The loopy marketplace for the world’s costliest pet fish

On a foggy morning in February 2017, federal brokers in an unmarked automotive pulled over a white Toyota Corolla in Orange County, California.

Weapons on the prepared, they cautiously approached the car.

Within the driver’s seat sat Shawn Lee, a 29-year-old clad in a black baseball cap. Because the brokers drew nearer, they may see that he was cradling a big plastic bag.

Inside this bag was the topic of the manhunt. It wasn’t a brick of heroin, a bootleg firearm, or a bundle of soiled cash.

“What’ve you bought in there?” one of many brokers requested.

“Fish,” stated Lee.

And never simply any fish: 8 writhing Asian arowana — the world’s most dear aquarium pet.

Asian arowana retrieved from a bust in Orange County, California, in 2017. (US Fish and Wildlife Service, by way of court docket filings)

An endangered species within the wild, the Asian arowana is prohibited to import, promote, and, generally, personal within the US.

Each on occasion, tales like Lee’s will floor within the information, shedding gentle on a bizarro black market.

However elsewhere on the planet, the fish is a extremely coveted (and completely authorized) luxurious good. They’re prized by Yakuza gang members in Japan, enterprise magnates in China, and superfish collectors in Europe — and a single prime specimen can price greater than a Ferrari.

How did this fish turn out to be such a scorching commodity? Who controls the market? And why is it unlawful on US soil?

How a swampy creature grew to become swanky

For hundreds of years, the Asian arowana was nothing greater than a meal foraged from the blackwater rivers and swamps of Southeast Asia.

Other than native markets in Malaysia, the fish wasn’t extensively traded — and it definitely wasn’t fascinating, and even recognizable, to most international aquarium fanatics.

Then, in 1975, every little thing modified.

As Southeast Asia’s wetland habitats declined, Asian arowana started to dwindle in quantity. CITES, a treaty that limits the trafficking of endangered wildlife, categorized the Asian arowana as a threatened species.

The transfer was meant to ban industrial commerce of the fish.

However based on Emily Voigt, who spent almost a decade monitoring down the story of the Asian arowana for her guide, The Dragon Behind the Glass, it ended up having precisely the alternative impact.

“That official stamp of rarity completely backfired,” she tells The Hustle. “And it really turned the fish into this restricted version luxurious good.”

An arowana purchased by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at a worth of 200m rupiah ($20k USD) swims throughout an exhibition in Jakarta in 2008. (ADEK BERRY/AFP/Getty Pictures)

Malaysian smugglers started sneaking Asian arowana into Taiwan. From there, the fish discovered its approach to Japan, the place it grew to become a Veblen good amongst Yakuza gang members.

In a bid to dampen this illicit commerce, CITIES allowed farmers in Southeast Asia to legally breed, harvest, and promote Asian arowana. The logic was {that a} flood of recent fish would drive down costs and make them a much less fascinating commodity.

However as soon as once more, issues went off the deep finish.

Over the following many years, tons of of arowana farms popped up all through Indonesia and Malaysia and the fish all however disappeared from the wild.

Right now, the Asian arowana’s largest market is in China.

Dubbed the “dragon fish” on account of its shiny scales, lengthy whiskers, and fierce disposition, the arowana has taken on a non secular aura. 

“It has turn out to be this mystical creature that supposedly protects you and helps you make good enterprise selections,”Voigt tells The Hustle. “It’s thought to deliver wealth and prosperity. There are even accounts of arowana leaping out of their tanks to warn of a nasty omen.”

Homeowners will go above and past to maintain their fish aesthetically pleasing.

Devoted “fish beauticians run worthwhile companies performing cosmetic surgery on fish. In a bid to flaunt essentially the most lovely specimen, house owners give their pets eye lifts ($90), chin jobs ($60), and tail alterations ($60).

Gong Hengliang, who has been a “fish beautician” for 4 years, performs beauty surgical procedure on an Asian arowana fish in 2020 in Lanzhou, China. (Picture by Gao Zhan/China Information Service by way of Getty Pictures)

This fanaticism has turned farm-bred Asian arowana (that are authorized in most international locations) into an estimated $200m/12 months international market.

