Asian arowanas are listed as endangered by the 2006 IUCN Red List, with the most recent evaluation taking place in 1996.[19] International trade in these fishes is controlled under the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), under which it was placed on Appendix I, the most restrictive category, in 1975.[20] S. formosus is one of only eight fish species listed on Appendix I.[21] A number of registered CITES breeders are in Asia, and the specimens they produce can be imported into several nations.