The ornamental fish retail market in Hong Kong: its evolution and evaluation

Abstract

At present, Hong Kong is one of the major centres of ornamental fish trading in Asia. The size of the Hong Kong ornamental fish trade has attracted international attention. It is particularly interesting in terms of economics and management in the sense that there is virtually no government regulation of this industry, other than ban on the trade or import of endangered species. However, little is known to the academic world about its history or performance. This paper makes a contribution to the economic study of three aspects of Hong Kong's ornamental fish industry. First, this paper describes the evolution of the local tropic ornamental fish retail market, with particular reference to its spatial evolution that has led to the conglomeration of retail shops at "Goldfish Street", the major concentration of ornamental fish retail outlets in Hong Kong. Second, this paper assesses its turnover by means of property valuation of the retail shops, using the profit method, within "Goldfish Street" and 10 samples outside. The property valuation approach to assess turnover is the received method in the field of estate surveying. It is the most scientific means to evaluate business turnover in the absence of official trade statistics, tax return data, or profits and loss accounts of the retailers. Third, a telephone directory survey of the actual location of ornamental fish retail shops in Hong Kong from 1978 to 2001 is analysed to give an accurate picture of their mobility history. Based on a large number of observations (6,549), it is affirmed that "Goldfish Street" emerged as a dominant retail hub in the 1980s.