Facial recognition app used to protect endangered coral reef fish species is a world first

Facial recognition technology isn’t just for humans. In Hong Kong, it is now being embraced to protect an endangered species of coral reef fish.

In a world first, researchers at the University of Hong Kong have created a facial recognition app to identify individual humphead wrasse fish. The highly prized fish – listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species since 2004 – is considered a delicacy among affluent diners in Hong Kong and can cost as much as US$850 a kilo (US$385 per pound).

Called Saving Face, the free app – due for release next month – uses humpheads’ unique eye markings to help enforcement officials, as well as members of the public and restaurateurs, distinguish between legally and illegally traded fish.

“Our research found that you can identify individual humpheads by the incredibly intricate markings on the sides of their face,” says HKU marine biologist Yvonne Sadovy, comparing the complex markings to fingerprints.

Named for its bulbous forehead, the humphead can grow up to two metres in length and take four to five years to reach adulthood in the wild, but most are sold as juveniles. Being slow to mature, often caught before reaching adulthood – and having a high market value – makes the species vulnerable to over­fishing, and has prompted concerns about the sustainability of its exploitation.

In 2005, the species was placed under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, to regulate the global trade through the issuing of export permits by source countries to ensure trade in the species would not negatively affect its population. Indonesia is the only legal exporter of the humphead wrasse, and Hong Kong is a major importer, with much of it re-exported to mainland China.