Hong Kong conservationists yesterday expressed outrage after images of a factory rooftop covered in thousands of freshly sliced shark fins emerged, as they called for curbs on the “barbaric” trade.
The Chinese territory is one of the world’s biggest markets for shark fins, which are used to make soup that is an expensive staple at Chinese banquets and viewed by many Asians as a rare delicacy.
Activist Gary Stokes, who has visited the site, estimated there were 15,000 to 20,000 fins being laid to dry on the rooftop in Hong Kong ahead of an anticipated surge in demand over Lunar New Year next month.
Photo: AFP
“This is shocking,” said Stokes, the Hong Kong coordinator for conservation group Sea Shepherd, adding that it was the first time he had spotted such a massive hoarding of shark fins in one place in the Asian financial hub.
“This is the most graphic, brutal and barbaric part of the industry — the element of chopping a shark’s fin off and throwing it back into the water is horrific and inhumane,” he said.
Stokes believed the large amount of shark fins were destined for China, and that traders moved to dry the shark fins on secluded rooftops instead of sidewalks — as they had done in the past — to avoid public anger.
Photo: AFP
Campaigns against consuming shark fins have gained ground in Hong Kong in recent years, after major hotel chains decided to drop the soup from menus, and home carrier Cathay Pacific said in September it would stop carrying unsustainable sourced shark products on its cargo flights.
“The demand in Hong Kong is definitely decreasing, but unfortunately the demand in China is growing,” Stokes said.
“As long as there is no protection for the sharks, the [demand] will just keep going on and on,” he added, urging Hong Kong authorities to ban the trade.
Environmentalists say the sustainable shark fin industry is tiny and most of the products are harvested in a way that threatens scores of shark species deemed vital for healthy oceans.
About 73 million sharks are killed every year, with Hong Kong importing about 10,000 tonnes annually for the past decade, the environmental group WWF said. Most of those fins are then exported to mainland China.
The number of threatened shark species has soared from 15 in 1996 to more than 180 in 2010, mainly due to the growing Chinese demand for fins.
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