Shark's fin found in SIA shipment to Hong Kong

This article is more than 12 months old

May 31, 2018 06:00 am

HONG KONG: Shark fins from endangered species including the giant, placid whale shark, were found in a Singapore Airlines shipment to Hong Kong this month, highlighting the challenges the Chinese territory faces in regulating the trade.

The 980kg shipment of fins came from Colombo, Sri Lanka, via Singapore.

Singapore Airlines, which bans shark fin cargo, said yesterday that the shipment had been labelled as "dry seafood". It added that it had sent out a reminder to all its stations to conduct sampling checks on shipments labelled 'dried seafood' and blacklisted the shipper.

Hong Kong permits imports of shark fins, viewed as a delicacy, but shark species listed by the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species must be accompanied by a permit.

Hong Kong is the world's largest trade hub for shark fins.

Mr Gary Stokes, Asia director at Sea Shepherd, who discovered the shipment, said: "This is another case of misleading and deceiving. The shipment came declared as 'dried seafood', so (it) didn't flag any alarms."