The $300k fish

Within the mid-Eighties, an Indonesian printing govt named Tris Tanoto stop his job and purchased 12 Asian Arowana for $170.

With assist from mates, he purchased a small farm in East Jakarta, launched the fish in a pond on the property, and, via trial and error, taught himself the artwork of breeding.

Right now, Tanoto’s operation is certainly one of at the least 250 CITES-approved Asian arowana farms throughout Southeast Asia, nearly all of that are centered in Indonesia and Malaysia.

His firm, PT Munjul Prima Utama, is certainly one of Indonesia’s largest exporters of Asian arowana — significantly, the “Tremendous Purple,” a brilliant crimson varietal that’s extremely fascinating to Chinese language consumers, who view the colour crimson as a illustration of vitality and luck.

Scenes from Tanoto’s farm in Indonesia. (Pictures by way of Toro Tanoto)

Annually, the corporate sells round 1k of its 7k inventory of Asian arowana, netting ~$3m USD in annual income.

This works out to $3k per fish on common, however costs can differ tremendously primarily based on quite a lot of components:

• Coloration: The fish could be present in crimson, inexperienced, gold, and silver variations. However a market has emerged for “designer-bred” colours like Purple Tail Golden Splendor, Violet Fusion Tremendous Purple, and Blue Base Golden.
• Pedigree: Fish bred from earlier generations of wild-caught arowana are inclined to fetch larger costs.
• Fin dimension and head form: Bigger dorsal fins up the worth.

Tanoto sells 8 styles of Asian arowana, ranging in worth from $1.2k to $5.5k. As soon as, he says he offered a “flawless” Tremendous Purple to a purchaser in China for $30k.

Extraordinarily uncommon Asian arowana can fetch as much as 10x that quantity.

A breeder in Malaysia who focuses on albino Asian arowana, purportedly offered certainly one of his inventory to a high-ranking member of the Chinese language Communist Celebration for $300k.

A few of these farms are so profitable that they’re publicly traded firms.

In her book, Voigt tells the story of Kenny Yap (AKA, “Kenny the Fish”), a 55-year-old ex-pig farmer who — when not taking nude pictures together with his fish — runs Singapore’s largest arowana farm.

Yap’s firm, Qian Hu, distributes fish to 80 international locations, has 5 international export hubs, and is listed on the Singapore Change. In 2019, the agency offered ~$30m price of fish and spawned greater than 7k Asian arowana. (You may take a peek at their annual report here.)

Kenny Yap takes dip together with his arowana (Qian Hu)

This potential for giant paydays makes the commerce extraordinarily aggressive — and sometimes harmful — for farm house owners just like the Tanotos.

“Competitors is fierce and really unhealthy,” Tris’ son and enterprise companion, Toro, tells The Hustle by way of electronic mail. “There have been a variety of frauds utilizing our firm’s identify, each regionally and globally. They faux to be us and ship pretend Arowana pictures to international prospects on social media.”

Voigt says it’s not unusual to listen to tales of arowana-related sabotage, theft, and even homicide. She calls the fish “an agent of chaos.”

In 2004, a Malaysian store proprietor was killed by thieves who have been after his trove of 20+ Asian arowana. Armed robberies are frequent — and breeders typically safe their tons with concrete partitions, barbed wire, watch towers, and canines. 

Some farms additionally run elaborate worldwide Ponzi schemes, promoting the identical fish to a number of purchasers across the globe. 

The availability chain

Quite than go on to prospects, many farms in Southeast Asia promote in bulk to sellers in different international locations.

Amongst these sellers is David Carr, who runs Planet Arowana, a 100-tank specialty fish store in London.

A customer snaps a shot of the a prize-winning arowana at Singapore’s Aquarama, the biggest commerce present for unique fish fanatics. (ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP by way of Getty Pictures)

Carr, a 41-year-old ex-chef, first bought into fish at 17. What started with guppies in a small glass bowl quickly advanced into a faculty of African Cichlids in an 8-foot tank.

At some point, he requested himself: “What’s the most prestigious, most sought-after, most lovely fish on the planet?”

“I realized concerning the Asian arowana and have become obsessed,” he says. “There’s nothing else prefer it. It’s the majestic dragon.”

