Ornamental Fish Production and Management (1+1)

14.1.2 Supply situation

World exports of ornamental fish rose from US$ 125.819 million in 1996. There was a dip during 1997 – 98 to a low of US$ 162.399 million in 1998 after which exports rose again to US$ 182.668 million in 2001. The downtrend during 1996-98 is attributed mainly to the Asian financial crisis.

With a share of 22.8% (US$41.58 million), Singapore was the world’s largest exporter in 2001. It is also the main trading hub for Asia. Singapore does not produce all its exports but re-exports additional species, which are collected or reared in other Asian countries. Singapore is a duty free zone, so there are no heavy imports to pay. It exports to more than 60 countries around the world, including Japan, USA, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Australia.

The second largest exporter was Malaysia with exports valued at US$14.37 million, 7.9% of exports. This was followed by Indonesia (US$ 13.72 million, 7.5%) Czech Republic (US$ 11.27 million, or 6.2%) and Peru (US$9.78 million, 5.4%). China came next with total exports of US$ 11 million. China’s exports were mainly through its special Administrative Region of Hong Kong, which also serves as a trading center. Hong Kong’s exports amounted to US$8.97 million. This was followed by Japan (US$7.69 million, 4.2%), USA (US$7.05 million, 3.9%), the Philippines (US$ 6.50 million, 36%) and Sri Lanka (US$ 5.94 million, 3.3%).

Asia is by far the biggest exporter contributing 59.1% of world exports or US$107.96 million in 2001. The other regions which export in significant quantities are Europe (20.6%, US$37.68million), South America (10.0%, US$18.34 million), North America (3.9%, US$7.06 million) an the Middle East (3.2%, US$5.81 million). The major Asian countries involved in the export of ornamental fish are Singapore (38.5% of Asian supplies), Malaysia (13.3%), Indonesia (12.7%), China including Hong Kong and Macau (10.2%), Japan (7.1%), the Philippines (6.0%), Sri Lanka (5.5%), Thailand (3.1%), Taiwan (1.6%) and India (1.2%).