Goods and services from the Coral Triangle
The marine habitats and resources of the Coral Triangle provide many goods and services to the people and countries of the region. Among the important services are coastal protection from mangroves and coral reefs, and food security. Many of the poor communities rely on coral reef and nearshore fisheries for daily protein supplies.
In Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, coastal villagers get most of their food supply from their own gardens and from what they can catch from the sea. One of the few sources of cash comes from the collection and sale of sea cucumbers and shells. Coastal communities in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines are increasingly turning to the culture of seaweed for carrageenan and to raising high-value fish for income.
Seaweed is an increasingly common alternative to fishing for many coastal communities. Two species are raised, usually tied to lines that float on the surface or are anchored to the bottom in clear water. The crop requires intensive monitoring to keep away diseases and parasites, and sells for less than a dollar per kilogram, but it provides a stable income source at a time when fishing is becoming more difficult and insecure. The seaweed is dried and processed into a floury powder used as a thickening agent in all kinds of processed foods, cosmetics and medicines.
At least six species of tuna are found in the Coral Triangle. For many of them, the region is a spawning and nursery ground. Here they can be caught by local fishermen looking for income or daily food, and it is common for juveniles to be caught close to shore. As the tuna grow and mature they migrate out into the Pacific Ocean, where they are targeted by industrial fleets from around the world. WWF estimates that one fifth of the global tuna catch originates in the Coral Triangle region.
Without food, man can live at most but a few weeks; without it, all other components of social justice are meaningless. — Norman Borlaug
Seven important fisheries in the Coral Triangle
1. Tuna
Skipjack tuna is the most abundant tuna species in the Coral Triangle and is usually caught with purse seines set in open water, often with the assistance of a fish-aggregating device. Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, along with several other Pacific countries, have obtained Marine Stewardship Council certification for sustainable fishing of skipjack without the use of aggregating devices. The other two major species in the region, yellowfin and bigeye tuna, are either fully exploited or overfished and require better management practices to become sustainable.
2. Small pelagics
Small and medium-sized fish inhabiting the open waters of the Coral Triangle are called "small pelagics" — commonly anchovies, herring, scad and mackerel. This group comprises nearly a quarter of all fish landings in the Sulu and Sulawesi Seas shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Artisanal fishers catch them with gill nets and hook and line; commercial fishing targets them with purse seines equipped with bright lights to attract schools at night. Huge amounts are landed throughout the region, but the fishery is considered unsustainable under current practices. The three countries are working together to manage the stocks under a UNDP-sponsored project.
3. Seaweed
Cultivation of seaweed in the region started in the Philippines in the 1960s and spread to Indonesia and Malaysia in the 1970s. Kappaphycus and Eucheuma dominate the industry for production of carrageenan, used as a thickening agent in foods, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. In 2010, Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia were the top three producers of Kappaphycus in the world. The seaweed is usually cultivated by tying propagules to lines anchored to the bottom in shallow areas or floating at the surface in deeper water. Seaweed farming is often introduced to poor fishing communities to give them a stable income and an alternative to fishing. However, research has shown that it does not always reduce fishing effort, and that declining seaweed prices can make fishing — even on depleted reefs — the more attractive option.
4. Bêche-de-mer (sea cucumber)
Also known as sea cucumbers, bêche-de-mer are invertebrate bottom-dwellers that filter sand and sediment for food. They are a delicacy in some Chinese cuisines and have been exported to China for centuries. Although sea cucumbers are collected around the world, the highest rates of exploitation are in the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. In many coastal communities of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, sea cucumbers are the only source of income — but over-collection has driven many populations to near extinction. In the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, a government-imposed moratorium on all sea cucumber harvesting has still failed to rebuild wild populations.
5. Coral reef food fish
Millions of people living around the Coral Triangle depend on nearby coral reefs for daily food and nutrition. Fish are caught with hook and line or gill nets and eaten directly by the fishers and their families, or sold in local markets. Some reef fish, particularly groupers and some wrasses, are targeted specifically for export to Chinese restaurants in the region and in East Asia. These fish are now so highly prized that they are increasingly rare on Coral Triangle reefs, particularly in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Fishermen go to greater and greater lengths to find them, including diving with air compressors and squirting fish with a poisonous sodium cyanide solution.
6. Coral reef aquarium fish
Keeping salt-water coral reef aquariums became a popular hobby for Americans and Europeans in the 1990s. The aquarium trade targets colourful fish and corals from the Coral Triangle region for sale to hobbyists around the world. Fishermen quickly learned that they could make substantial incomes by targeting these ornamental fish and invertebrates. The practice is largely unregulated in the region, and many fishers employ sodium cyanide to make high-value target fish easier to catch.
7. Sharks and manta rays
Demand for shark fin from China continues to drive the slaughter of sharks around the world. There is a growing movement to protect sharks in the Coral Triangle, with major airlines and hotels banning the sale of shark fin and many government agencies undertaking not to serve it at official functions. Despite this, Indonesia remains the world's biggest shark-catching country, with Malaysia also playing a significant role. Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore all rank in the world's top 20 shark fin exporting countries. Indonesia was also the top manta fishing country, but a recent nationwide moratorium on all manta fishing should make a significant contribution.
Other important catches
Beyond the seven fisheries above, mud crabs, octopus, shells and a wide range of nearshore invertebrates provide both daily protein and cash income across the region. In many villages these small-scale catches are the buffer between a bad month and real hardship, and they are typically the first thing to be intensified when other income sources fail. That is why fisheries management in the Coral Triangle is inseparable from questions of alternative livelihoods, credit and household resilience — a theme picked up in the wider Coral Triangle overview.
Where to go next
- Overfishing and destructive fishingThe pressures pushing these fisheries beyond their limits.
- The people who fish hereCultures, sea nomads and the most populous islands in the region.
- The species involvedGroupers, humphead wrasse, sharks and rays in detail.
- Coral Triangle overviewStart at the homepage for the complete picture of the region.
Fisheries are one part of the wider Coral Triangle picture. Return to the coraltriangle.org homepage for the full overview of biodiversity, conservation, tourism and the economics of the region.