Overfishing, Hong Kong, Alex Hofford

A seafood restaurant worker in Hong Kong's Sai Kung district uses a chopper to hack at a large 'Napoleon Wrasse' or 'Humphead Wrasse' (Cheilinus undulatus), Hong Kong.
This highly-prized table fish ('so mei' in Cantonese) is found on coral reefs in the Pacific and Indian oceans and is vulnerable to cyanide-fishing in countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia, as it is difficult to catch using a traditional line and hook. Another reason the line and hook method is not used to catch the 'Napoleon Wrasse' is to preserve its' lips which are considered by Chinese to be a delicacy - supposedly good for sexual stamina. The lips also retail for up to three or four times as much as the meat on the rest of the fish. Though exports are banned from the Maldives and the Philippines, and restricted by size from Indonesia, imports still find their way through Hong Kong's loose monitoring system. The species is estimated to be declining at a rate of 20% every 10 years.