THE grouper may only be the twelfth most popular fish eaten here, but conservation group World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) wants Singaporeans to eat less of this popular fish.

The organisation is embarking on a two-year project to get restaurants and hotels to serve up less of the grouper and another fish, the napolean wrasse, also known as the humphead wrasse.

It also wants to come up with a seafood guide which groups fish and seafood commonly eaten in Singapore according to whether their numbers are threatened or if they are in abundant supply.

The WWF already has such guides for Hong Kong and Indonesia and hopes people will refer to these guides before deciding on which fish to eat.

The WWF says the two species, which live in the Coral Triangle, spanning the waters of countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, are dwindling in numbers and their disappearance could seriously upset the eco-balance of the coral reefs there.

After Hong Kong, Singapore is the second largest consumer of these fish in the region, said leader of the WWF's Coral Triangle Network Intiative, Dr Lida Pet-Soede.

According to the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority here, which oversees the food supply in Singapore, Singaporeans consume about 120,000 tonnes of fish in a year. They are mainly caught in the waters of Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

Among the 15 most popular fish consumed here are the spanish mackerel, commonly known as 'batang', salmon, pomfret and seabass.

According to WWF, more than 500 tonnes of fish consumed in Singapore in a year are fish which live among coral reefs, and about 75 per cent of these are various types of grouper fish.

The reason grouper and the napolean wrasse are worrying conservationists is these fish are top level predators in the coral reef community, said Dr Pet-Soede.

'When they are gone, it means the other fish, which would normally be eaten by these predators, will increase in numbers. And some of these fish are harmful to the coral reefs,' she said.

The Coral Triangle is one of three areas in the world with the richest biodiversity, she said. The others are the Amazon in South America and the Congo Basin in Africa.

Her team's work here will involve finding out the popular fish eaten in Singapore and exploring alternatives for endangered ones.

To fund this project, the WWF is hopping to raise $400,000 to $500,000 through a gala dinner called the Panda Ball on Nov 21 at the St Regis Hotel.

Said Dr Pet-Soede: 'We're not saying we have to stop eating fish, but perhaps, we can choose to eat those which are in abundant supply.'