Ofish - The Global Marine Aquarium Database

**Table 1**
Species/Genus Catalaphyllia jardinei Blastomussa merleti Cynaria lacrymalis Euphyllia glabrascens Euphyllia divisa Plerogyra simplex Trachyphyllia geoffroyi Euphyllia spp. Plerogyra spp. Hydnophora exesa Hydnophora microconos	Regulation 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2	Suspension active from: 16th September 1999 16th September 1999 16th September 1999 16th September 1999 16th September 1999 16th September 1999 16th September 1999 11th July 2000 11th July 2000 11th July 2000 11th July 2000

1. Suspended under Article 4.6(b) of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 191/2001 (Published in the Official Journal, L 29/12 on 31.1.2001).
2. Following negative opinions of the Scientific Review Group, suspended under Article 4.2(a) of Council Regulation (EC) No. 338/97.

EDITORS NOTE: Since the original publishing of this article in the OFI Journal, the EU-SRG has expressed negative opinions on several other coral species. OFI Members can read more in Members' Update #19/03 (requires login).

The United States government, for example, is considering "taking appropriate action to ensure that international trade in coral reef species for use in U.S. aquariums does not threaten the sustainability of coral reef species"(1), while the European Union has already suspended imports of some corals from Indonesia (Table 1). Yet these decisions, and the arguments for and against them, are taking place in a vacuum of information on the extent, and therefore impact, of the aquarium trade.

Both the US and the EU are carrying out consultation exercises, but consider for a moment how you might convince them that it would be inappropriate to restrict trade further. It might be possible, as an individual or single company, to demonstrate that your impact on coral reefs is small, yet that is not the issue.

It is the impact of the aquarium industry as a whole that is being debated and judged.

Need for Data
Like it or loathe it, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES) attempts to assess the trade in species, listed in Appendix II of the Convention, which are believed to be vulnerable to exploitation but not yet at risk of extinction. As readers of the OFI Journal will know well, all species of hard coral and giant clams are listed under Appendix II of CITES and parties to CITES are then obliged to produce annual reports specifying the quantity of trade that has taken place in each listed species. The magnitude and taxonomic composition of the international trade can then be calculated(2). In other words all sides of any debate on the trade in corals and clams can refer to standard global data.

The Banggai Cardinalfish. Is its status as precarious as some people claim? Only hard data will help answer the question. Photo: John Dawes However no marine ornamental fish, or invertebrates, other than clams or corals, are listed under CITES. While 15-20 million fish per year may be traded over approximately 1,000 species, these figures are simple estimates based on extremely limited quantitative data. Consequently, the trade in individual fish species, and invertebrates other than corals and clams, is unknown.

You may disagree with the following conclusion published recently in an influential scientific journal "its [the Banggai cardinalfish] status in the wild is precarious, with heavy collecting [for aquariums] continuing"(3), yet how would you prove otherwise when no one has any idea how many are traded? Sympathise if you can with the task facing someone trying to set policies that balance the need for conservation with the regulation of a potentially sustainable industry which employs thousands of people and provides high incentives for reef stewardship. Such people need good-quality, quantitative, representative information on the trade in aquarium species.

It is no argument that a host of other activities may be having a worse impact. In the Philippines many reefs have been destroyed by dynamite fishing and smothered under sediments washing out from clear-cut forests, yet collectors may be threatening the survival of rare fish by removing them from these already-stressed ecosystems. This claim is made in the same article for the Bluespotted Angelfish (Chaetodontoplus caeruleopunctatus) - the consequences for the aquarium industry should not be underestimated, for there is nothing the public understands more readily than the extinction of a beautiful creature. The case for caution and banning the trade in Bluespotted Angelfish would be appealing. The best defence would be to show that too few fish are being taken to threaten the survival of this species, but then, who knows how many Bluespotted Angelfish are traded?

**Table 2**
Company and Country Aquascapes, Philippines Belau Aquaculture, Palau Golden Marindo, Indonesia Quality Marine, USA Sea Dwelling Creatures, USA Segrest Farms, USA Swallow Aquatics, UK Tropical Fish Lanka, Sri Lanka Tropical Marine Centre, UK Walt Smith, Fiji Waterweelde, Netherlands	Government Agency Marine Resource Authority, Marshall Islands Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture, Maldives Queensland Fisheries Service, Australia

Actually, you do, if you are a wholesale exporter or importer of aquarium species. Companies record their business in different ways, some electronically in databases, others as paper copies of invoices. The problem is that this information is scattered, non-standard and not linked to what is known about the biology, ecology and suitability for aquarium keeping of these species. It may seem daunting, even perhaps impossibly challenging, to centralise, standardise and provide fast and easy access to this information, but that is exactly what all sides of the marine aquarium debate need.

