A collaborative strategy to address the live reef food fish trade

Abstract

A workshop was held 22-24 February 2001 in Honolulu to discuss current and planned activities of some of the organizations with a broad conservation interest in the Asia-Pacific live reef food fish trade (LRFFT) and to formulate strategies for taking better advantage of the relative strengths of these and other organizations and agencies.1 The workshop included representatives of international non-governmental organizations, private donor organizations, producer-country national governments, an intergovernmental organization, an industry association, and a university. This document is essentially a synthesis of the existing strategies of those organizations, further shaped by the recommendations made during the workshop. Each of the organizations and agencies with an interest in the LRFFT has its own mission or mandate. This strategy is not intended to address all those missions and mandates. Its scope is limited to addressing threats stemming from destructive fishing methods and overfishing, including the loss of biodiversity and threats to food production, food security, and livelihood opportunities in the communities and countries that supply the trade.