Legal trade of threatened marine species undermines conservation commitments

The international trade of threatened marine species as seafood poses significant challenges for biodiversity conservation and undermines global sustainability goals. While illegal fishing contributes to these threats, many national and international policies permit the legal harvest and trade of threatened species, creating a fundamental conflict with conservation objectives.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species provides the world's most comprehensive assessment of species' conservation status and extinction risks. However, threats and species' extinction risks at regional levels can differ significantly from global assessments, leading many countries to develop their own national threatened species lists. For instance, the Orange Roughy is classified as "Vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List in Europe, but listed as "Endangered" under Australia's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.

While previous studies have analyzed trade patterns using IUCN listings alone, incorporating national threatened species lists can provide a more complete picture of how international trade affects endangered species. Our research compiles national threatened species lists from around the world to examine how major seafood trading nations engage in trade of species listed as threatened under their own biodiversity conservation policies, and identifies the mechanisms that enable such trade. 

By analyzing the interaction between national conservation frameworks and international trade patterns, we identify critical gaps where trade practices conflict with domestic species protection policies. Our findings suggest specific targets for strengthening domestic conservation measures and highlight opportunities to better align international trade policies with biodiversity protection and sustainability goals.