When I was running a station years ago in Tonga, the divers don't get much.. The real cost in the fish is freight. As an example:
A Tomato clown caught by the diver pays 25 cents
I would sell that fish to the wholesalers for $1 plus freight collect
Freight averaged about $5 for that same tomato clown
Wholesale to retailer is about $7-8
Retail that fish is now about $20
Beyond the rediculous freight charges (all fish fly from wherever they come from) there has to be an adjustment for dead loss.
When I was shipping fish, we were way less than 1% dead loss, but some locations and shippers can be as high as 25%
Factor that times the referenced $6 to wholesaler clown and stuff starts to get expensive quick.
Sounds like there is a ton of $ to be made when you look at the original 25 cents to the end $20, but most of the cost is absorbed by the airlines.
Water is heavy, heavy is expensive.
When looking at a fish that comes from Mauriatus, and how many flights that fish has taken to get here, and how many hands the fish has gone through once it is landed at the final destination, a $1000 price tag for a Gem is cheap..