![marine aquarium supply marine aquarium supply](http://ak1.ostkcdn.com/images/products/78/196/L13948187.jpg)
This case study underscores that low mortality during international transit may mask large losses along supply-chains prior to export and exemplifies the limitations of trade data to accurately monitor exploitation.Īshley S, Brown S, Ledford J, Martin J, Nash AE, Terry A, Tristan T, Warwick C (2014) Morbidity and mortality of invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals at a major exotic companion animal wholesaler. We suggest that enforceable size limits on species prone to size-based rejections and elimination of village-based holding of invertebrates would reduce losses along the Papua New Guinea supply-chain. Quality control rejections ( n = 1533) were primarily explained by rejections of oversized invertebrates (83.2% of rejections). We quantified supply-chain losses for the ten most fished species which accounted for 96.4% of the catch. A further 0.3% died during international transit to importers.
![marine aquarium supply marine aquarium supply](https://images-eu.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/511u539hojL._SY300_QL70_.jpg)
Supply-chain losses were divided among invertebrates rejected in the quality control process (11.5%) and mortality of the accepted catch in transit to, and during holding at, an export facility (30.6%). Utilizing catch invoices and exporter mortality records we determined that, over a 160 day period, 38.6% of the total invertebrate catch ( n = 13,299 individuals) was lost before export. We examined quality control rejections and mortality of marine invertebrates (Asteroidea, Gastropoda, Malacostraca, Ophiuroidea) moving through the Papua New Guinea marine aquarium supply-chain, from fisher to importer. For the global marine aquarium trade, identifying supply-chain losses is necessary to more accurately assess exploitation from trade data. Harvested organisms that die or are discarded before a point of sale are regularly not reported. A major difficulty in managing live organism wildlife trade is often the reliance on trade data to monitor exploitation of wild populations.