Fishing: marine aquarium business in the islands: a source of income and employment

Abstract

The Pacific first became a part of the luxury aquarium trade in the 1970s. Thirty years later, the total value of aquarium exports from the region is between US$40 and US$60 million—accounting for about 10-15% of the global trade—and the aquarium trade is becoming an important source of income and employment for local communities in the Pacific. For example, in Fiji alone, it provides employment for 600 people and fisheries revenue second only to tuna. Today, the activity has spread to over 13 Pacific islands countries and territories, finding its source in unique coral reef habitats. It has even come to some of the most remote places (such as Kiritimati Island in Kiribati), where there are a number of rare or endemic fish species not found in South East Asia, the major competitor. There are concerns that extractive wild-capture practices are causing damage to marine environments. But evidence suggests that coral reef resources are resilient and that the trade could be managed sustainably to provide Pacific islands communities with a continuing livelihood. Tony Nahacky from Aquarium Fish (Fiji) Ltd has been harvesting corals and fish from the same area around Pacific Harbour for 24 years.