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
SINGAPORE- Singapore is the world’s second largest shark fin trader by value after Hong Kong according to a new report by TRAFFIC and WWF. Both organizations are calling on Singapore to improve transparency in the global shark fin trade through more robust monitoring. The recorded value of the exportContinue 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
BOURNEMOUTH (UK)- They help balance the ecosystems in the ocean, and can possibly help with a cure for cancer. Now they sharks also turn out to play an important role in preventing climate change, so say scientists of the British Bournemouth University. ‘Overfishing and shark finning may result on more greenhouseContinue Reading
A new San Francisco startup called New Wave Foods wants to fight the worldwide trade in shark fins with the use of genetically modified yeast to produce collagen, which can be crafted into the desired fan-like structure typical of shark fins. Could that be the alternative for the destructive tradeContinue Reading
GEORGETOWN (CAYMAN ISLANDS)- Last april a new law forbids the fishing of sharks in Cayman waters. Yet fishermen are continuing to illegally catch and kill these creatures despite the protection afforded them by the National Conservation Law. The National Conservation Law provisions protecting certain species, including sharks, in the CaymanContinue 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