The Londoner moved to Malaysia, the place he spent a 12 months studying every little thing he may concerning the fish from native breeders. Whereas there, he arrange his personal 55’x30’ pond with buyers.

The method, he says, works like so:

• The pond is stuffed with 20 arowana (6 males, 14 females).
• At round 3 years of age, the fish “get jiggy.” Every feminine produces between 10-80 eggs.
• Each 2-3 months, child fish (known as fingerlings) are harvested.
• The fish are shipped to the UK and offered at ~4-6 months of age for between $300 and $4k+ every.

In captivity, Asian arowana can stay for 25+ years, making the recurring cycle interesting to buyers.

“It may be very profitable in the event you do it proper,” Carr instructed us. “Individuals who make investments $50k-$100k in Asian arowana ponds undoubtedly get their return again.”

Carr sells his arowana to consumers everywhere in the world. Lately, he says demand has expanded from Asia to the Western world.

“As quickly as somebody sees the Asian arowana, they fall in love,” he says. “When aquarists need one belter of a fish — the crème de la crème — they [trade] up and get one.”

A couple of Asian arowana colour variations: Tremendous Purple, 24k Gold, and Platinum. (Collage, by way of pictures from Getty Pictures)

Glen Mickle, a 32-year-old carpenter who lives in Alberta, Canada, the place Asian arowana are authorized, bought into the fish 6 years in the past at a neighborhood public sale.

He began out with an $800 Blue Base Golden Crossback which he named “Einstein.” Six months later, he splurged on a Tremendous Purple for $1k, then one other, imported from Indonesia, for $1.7k.

“They’re my prizes,” he says of the fish.

Mickle created United Arowana, a non-public Fb group for “arowana lovers” that boasts ~19k members. The group is certainly one of many hubs — together with the boards Arofanatics and Monster Fish Keepers — the place Asian arowana fanatics discuss store.

One matter comes up significantly typically: The unlawful nature of the fish in the USA.

The black market

Whereas Asian arowana are legally purchased and offered in most worldwide markets, shopping for and promoting them is strictly prohibited within the US underneath the Endangered Species Act.

However that hasn’t stopped People — or breeders in Asia — from trying to create their very own underground fish pipeline.

“I learn about 10 folks within the US who personal Asian arowana,” Mickle instructed us. “I’d say it’s much more widespread than folks assume. It’s simply not [talked about] as a lot, for apparent causes.”

The Hustle

The Fish and Wildlife Service has commandeered no scarcity of Asian arowana busts over the previous decade:

• In 2010, 7 folks have been arrested in Los Angeles for trying to smuggle in 12 juvenile Asian arowana from Indonesia.
• In 2011, a 49-year-old Chinese language meals supply driver was caught making an attempt to import 16 fish from Malaysia to NYC in a suitcase.
• In 2014, two males in San Diego have been caught with 13 of the fish, which they have been making an attempt to promote on Craigslist for $2.8k every.
• In 2018, a Chicago chef was busted for making an attempt to purchase 24 Asian arowana for his house aquarium. 

Most frequently, perpetrators obtain a sentence of probation and fines of between $5k and $15k — a small charge to pay for the potential upside of such underground operations.

In a single case, a smuggler paid a Vietnamese farmer $6.6k for 16 Asian arowana ($412 every) and offered for them within the US for $1.9k a pop — a revenue margin of 78%.

Establishing a deal like this requires secretive communication between smugglers in Southeast Asia and consumers within the US. 

Each events are effectively conscious of the excessive stakes.

A transaction between Shawn Lee (a 29-year-old from Backyard Grove, California) and Mickey Tanadi (a breeder from Jakarta, Indonesia) started with the next exchange over a world texting app:

A recreation of actual texts exchanged between Lee (blue) and Tanadi (grey) in 2017, by way of US District Court docket filings (The Hustle)

Lee despatched Tanadi a wire switch for $2,550.

In flip, Tanadi secured 8 Asian arowana in water-filled plastic baggage hidden inside ceramic pots. He shipped them to the US by way of DHL with a remaining textual content that will as effectively have been addressed to the fish themselves:

“…Don’t get caught.”