Pact takes fresh bite of HK's shark fin sales
Source: AFP |
00:00 UTC+8 March 18, 2013
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A CONSERVATION victory restricting global trade in more shark species will take a fresh bite of Hong Kong's market in fins, which has already been hit hard by persistent attacks from anti-fin campaigners.
Defiant fin merchants insisted the impact of the restrictions would be minimal as they would continue to import other species not covered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species agreement.
And a local anti-fin lobby group warned that the measures, which aim to protect the oceanic whitetip shark, the porbeagle and three types of hammerhead, would be hard to enforce.
But traders in the southern Chinese city, one of the world's biggest markets for shark fins, which are used to make an expensive gelatinous soup, have already suffered from successful environmental campaigning.
New figures show shark fin imports dropped off dramatically last year to 3,351 tons from 10,340 tons in 2011, after some prominent Hong Kong hotels and restaurants struck the dish from their menus.
Hong Kong has traditionally handled around half of all global trade, exporting most fins to Chinese mainland.
On "Dried Seafood Street," at the center of the city's shark fin trade, dozens of shops show their goods, from lower-quality fins in plastic to premium varieties displayed behind glass at up to HK$10,000 (US$1,300) per kilogram.
"More and more young people think having shark fin soup is cruel," trader Frederick Yu said. "For Chinese, the only two delicacies we have are abalone and shark fins. The Westerners eat caviar and foie gras, is that not cruel? Why do they stop us from eating shark fins?"
But Yu, who has been in the business for over 10 years, said he supported the sustainability of shark populations, calling it unfair to target traders.
The 178-member CITES conference in Bangkok approved an agreement that requires countries and regions to issue export permits to ensure the sustainability of the sharks in the wild or face sanctions.
But Ho Siu-chai, the chairman of the Hong Kong Shark Fin Trade Merchants Association, said the restrictions would only affect a tenth of current business. "It's not an issue for us - we have about 400 shark species. We can always import other species," he said. "We see it positively. We don't oppose the new restrictions."
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization says 90 percent of the marine predators have vanished in the past 100 years.
Defiant fin merchants insisted the impact of the restrictions would be minimal as they would continue to import other species not covered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species agreement.
And a local anti-fin lobby group warned that the measures, which aim to protect the oceanic whitetip shark, the porbeagle and three types of hammerhead, would be hard to enforce.
But traders in the southern Chinese city, one of the world's biggest markets for shark fins, which are used to make an expensive gelatinous soup, have already suffered from successful environmental campaigning.
New figures show shark fin imports dropped off dramatically last year to 3,351 tons from 10,340 tons in 2011, after some prominent Hong Kong hotels and restaurants struck the dish from their menus.
Hong Kong has traditionally handled around half of all global trade, exporting most fins to Chinese mainland.
On "Dried Seafood Street," at the center of the city's shark fin trade, dozens of shops show their goods, from lower-quality fins in plastic to premium varieties displayed behind glass at up to HK$10,000 (US$1,300) per kilogram.
"More and more young people think having shark fin soup is cruel," trader Frederick Yu said. "For Chinese, the only two delicacies we have are abalone and shark fins. The Westerners eat caviar and foie gras, is that not cruel? Why do they stop us from eating shark fins?"
But Yu, who has been in the business for over 10 years, said he supported the sustainability of shark populations, calling it unfair to target traders.
The 178-member CITES conference in Bangkok approved an agreement that requires countries and regions to issue export permits to ensure the sustainability of the sharks in the wild or face sanctions.
But Ho Siu-chai, the chairman of the Hong Kong Shark Fin Trade Merchants Association, said the restrictions would only affect a tenth of current business. "It's not an issue for us - we have about 400 shark species. We can always import other species," he said. "We see it positively. We don't oppose the new restrictions."
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization says 90 percent of the marine predators have vanished in the past 100 years.
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