GMAD Explained
UNEP-WCMC is collaborating with members of AKKII, PTFEA, OFI and OATA to establish a Global Marine Aquarium Database (GMAD) as a freely available source of information on the global aquarium industry. Our common objective is to provide everyone with sound quantitative data on the trade in fish, corals and other invertebrates. This effort is part of a larger project which was reviewed in Issue 32 of the OFI Journal (page 3). Clams, along with corals, are the only marine invertebrates currently listed under CITES Appendix II. Photo: Coral World - Eilat

Clams, along with corals, are the only marine invertebrates currently listed under CITES Appendix II. Photo: Coral World - Eilat

The core data in GMAD are the sales records of wholesale import and export companies. So far, a total of 11 companies and three management authorities have provided data to GMAD (See Table 2 for details.)

I am sure that you will recognise many industry leaders in the list. However, GMAD needs to become truly global in scope, and more properly representative of the aquarium industry. Only then will it be possible to counter some of the misinformation which surrounds the aquarium industry. This cannot happen without your support. This cannot happen without your sales records.

Valuable Data
What sort of data is needed? The ambitious aims of GMAD can be met if we have a breakdown of:

In other words, standard information which is recorded on every invoice for every single transaction within the global aquarium industry. Standardised and centralised into a publicly accessible database, this information would allow anyone to calculate, for example:

Hermaphroditic species, i.e. species which change sex - such as many wrasses - may require special attention... but data are required in order to assess what this attention should be. Photo: John Dawes

Added value would be given to these data by linking them to known aspects of organisms' biology and ecology. For example, there are good scientific reasons to believe that groups of fish which are hermaphroditic and maintain harems, whose populations are dependent on infrequent larval recruitment from occasional strong year-classes and who are harvested as adults, have life history characteristics making them particularly vulnerable to over-exploitation. A major portion of GMAD would be data of this sort, and information on the suitability for aquarium keeping.

Who are UNEP-WCMC?

The World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC) was established in 1988 by three key international organisations working in the field of biodiversity conservation and sustainable use: IUCN - The World Conservation Union (IUCN), the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). WCMC provides information and analyses on the status and uses of biodiversity to decision-makers so that they are aware of international biodiversity perspectives and can incorporate them in their work.

In April 1999 at the Convention on Sustainable Development meeting in New York, UNEP recognised WCMC as its future centre for biodiversity information and assessment. As part of the changed institutional arrangements, the UK government and UNEP have developed a host country agreement to provide the reconstituted WCMC with international status.

The new arrangements are designed to:

enhance the reputation of WCMC as the world's biodiversity information supplier
ensure WCMC's continuing scientific integrity and independence
provide a stable institutional platform for services to intergovernmental, governmental and non governmental organisations, and the private sector.

WCMC formally became affiliated with UNEP on 1 July 2000 and is now known as the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC). UNEP-WCMC is strictly a non-campaigning organisation.

If you are interested in participating then please contact the author, Ed Green, who is leading this project. Your sales records can be received electronically by e-mail, or on disc/CD. In many cases, companies have photocopied their invoices or paper records of their sales. If you do not keep electronic records and you would be prepared to photocopy your paper records, then UNEP-WCMC will pay the shipping costs to the UK and return electronic files to you, for your own use.

The first version of GMAD will be made publicly available later this year. It will only become an effective source of unbiased information on the aquarium trade if members of that industry take time from their hectic schedules to provide data to UNEP-WCMC. The data will be returned, with added value, but only you can judge whether the future benefits outweigh the cost of doing this now.

**Answers to questions about GMAD from Paul West, Director of OFI member company, Tropical Marine Centre, UK.**
*How much did it cost to provide data to GMAD?* Very little actually. There were some minor postage costs and of course some staff time was incurred in suspending our database so we could print out sales records. *Am I taking a risk in providing my sales records to UNEP-WCMC?* No. We have been assured by UNEP-WCMC that our data will be managed in complete confidentiality, with access restricted to just UNEP-WCMC staff. It was important to us to know that under no circumstances would anyone outside of UNEP-WCMC be allowed access to the sales records of our company, and that no analysis specific to the Tropical Marine Centre will be released. These conditions are enshrined in a formal data-sharing agreement with UNEP-WCMC. *How will GMAD be useful to me?* It was useful in the short term to receive back from UNEP-WCMC a detailed analysis of the species which we sell. This is not something which we monitor ourselves. In the long term, I strongly believe that it is in the economic interests of both TMC and the whole industry to have unbiased, good-quality information in the public domain. GMAD can only help to counter once and for all the anecdotal and sometimes downright misleading statements made about the aquarium trade. *Why should I bother?* Only by providing good-quality data that can be collected and validated by a creditable organisation, such as WCMC, can the industry effectively represent its position in discussion and debate on issues affecting our business. In the absence of such data, a vacuum exists that can be, and in the past has been, filled by inaccurate and misleading information from those who seek to further restrict and even close down our industry. This project is our opportunity to ensure as far as possible that good science does win over uninformed sentiment and demonstrate that the trade in marine ornamentals is responsible, accountable and sustainable.