1 Troubled times for trysting trio: Three aggregating groupers in the live reef food-fish trade

The trade in live reef fish for food has a long history in Southeast Asia but expanded particularly rapidly during the 1990s and, today, is a multimillion (USD) dollar business that involves countries throughout much of the tropical Indo-Pacific region (Johannes and Riepen 1995; Sadovy et al. 2003). The geographic expansion of the international trade in live fish was partly due to improvements in economic climate and higher consumer demand, and partly the result of declines in fish stocks in the South China Sea. Improved air links also spurred the expansion, allowing for the more rapid transport necessary for live animals. With the increase in the number of source countries and their long distances from the trade centers of Singapore and, particularly, Hong Kong (as a gateway to mainland China), so too did the number of species in trade grow. Most of the species in the trade belong to just a few fish families, above all the groupers (Serranidae). The groupers make up the bulk of the live reef food-fish trade in terms of both volume and value, comprising hundreds of tonnes each year, and fetching high unit prices at retail (Figures 1 and 2; Table 1). Groupers, however, tend to be susceptible to high levels of uncontrolled fishing because they are typically long-lived (it is not unusual to find groupers living 15 or 20 years, o