The Live Reef Food Fish Trade: Overview and Synthesis

Geoffrey MuldoonStrategy Leader, WWF Coral Program

Outline

• Historical perspectives on LRFT initiatives• Synthesis of LRFT Priority Actions

• Overview of recent activities across workshops, forums, and

• CTSP partner program

Concerns with LRFT

• Resource over-exploitation and fishery collapse

• Food security and livelihoods for local communities

• Impacts of destructive fishing practices including:• Targeting and extirpation of spawning aggregations• Capture and retention of juveniles for grow-out

• Limited enforcement and monitoring of:• International trans-shipment (i.e. CITES listed)• Trans-boundary trade and IUU (i.e. LTVs)

• Expected growth in market demand (e.g. PRC)

Hong Kong Imports of Live Reef FishHong Kong Imports of Live Reef Fish

Hong Kong Imports of Live Coral Hong Kong Imports of Live Coral TroutTrout

Historical Perspective

• Concerted effort over past decades to reduce social, economic and biological impacts of LRFT

• Earlier programs often focused on discrete aspects of the LRFT and these were often localised:– Destructive (e.g. Cyanide) fishing;– High conservation value species (HHW and CITES); – Protection of fish spawning aggregation sites;– Developing best-practice “Standards” incl. for mariculture– Pre-emptive fishery development management plans; – Documenting trade flows, trade issues; and– Full-cycle mariculture production of target LRFF species;

Historical Perspective

• Limited successes in reducing LRFT impacts!

Lessons Learnt Indonesia LRFT

Source: WWF Indonesia

Palawan

• Fishing effort and catch:– 65% caught fewer fish

now then 3 or 5 yrs ago– ~ 70% of fish caught are

undersize– ~ 30% of fish caught are

regarded as “market size”

Trends in Philippines LRFT

Historical Perspective

• Limited success in reducing LRFT impacts– Gaps in biological data needed to improve

management;– Unknown “exploitation” rates due poor

source country records and unrecorded LRFF entering Hong Kong by sea

– Different business models affect attitudes toward industry stewardship (e.g. Fish brokers v/s independent trader)

– Current management of LRFF fisheries in recipient and source countries doesn’t guarantee resource sustainability;

Source: Adapted from Pitcher et al., 2009

Operating Assumptions – (Present)

• Demand and price for LRFF will increase with China’s growing population and affluence

• There is already over-fishing

• There’s a lack of data AND data is needed for management

• Management and enforcement policies weak or absent

• There is disconnect between key players along supply chain

• There is tension between legal and un-reported fisheries

• Mariculture is ONE way forward to meet future demand

Common Aspirational Goals

• Harvest does not exceeds reproduction

• Habitats not declining from over-exploitation / climate change

• Management and enforcement is strengthened

− The trade in CITES listed species is being effectively enforced

• FCA is alleviating pressure on wild stocks and aiding livelihoods

• Communities benefiting from management – stable livelihoods

• There suitable mechanisms in place for collective actions

− Multi-country coordination on trans-boundary issues within the CT

− An effective operational trader group has been formed

• Demand economies participating in sustainability initiatives

Regional Perspective

• The LRFT is trans-boundary in nature and requires regional actions

• Why the need for regional?– Governments of the CT committed to action

– Fishers / Traders operating across national boundaries

– Industry, Government and Civil Society engaged in a regional economy

– Regionalisation / globalisation of consumer attitudes

– International interest in sustainable behaviour

ASIA–PACIFIC REGIONAL TRADE IN LIVE REEF FOOD FISH

• The LRFT is trans-boundary in nature and requires The LRFT is trans-boundary in nature and requires regional actionsregional actions

• More recently efforts have focussed on More recently efforts have focussed on ‘‘collaborative’ approaches such ascollaborative’ approaches such as

– CT6 Inter-governmental collaboration and cooperationCT6 Inter-governmental collaboration and cooperation;;

– Whole of supply chain initiatives (e.g. B2B relations)Whole of supply chain initiatives (e.g. B2B relations)

– Supply-side and demand-side linkagesSupply-side and demand-side linkages

– Public-private sector partnerships;Public-private sector partnerships;

• Regional ‘collective’ actions in geographically based Regional ‘collective’ actions in geographically based priority areas, some with a more regional reachpriority areas, some with a more regional reach

