The Hong Kong to Chinese mainland trade in shark fins has dropped by almost 90 percent, with overall imports to Hong Kong falling by 35 percent, according to the WWF.
The re-export market has also significantly fallen, with government statistics showing a drop in volumes of 17.5 percent, driven by the 90 percent fall in re-exports to the mainland from 1.2 million kilograms to 113,973 kg since 2012.
"We were very surprised when we saw this figure as the mainland has traditionally been Hong Kong's biggest re-export market," WWF Hong Kong programme director Tracy Tsang Chui-chi said. "We do not rule out the possibility that the central government's anti-corruption measures could have played a role in the big drop in re-exports."
The Chinese government implemented new measures in 2013 banning shark fin soup being served at official banquets. The soup is a traditional Chinese dish purportedly boasting properties that boost sexual potency, enhance skin quality, increase energy, prevent heart disease, and lower cholesterol. Whilst many say that the soup is virtually tasteless, it has a chewy, crunchy texture which is just as important as taste in Chinese cooking. Environmentalists from Greenpeace, Sea Shepherd and the Humane Society International last year also led a letter-writing campaign against shark finning and subsequent soup, leading to major airlines including Qantas and Air New Zealand banning the product from being served on-board any of their flights.
Although fin exports are at their lowest in Hong Kong for over a decade, Tsang says that the government need to further implement measures to better regulate the industry- such as collecting and releasing statistics on the trade, detailing species, volume and country of origin. "The government should improve the existing codes, following the coding practice used for bluefin tuna, to allow for the identification of shark species that need to be tracked. Scientific identification, through DNA testing of randomly sampled shark fins, could also be deployed for verification purposes," she said.
Eight species of shark are now protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), with trade restrictions in place. According to the chairman of the Hong Kong Marine Products Association, Ricky Leung Lak-kee, the trade heeds these restrictions, claiming that almost two-thirds of hunted sharks are blue sharks which do not fall into the protected species category. "The industry follows international law stipulated by CITES. There is a reason why it exists. I don't understand why green groups and the government keep discriminating against us," Leung said.
The process of harvesting fins has led to persistent complaints from animal anti-cruelty groups, who view the method as barbaric - the shark is often left to die in the ocean after having its fins cut off. The process is a cause of serious decline in the number of sharks in the world's oceans. In 1996 only 15 shark species were considered threatened, soaring to over 180 species by 2010.
[Image via Flickr]
0 User Comments