Hardly any coral fishes or marine invertebrates are currently legally protected, and there is no comprehensive trade monitoring in place. Trade figures are therefore based on estimates, rather than verified data (see Trade).

INTERNATIONAL TRADE REGULATIONS AND CITES

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) is an international treaty designed to regulate trade in endangered species and protect them from over-exploitation.

In 2019, largely due to our research, the EU, US, and Switzerland jointly submitted CoP18, Doc. 94, titled “Conservation management of and trade in marine ornamental fishes”, at the 18th Conference of the Parties to CITES. This document proposed scrutinising the international trade in marine ornamental fishes and was accepted by all 183 CITES parties.

These countries co-financed a follow-up study (AC31, Doc. 36), which was initially intended for submission at the 19th Conference of the Parties in November 2022. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, workshops could not take place, and it was decided at the May 2021 CITES Animals Committee meeting that the report should now be submitted at the 20th Conference of the Parties, no earlier than 2025, delaying the process by several years. The consequences of this delay for coral reefs are uncertain, as wild populations of coral reef fishes continue to be impacted by collection for the marine aquarium trade. Urgent action is needed, as emphasized in our recommendations at CITES CoP19 (November 2022).

For example: EU trade monitoring
All marine ornamental fishes entering the EU by air are checked by customs at international airports. The EU uses TRACES, a multilingual online platform created in 2004, which is used by 90 countries and 113,000 users and available in 39 languages to prevent the introduction of animal diseases. TRACES allows electronic recording of live animals, animal products, feed, and plants.

Proposed improvements to TRACES include:

  • Listing all ~4,000 coral reef fish species that may be traded.
  • Recording traded specimens at the species level only, eliminating genus and family-level entries.
  • Recording the source country of the fish, rather than hub countries (e.g., Singapore).
  • Indicating whether each fish is wild-caught or captive-bred, so that trade data reflect the actual impact on wild populations.

Technicians confirm that these adaptations could be implemented without major technical obstacles.

EU COMMITMENT TO OCEAN CONSERVATION

Adding new species to the CITES Appendices is incredibly challenging. Difficulties arise from:

  1. Lack of biological, ecological, and economic knowledge for most marine ornamental fishes (see IUCN assessments).
  2. The need for political will among member countries to approve protection.

The case of the Banggai cardinalfish illustrates these challenges clearly (see Banggai cardinalfish section).

TRADE PROTECTION AND CONSERVATION OVERSIGHT

Some exceptions exist in the largely unregulated marine ornamental fish trade. Certain species are listed in the Appendices of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species), meaning their trade is monitored and regulated:

  • Seahorses (Hippocampus spp.)
  • Clarion angelfish (Holacanthus clarionensis)
  • Napoleon wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus)

Seahorses and the Napoleon wrasse—the latter primarily harvested for food due to its large size (up to 2.3 m)—have required import and export documentation since 2002, and their trade figures are collected annually.

Since 2016, the Clarion angelfish, which has a restricted distribution off the coast of Mexico, has been listed in CITES Appendix II, which allows restricted commercial trade under strict monitoring by importing and exporting countries. CITES member states are required to maintain statistics on annual trade volumes, providing a measure of oversight for these species.

THE IUCN RED LIST

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is not a regulatory or conservation authority and has no decision-making power. Instead, it produces indicators of biodiversity status and assesses species’ conservation status. Its evaluations include range, population size, habitat, ecology, trade, threats, and conservation measures, which can inform political and conservation decisions.

For most coral reef fishes, biological and ecological data are extremely limited. Therefore, the impact of trade removals on wild populations and coral reefs is largely unknown. In 2018, nearly 45% of known coral reef fish species were unassessed by the IUCN Red List due to insufficient data. [1]

EU trade data from 2014–2017 indicates that over one-third of traded species were not assessed. For instance, the two most traded species, the blue-green damselfish (Chromis viridis) and the false clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris), have not been evaluated. “Not assessed” means no extinction risk assessment has been conducted, allowing these species to be traded without restriction.

MARINE AQUARIUM COUNCIL (MAC) LABEL

The Marine Aquarium Council (MAC) certification, introduced in 1998, aimed to promote sustainable and responsible trade in marine ornamental species. Its goals included:

  • Traceability of traded animals
  • Ensuring good collection practices
  • Supporting environmental and social sustainability

However, the MAC label has not been active since 2008, leaving a gap in certification and oversight for the marine ornamental fish trade. 2]