Processes of commodification and standardization in tropical freshwater fish value chains – current and historical perspectives

19世纪中叶，水族馆的发明激发了人们在家中重建一片看似未受破坏的“自然”的愿望：一个具有自我调节特征的可控“微型荒野”。早期进口到欧洲和美国的热带鱼由于使用简单的技术和运输时间长，死亡率很高。组织和技术的改进促进了商品化进程，热带鱼贸易变得更加专业化。这些进步也使得人工养殖淡水鱼类成为可能，从而增加了欧洲和北美市场上热带鱼的供应量。今天，在全球野生动物贸易中，超过一半的脊椎动物是鱼类。在2000到2500种淡水和海洋物种之间进行定期交易，但大约30种淡水物种主导着全球市场。这不仅反映了品种交易和商品化的高度标准化，也反映了国际品种标准对流行品种的重要作用。标准化的过程至少可以在三个领域观察到：(1)品种标准，(2)空运和陆运包装标准，(3)农场、处理设施等采用行业标准。全球贸易是通过一个主要的贸易中心网络引导和控制的：例如新加坡、法兰克福、阿姆斯特丹、迈阿密、洛杉矶。现有的观赏鱼贸易研究为观赏鱼的地理贸易格局和不同种类的相关性提供了有益的概述。然而，很少有人关注相关的本地和全球价值链。观赏鱼的商品化及其贸易引发了一系列生态、社会和道德问题，如生态系统退化、运输后死亡率，或保护小规模渔民和养殖者的生计。这个项目的重点将放在商品化过程和与之相关的标准开发上。从概念上讲，这项研究反映了话语和非人类中心（多物种）的观点。目的是研究两种不同且部分竞争的价值链类型，分别是养殖鱼类和野生鱼类。该方法应主要基于对价值链上的参与者的定性访谈(1)新加坡和邻近的养鱼场地区（养殖鱼类的价值链），(2)坦桑尼亚（野生捕捞价值链），(3)法兰克福和阿姆斯特丹（进口商、批发商）。除了这些访谈之外，还将分析19世纪70年代以来的主要养鱼期刊，以获得对商品化和标准化过程的更深入的历史视角。这些分析也将为人们对热带鱼是自然的、真实的、野生的还是家养的宠物的不断变化的理解提供更深入的见解。

The invention of the aquarium in the mid‐19th century spurred people’s desire to re‐create a piece of seemingly unspoiled ‘nature’ at home: a controlled ‘miniature wilderness’ with some self‐regulating characteristics. The early imports of tropical fish to Europe and the US were subject to high rates of mortality due to the use of simple technologies and the long duration of transport. Organizational and technological improvements boosted commodification processes, and the trade with tropical fish became more professional. These advancements also made it possible to breed more freshwater species in captivity, leading to an increase in the supply of tropical fish on European and North American markets. Today, more than half of all vertebrates in the global wildlife trade are fish species. Between 2000 and 2500 freshwater and marine species are traded regularly, but about 30 freshwater species dominate the global market. This not only reflects a high degree of standardization in the species traded and being commodified, but also the important role of international breed standards for popular species. Processes of standardization can be observed in at least three fields: (1) breed standards, (2) packaging standards for air and land transport, (3) the adoption of industry standards by farms, handling facilities etc. Global trade is channeled through and controlled by a network of dominant trading hubs: e.g. Singapore, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Miami, Los Angeles. The existing studies on trade of ornamental fish have provided useful overviews of geographical trade patterns and the relevance of different species. Little attention, however, has been paid to the associated local and global value chains. Commodification of ornamental fish and their trade raise a number of ecological, social, and moral issues, such as the degradation of ecosystems, post‐shipment mortality, or the protection of livelihoods of small‐scale fishers and breeders. The focus of this project will be on commodification processes and the development of standards that are related to it. Conceptually, this research reflects both discursive and non-anthropocentric (multi-species) perspectives. The aim is to study two different and partly competing types of value chains for farm‐raised fish and for fish caught in the wild. The methodology shall be mainly based on qualitative interviews with actors along the value chains in (1) Singapore and neighboring fish‐farm regions (value chains of farm‐raised fish), (2) Tanzania (wild catch value chains), and (3) Frankfurt and Amsterdam (importers, wholesalers). In addition to these interviews, leading fish keeping journals from the 1870s onward will be analyzed to gain a deeper historical perspective on commodification and standardization processes. These analyses will also provide deeper insights into the changing understanding of tropical fish being something natural, authentic or wild, or domesticated pets.