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Marine Aquarium Trade Fact Sheet |
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Definition |
- Marine ornamentals are saltwater fish, corals and invertebrates (e.g., soft corals, shrimp, small clams) that can be kept in an aquarium. Fish make up about 85% of the trade by value.
- The most traded marine aquarium fish are the damselfishes (Pomacentridae), surgeonfishes (Acanthuridae), wrasses (Labridae), gobies (Gobiidae) and angelfishes (Pomacanthidae). Source: From Ocean to Aquarium, UNEP-WCMC, 2003.
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Where do marine ornamentals come from? |
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Marine aquarium organisms are harvested from the coral reefs of Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, South Asian and Indian Ocean islands, Australia, Hawaii, Mexico, Florida, the Caribbean, Brazil, East Africa and the Red Sea. |
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Indonesia and the Philippines supply more than half of the global marine ornamental fish trade. Indonesia and Fiji are the largest suppliers of live coral. |
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Aquaculture comprises less than 2 percent of the marine aquarium trade and is growing very slowly due to economic and biological constraints to rearing fish in captivity. |
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Who purchases marine ornamentals? |
- The United States imports nearly half of the marine aquarium organisms.
- Other major importers are Germany, France, Netherlands, Italy, United Kingdom and Japan.
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Volume and Value: |
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About ten (10) million individual marine specimens were sold in pet stores in the United States at an average retail price of USD$10 each, earning pet retailers USD $103.2 million in revenue from marine ornamental livestock in 1995. |
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About three thousand (3,000) tons of coral enter international trade each year for use in aquariums; |
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In 1996, the United States imported more than eighty (80) percent of all the live coral in trade, representing at least three hundred and fifty five thousand (350,000) pieces. |
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| More relevant information is available within the UNEP- WCMC report “From Ocean to Aquarium: the Global Trade in Marine ornamental species”. This report is available at the following address: http://sea.unep-wcmc.org |
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