The Curio Trade

The marine curio trade is a term used to describe the selling of a wide range of animals for the production of jewellery, souvenirs and other trinkets. Turtles, fish, molluscs, echinoderms, crustaceans, sponges and corals are all collected in huge numbers to support this global business.
This trade is flourishing in Bali where an endless number of marine organisms are for sale to tourists. Whether it is whole shell specimens, or highly polished fragments used for jewellery, dried puffer fish lampshades or starfish mirror frames, these specimens are removed from coral reefs in their thousands.
The primary impact of this exploitation is to reduce population numbers leading to localised extinctions. Perhaps a less well-known effect is that by targeting and removing particular species the balance of the ecosystem is altered leading to causing problems. An example of this is that of the Triton Trumpet, a voracious predator of the coral eating Crown of Thorns Seastars (COTS). As Triton and other predator’s numbers have declined around SE Asia due to over exploitation, there has been an increase in COTS outbreaks. Although the exact reason for the outbreaks is still a topic for much debate it is believed by many that this decline in predator numbers is a contributing factor.
Often the collection of specimens for the curio-trade is a destructive practice itself. Many mollusks and echinoderms live under rocks and corals, which are carelessly turned over to expose their inhabitants.  Furthermore, the reef is often walked over the top of to reach these organisms. Several of the items on sale in shops and on beaches are endangered species such as giant clams (Tridacna sp.).

The selling of shells and marine organisms is an important livelihood for many coastal communities around the world. The situation in Bali is different however, with the huge tourism industry fueling the collection of specimens, many of which now arrive from all over Indonesia as they have become extinct in local waters.
As tourists we have an ethical obligation to think about the bigger picture and consider how a small holiday purchase can impact upon the environment. As in any case of supply and demand if there was no market for these products the collectors would stop selling them. Shells destined for sale are almost always collected from live mollusks, however there are alternatives available. Try and purchase jewellery containing shell products from sustainable sources. Often it is impossible to tell (at present few companies offer ethical jewellery, and most if not all shells in street and beach stalls will have been directly taken from the reef), so if you are not sure, then don’t buy them.
Through the development of an environmentally sound abalone culture, Role Foundation is looking to provide a sustainable source of shell product for use in the jewellery trade to create jobs and take pressure off the reefs.

Chris Mason-Parker (MSc)
(Program Manager Role Foundation)

ROLE believes that the health of the Marine Environment and the health of Coastal Communities are inextricably linked.
Over fishing, coastal beachfront development, ever increasing waste discharge and upstream pollutants have placed marine resources, including tropical coral reefs and lagoons, and local fisheries in sharp environmental decline. The income derived, the food sourced and the protein and nutrition attained from these recourses by most coastal communities have dried up or become insufficient.

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