Criteria met: Sharp increase
Principal trade term to the EU: live
Principal source: wild
Top EU importer: France
Top Trading Partner: Australia
CITES Appendix: II
IUCN Status: Least Concern
EU-reported imports of live, wild-sourced coral of Blastomussa merleti, all purposes, 2006-2011 (no imports were reported 2002- 2005).
All EU imports in 2011 consisted of live, wild-sourced corals (4943 corals) imported directly from Australia for commercial purposes. No imports of live, wild-sourced corals were reported prior to 2006; imports have increased every year since 2006, and increased more than seven-fold between 2010 and 2011. Adequate management of coral resources generally appears to be in place in Australia (see for instance SRG 64/11). As per CITES Notification No. 2012/047, Blastomussa is one of the coral taxa where reporting trade at the genus level is acceptable; Blastomussa wellsi also occurs in Australia.