HONG KONG: If you were able to order humphead wrasse at your favourite seafood restaurant, the rare delicacy would cost you a fortune. And if you did go ahead and order, you'd be eating one of the few remaining humphead wrasse left on the planet.

It's a tale of a growing tragedy among the world's coral reefs. The reefs are being devastated. In an effort to reverse the trend, the WWF co-organized a three-day closed-door workshop in Hong Kong, that wrapped up yesterday. Its aim was to reestablish a sustainable live reef food fish trade (LRFFT).

WWF hopes it can collaborate with industry and governments to reduce and eradicate destructive fishing practices, and offer consumer guidance to promote sustainably-sourced fish in Asian cities.

Traders from exporting countries, experts and government representatives agreed there is an urgent need of reform in the way reef fish are harvested. The delegates came mainly from the traditional Coral Triangle: the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

Geoffrey Muldoon, Live Reef Fish Trade Strategy Leader from WWF Indonesia, said the workshop agreed to 12 priorities. These include agreements to limit fisheries and to refrain from harvesting fish below established limits.

In the Coral Triangle today rogue fishermen still bomb corals to bring fish to the surface, or use cyanide to stun the fish and make them easier to catch. The methods wreak wanton havoc on the reefs while yielding low productivity since most of the fish caught up in such activities die, and are worthless. The damage to coral reefs may be irreparable. Even though the practices are now illegal, there are still fishermen who willingly break the law.

It is believed the superior taste and texture are the reasons why live reef fish, especially some groupers, become the most valued delicacies to gourmets. The appetite for reef fish seems insatiable even as the price climbs. Hong Kong, in particular, is always a principal importer of reef fish. Every year, Hong Kong imports approximately 15,000 tons of live fish. It includes massive amounts of reef fish.

The thriving reef fish trade conceals the key issue. Guillermo Moreno, head of WWF's marine program in Hong Kong, said although the reef fish supply seemed rather stable year by year, this valuable natural resources is already exhausted in several traditional fishing areas, especially in the Coral Triangle area.

"Hong Kong Customs keep records of nine species of groupers imported from abroad. However the figure is always underestimated because there is a big loophole in regulation. Live fish shipped back directly by a registered Hong Kong fishing vessel will not be recorded by Customs. As a result, the real consumption is always much higher than the official records released by the government," said Timothy Lam from TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network.

So Ping-man, assistant director of fisheries of agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, Hong Kong, told the workshop that the Food Safety Bill to be tabled next year should help to ameliorate the problem of unlawful import of reef fish. Registered Hong Kong shipping vessels will be required to report their cargo to the Customs when the legislation comes into effect.

(HK Edition 11/13/2009 page1)