Daily Express 31 Jul 10;
Kota Kinabalu: Forty-five juvenile humphead wrasse - one of the most desirable fish in the world because of its delicious flavour and texture - were released to various reefs in Tunku Abdul Rahman Park Friday morning, aimed at restocking its rapidly declining wild population in Sabah.
Wildly over-fished, the humphead wrasse was one of the first fish to be listed as "endangered species" under IUCN in 2004.
The latest releases were excess tails bought from cage live reef fish traders around Sabah under a "buy back" programme funded by USAID Coral Triangle Support Partnership that include the Department of Fisheries Sabah, Sabah Parks, UMS and WWF.
The "buy back" programme was initiated to support a total export ban imposed on the fish since January 1 this year, said Datuk Haji Ujang Sulani, Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry .
The fish is not only good to eat but ecologically vital for guarding the health of coral reefs, noted Dr Arun Venkataraman, Conservation Director of WWF-Malaysia.
"As one of the few ecologically critical top predator fish of crown-of-thorns starfish that feeds on corals and can destroy coral reefs, it reduces stress from the crown-of-thorns and therefore it is important in maintaining healthy and resilient reefs," noted Dr Arun.
In addition, although reefs are naturally resilient, they need this help to recover from the combined threats of pollution and bleaching related to climate change.
On the significance of the event, Sabah Parks Director, Paul Basintal, cited the "royal" of "stately" tag given to the wrasse otherwise known locally as "mameng."
"The humphead wrasse is one of the most spectacular sights in the ocean but if it is not protected across its range the species may be forced into extinction.
"Overall, the population status of the mameng is a 'disheartening' one because it is already extinct in a lot of reefs in Southeast Asia but Sabah is 'very fortunate' that there are still some fragmented populations in its coastal waters," said Sulani whose speech was read out by Rayner Stuel Galid, Director of Fisheries Sabah.
To date, a total of 812 humphead wrasse have been released into undisclosed protected areas across Sabah.
UMS's role is in tagging and taking DNA samples of the released humphead wrasses for later population monitoring, culture and analysis, said Dr Arun.
"In the future, we hope the population of humphead wrasse will become robust enough to allow it to be fished sustainably for the Live Reef Fish Trade throughout Sabah, in addition to within the Sulu Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion and at the Apex of the Coral Triangle." Dr Arun said.
