Juveniles are mainly sourced from wild stocks, its wild population has been overfished.
Hong Kong grouper is carnivorous. Wild fish are used to produce fish feed and subsequently the Fish-in Fish-out ratio is high, meaning that quite a large volume of fish is input into the system as feed. This can put additional pressure on the already overfished populations of other marine species. Feed components are generally not traceable and have not proven to be sustainable.
Chemicals may be used but this is regulated. Discharge is not well regulated and may have negative impacts on the nearby waters as the systems are open systems.
There is a lack of comprehensive strategic environmental planning. The regulatory framework in China covers site location planning, protection of valuable habitat, EIA, land and water use, use of chemicals and discharge but these are only considered partially effective.