The Asian financial crisis is exacerbating the environmental degradation of reef resources. US ongoing programs in coral reef and coastal resources management in Southeast Asia are primarily activities being implemented within wider community-based natural resources programs in the Philippines and Indonesia. These activities combine demonstrations of improved management by local communities with support from government, NGOs and private sector, and they include policy reform for decentralizing and clarifying management authorities, institutional capacity building, technology transfer, and dispute resolution elements. International Trade and Destructive Fishing Practices International trade in corals and fish is driving destructive and unsustainable fishing practices, particularly in the Indo-Pacific Region.
Most American consumers are unaware of the impact of the aquarium and curio trades on coral reefs.
Destructive activities are those that damage the habitat and associated organisms in addition to the target species, and include blast fishing, fish poisoning, muro ami, trawling, and over collecting of coral. Blast fishing is driven primarily by the subsistence needs of small-scale fishers. However, cyanide fishing is driven entirely by the lucrative and unregulated international trade in marine aquarium fishes and live reef food fishes. Cyanide is used by fishermen to stun and capture reef fish alive, but the cyanide also kills corals and many other coral reef organisms. Most of this trade passes through the port of Hong Kong.