Regional Perspective

Synthesis CTI LRFT Priority Actions

Priority Actions Malaysia Philippines IndonesiaPapua New

GuineaSolomon Islands

Timor Leste

Certification Standards Best practiceForums AND Private Public PartnershipsFull-cycle mariculture expansions Management plans (incorporating EAF)

Collect baseline data on target speciesProtection target species / Spatial closuresExport / Catch Controls (including CITES/IUU)Enforcement and Capacity Building (including provincial)

Regional Stakeholder Engagement

• LRFT workshop – November 2009– Provide snapshot of current

status and trends for LRFT

– Define roadmap and strategies to address unsustainable trade in LRFT with Industry /stakeholder emphasis

HK Workshop outcomes

Priority (Ranked in order of Importance)Match harvesting to reproductive capacity

Promote full cycle responsible mariculture

Enforce the law against IUU fishing (including CITES species)

Data collection on ecology, production, marketing and socio economics

Protect spawning area through spatial and temporal measures

Built and manage multi-stakeholder alliances

Organize and manage government to government collaboration

Set minimum size for capture

Facilitate PPPs between NGOs, private sector and research institutions

Develop market linkages

Integrate and consolidate best management practices into supply chain

Mitigate consequences of displacement

Regional Stakeholder Engagement

• Regional Exchange workshop – October 2010– Common understanding and

support for applying EAFM

– Science needs for improving management of LRFT

– Models for establishing multi-country stakeholder forums or roundtables

– Coordinated CT6 position on LRFFT issues

Where is Bottleneck/Driver of Change

SupplyChain

Stakeholders

Stake-holder

Number

LRFT Market Pull Approach

LRFFTINTERVENTION

Role for NGOs as a “Partner”

• The role of NGOs to assist countries in better meeting CORF responsibility through:– Fostering and motivating the seafood sector.

– Facilitating private sector engagement

– Leading in the establishment of inter-governmental regional platforms (e.g. CTI, APEC)

• Other national and international institutions will have to be involved to deal with key issues

WWF CTP LRFT Strategy Objectives

• As one of five transformational strategies within the CTNI, the LRFT initiative has the following objective.

– “Use collaborative approaches to accelerate transformation of the trade in live reef food fish into a sustainable enterprise”.

Key Objectives – CTNI

1. Support development of trade partnerships to promote more responsible/sustainable LRFFT

2. Promote adoption and increased production of “sustainable” full-cycle grouper aquaculture through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs)

3. Create demand for sustainable LRF consumption and production in key markets (e.g. Hong Kong, Singapore)

Consumer choiceSustainable Mariculture

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LRFT Priority Targets

Sustainable Live Reef Food Fish Trade

Industry Best Practice

PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS

CT6 Coordination through CTSP:• NPOAs = National LRFT Actions• Trader engagement• EAFM appliedRegional Exchange Outcomes:• EAFM in context of LRFT• Science needs• Roundtables and Forums

Activities in priority Geographies:• Supply chain links• Best practice• National trader groups

APEC LRFFT Workshop Outcomes:• Footprint country collaboration• Supply chain focus on EAFM• Platforms to strengthen Standards• Market-based policy initiatives

Common CT6 position :• EAFM position• Consensus on roundtable/forums

Preparatory APEC

activities

Sustainable LRFT Roadmap Workshop:• Status and Trends (Biology, Industry)• Sustainability versus functionality• Priority Actions to Improve LRFT

APEC / Regional Exchange Sequence

APEC FWG Regional Workshop

• Collaboration and participation from non-CT “footprint” countries

• Identify appropriate mechanisms or frameworks whereby the joint issues of trade and sustainability can be better addressed:

– build agreement on mechanisms/frameworks to provide platform for dialogue and exchange and cooperative multi-country engagement to build capacity and opportunities among these stakeholders to better manage the trade

– refining measurable standards of best-practice such as the International LRFFT Standard with participation and support of all stakeholders to facilitate implementation of and strengthening of such Standards and

Concluding Thoughts

1. What SHOULD the LRFT look like in 10 years?

2. What ACTIONS needed in next 5 years to achieve this?

3. Who will be CHANGE AGENTS that make this happen?

4. How can we MOBILIZE these change agents to work together?

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