HONG KONG- Hong Kong Customs detected two smuggling cases of scheduled dried shark fins at the Kwai Chung Customhouse Cargo Examination Compound on April 28 and May 4. About 13 tonnes of suspected scheduled dried shark fins of endangered species were seized in each case, with an estimated market valueContinue Reading
HONG KONG- For the first time, researchers have traced the origins of shark fins from the retail market in Hong Kong back to the location where the sharks were first caught. Great news! This will allow researchers to identify “high-risk” supply chains for illegal trade and better enforce international trade regulations.Continue Reading
MACAU (CHINA)- Shark fin re-exports from Hong Kong to Macau rose a staggering 62 per cent in 2016. This is the first time re-exports to Macau exceeded those to mainland China. Where the re-export was 88,029 kilos in 2015 last year these were 143,396 kilos, says World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF). According toContinue Reading
Large shipments of shark fins are still arriving in Hong Kong on airlines and shipping lines that have made ‘No Shark Fin’ carriage ban commitments. The fins are labelled as ‘seafood’ or ‘fish’. This is the conclusion of a three-month investigation by Sea Shepherd Global, as part of their global sharkContinue Reading
SAN JOSE (COSTA RICA)- Conservation groups Turtle Island Restoration Network and PRETOMA have found evidence that Costa Rica is exporting hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini) to plates in Hong Kong by way of stop-overs on U.S. soil. Eastern Pacific Scalloped hammerhead sharks are listed as “endangered” under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA). The exportContinue Reading
SAN JOSE (COSTA RICA)- Inspectors from the National Animal Health Service (SENASA) of Costa Rica found a large amount of shark fins from protected species among air cargo that was to be exported to Hong Kong. The illegal fins were found in a sample inspection of three sacks of shark fins to beContinue Reading
CAPE TOWN (SOUTH AFRICA)- Up to 24 countries may be catching sharks in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea but failing to report these catches, as is legally required by the Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). A new report by Oceana revealed these secret catches, based onContinue Reading