Public perception of biological sustainability in the live reef food fish trade in Hong Kong

Abstract

Hong Kong is now the world’s largest market for the Live Reef Food Fish Trade and the supplies of live reef food fish are mainly coming from overseas. The ecological footprint of the live reef food fish trade is thus large and it may signify various negative effects to marine ecosystems. The purchase behaviours of Hong Kong people are critical to determine the biological sustainability of live reef food fish trade. Stakeholders’ perceptions are essential in the consumption pattern of individuals. Employing the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), this study attempts to explore how the consumers’ intention of sustainable reef fish consumption are shaped by attitudes, the subjective norms, the moral norms and the perceived behavioural control for policy implications. Structured questionnaire survey in form of face-to-face interview was conducted with 189 adult citizens in Hong Kong. The findings indicate that the male respondents and the respondents who received higher level of formal education have significantly higher level of knowledge on the live reef food fish trade and the associated conservation issues, despite the finding that the average level of knowledge of Hong Kong consumers is quite low. The moral norm in Hong Kong consumers in terms of the feelings of self-enhancement in and obligation to engagement of sustainable reef fish consumption is generally strong. However, the inadequacy of information about sustainable reef fish in society is impeding the performance of sustainable reef fish consumption initiatives. According to this study, establishment of a sustainable reef fish ecolabel can predict 23.8% of the total variation in sustainable reef fish consumption intention. On average, Hong Kong consumers are willing to pay roughly around 10% extra on the prevailing selling price of reef fish for establishment of a sustainable reef fish ecolabel. While attitude toward behaviour, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, and moral norm in the extended theory of planned behaviour model can explain over half of the total variation in intention of sustainable reef fish consumption, moral norm accounts for 5.5% of the total variation in willingness to pay extra for establishment of a sustainable reef fish ecolabel. Together with the recommendation made by the Council for Sustainable Development, these give insights regarding the possible measures to be taken under the Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (BSAP) for Hong Kong for giving impetus to sustainable use of biological resources.