SPC Live Reef Fish Information Bulletin #18 – November 2008
The Banggai cardinal fish:
An overview of conservation challenges
The level of awareness of the importance of BCF
among people in the supply area is still very low.
Furthermore, those who are keen to instigate posi-
tive changes in the management and conservation
of the Banggai area suffer from a lack of manpower,
coordination, skills and funding. Although there has
been some research on this species, more needs to be
done to translate the findings into helpful guidelines
for the local authorities and other decision-makers.
It is vital that they first gain an understanding of the
issues, and then make policy decisions and allocate
funds so that practical conservation and manage-
ment actions can happen at the field level. Without
full stakeholder support, efforts to protect the area
are likely to fail.
The Banggai cardinalfish ( Pterapogon kauderni )
(BCF) is a popular marine aquarium fish that has
been collected in the Banggai Islands of Indonesia
for at least the last 15 years, according to fish collec-
tors there. This account attempts to identify some of
the issues surrounding the conservation and trade
in this species, and the area in which it is found. It
also proposes a number of suggestions for actions,
without which the management of this species and
its wild habitats is likely to fail. The case of BCF to
some extent reflects the wider issues and problems
of wild species conservation throughout Indonesia.
The way in which this species and its habitat are
managed will determine how other internationally
traded species are handled in the future. The work
on this aquarium trade species — which is being
done as part of the government’s Banggai Marine
Conservation Area Management Plan — will, if
successful, potentially act as a model for conserva-
tion of marine species and habitats elsewhere in the
archipelago.
The Marine Aquarium Council (MAC), an inter-
national non-governmental organisation (NGO)
based in Hawaii, developed a certification system to
improve the management of the marine aquarium
trade. MAC has helped to develop collection area
management plans, and has trained collectors, mid-
dlemen and exporters in supply countries, includ-
ing Indonesia, in “best practices”. Successful imple-
mentation of these practices has led to the possibility
of the traders applying for MAC certification, which
means adhering to an internationally recognised
standard. The objectives of certification include an
improvement in product quality and reduction in
mortality rates of the organisms collected and sold,
safer practices for collectors, and fairer prices being
paid to collectors. Since 2008, MAC International
has continued to develop the certification guide-
lines, while the training for fish collectors, local
trainers and government officials in Indonesia has
been taken over by Yayasan Alam Indonesia Lestari
(LINI, or The Indonesian Nature Foundation). LINI
is a new local NGO staffed by former MAC staff.
It focuses on surveys, capacity building and train-
ing for local suppliers of the marine ornamentals
trade, and reef restoration. LINI was asked by the
local government’s Department of Marine Affairs
and Fisheries to help with the development of a
species management plan for BCF, which would
BCF is only found in a small group of islands, the
Banggai Archipelago, in central Indonesia, which lies
at 1°35’S and 123°30’E. It is the first marine ornamen-
tal fish to have become an international issue under
the Convention on International Trade in Endan-
gered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). In
2007 it was proposed that the species should be listed
on Appendix II of CITES, a move that would hope-
fully go some way towards controlling and restrict-
ing the wild trade of this species. This proposal came
about partly because of concerns from some quarters
that over-collection might lead to its extinction in the
wild. Several BCF population studies point to this
possibility (Kolm and Berglund 2003; Vagelli and
Erdmann 2002; author ’s observations) but accurate
current wild population estimates are still unavail-
able. Kolm and Berglund (2003:911) wrote, “It is
unknown to what extent the aquarium fishery trade
may affect the wild populations of any reef fish” and
for BCF, this is clearly still the case.
1. Ron Lilley works as a technical advisor for The Indonesian Nature Foundation (LINI). Tel/Fax (home): +62 (0) 361 287111;
Tel (mobile): +62 813 384 96700; email: ronlilley@indo.net.id
