The Impact of Seafood Consumption on Endangered Marine Species on

Seafood consumption has become a societal norm among people in Hong Kong. The local consumption of seafood products is placed 11th among 100 countries worldwide, much larger than developed countries, despite the fact Hong Kong is just a city. Due to the lack of local fishery production, Hong Kong imports at least 1.8 times the local fishery products from other countries to satisfy demands. Being one of the international centers of trade in seafood, Hong Kong also re-exports seafood products to other countries, especially Mainland China. As a result of this large seafood trade, Hong Kong not only affects endangered seafood species from local waters, but also threatens species worldwide. Sharks, croakers, sea cucumbers, abalones, reef fishes and seahorses are identified as the species being endangered by the seafood trade. This paper analyzed Hong Kong‟s impacts from the seafood trade through the trade data. It was demonstrated the impact on sharks and croakers were significant. Moreover, imports of the seafood products made from endangered species originate from all over the world.