The coral reefs of Southeast Asia and the Pacific are the most biologically diverse on the planet and make up some 45 percent of the global total. Millions of people in fishing communities derive their living–and most of their animal protein–from the rich fisheries that these reefs support. Reef-based tourism is also economically important in many areas. Sadly, these global biological treasures are Read more...

IMA testing of 48,000 fish in the Philippines shows that 25% of aquarium fish destined for the US and Europe, and 44% of live groupers and humphead wrasse going to Hong Kong were caught using cyanide. Too much emphasis is being placed on certification as the silver bullet. Cyanide use is still rampant and certification does not address the problem. Certification can only work if backed up by IMA’s comprehensive cyanide detection testing (CDT) and monitoring, inspection and surveillance (MIS) programs.Read more...

IMA was originally founded in 1985, and for many years devoted most of its attention to exposing and combating the widespread use of cyanide to stun and capture live reef fish in the Philippines. This destructive practice was invented in the Philippines in the early 1960s for the capture of aquarium fish, and soon spread to the live reef food fishery, in which larger reef fish (primarily groupers) are exported mainly to Hong Kong and other cities in southern China.Read more...

Marine debris. It is a pervasive plague that reaches across the globe. Cigarette butts, plastic bags, food containers, and fishing line can all be found scattered on our beaches and in our oceans. The most distressing aspect of the situation is that all marine debris can be traced back to a singleRead more...