Hong Kong customs seize 38,500 endangered shark fins

Yahoo – AFP, May 7, 2020

A record 26 tonnes of shark fin were seized by customs officers in Hong Kong
(AFP Photo/Handout)

Hong Kong has seized 26 tonnes of smuggled shark fins, sliced from some 38,500 endangered animals, in the largest bust of its kind in the southern Chinese city.

The record haul was discovered in two containers from Ecuador, and highlights the continued demand for shark fin, which is served at wedding banquets in many Chinese communities.

The city's customs department unveiled the haul on Wednesday and said it smashed previous records.

"Each consignment consisting of 13 tonnes broke the previous record seizure of 3.8 tonnes of controlled shark fins made in 2019," customs official Danny Cheung told reporters.

Most of the fins came from thresher and silky sharks, both endangered species. A 57-year-old man was arrested but has been released on bail pending further enquiries.

Some of the ocean's most vital apex predators, shark populations have been decimated over the last few decades with finning and industrial long line fishing the main culprits.

Fishing fleets often cut the fin from the shark and then and throw the fatally maimed animal back in the sea to maximise profit.

The dried fins sell for considerable sums and are usually served in a glutinous soup at banquets.

The sale and consumption of shark fin is not illegal in Hong Kong, but must be licensed.

Years of campaigning by environmentalists and celebrities like Chinese basketball star Yao Ming have led to the dish becoming less fashionable among younger consumers in China, Macau, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

But it remains stubbornly popular among older generations and many prominent hotels and restaurants still offer it.

A 2018 survey by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) found seven out of 10 Hong Kongers had eaten shark fin that year.

"There is still strong cultural value placed on consuming shark fin, particularly at weddings, business events and family gatherings like the upcoming Mother's Day," senior conservation officer Gloria Lai Pui-yin told AFP.

Some restaurants and hotels had signed WWF's "no shark fin" pledge but many continued to offer the dish, she added.

Wild Aid estimates some 73 million sharks are killed every year for the trade.

Their research says consumption has dropped significantly on the Chinese mainland but there is growing appetite for the dish in Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.

With its busy port and international connections, Hong Kong has long been a major trafficking route for wildlife and drug smugglers.

Importing endangered species without a licence is illegal and carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail and a HK$10 million ($1.3 million) fine.

Stricken ship refloated after Solomons oil spill

Yahoo – AFP, 11 May 2019

The ship was carrying more than 700 tonnes of heavy fuel and leaked a huge
amount of oil into the sea

The ship at the centre of an environmental disaster near World-Heritage listed waters in the Solomon Islands was refloated Saturday after being stranded on a coral reef for more than three months.

The MV Solomon Trader ran aground on February 5 while loading bauxite at Rennell Island, about 240 kilometres (149 miles) south of the capital Honiara.

The 225-metre (740-foot) ship was carrying more than 700 tonnes of heavy fuel and leaked a huge amount of oil into the sea, sparking an international effort to contain the spill.

"They have been trying to refloat the vessel since Thursday but because of low tide they have not been able to, until today", the chairman of the Solomons National Disaster Council, Melchior Mataki, told AFP.

An oil slick more than six kilometres long has spread along the shoreline, destroying the livelihoods of islanders who rely on waters in the ecologically delicate region.

Rennell Island is the largest raised coral atoll in the world and includes a UNESCO World Heritage site which extends kilometres out to sea.

Authorities have said the site was not affected by the spill, although Mataki said a detailed environmental assessment will be undertaken now that the vessel is out of the way.

"There is a preliminary report but the full report will be made known once assessments and investigation findings are compiled properly", he said, adding the government would likely seek compensation for environmental damage.

The Australian government had sent salvage experts to assist the response and vowed to help the Solomons make sure those responsible for the spill are held to account.

The Hong Kong-registered ship was chartered by Indonesian-based Bintan Mining and was loaded with almost 11,000 tonnes of bauxite at the time of the incident.

Ocean threat from Hong Kong's taste for seafood

Yahoo – AFP, Dennis Chong, 10 Aug 2015

Hong Kong is the second-largest consumer of seafood per capita in Asia -- an

 average resident consumes 71.2 kilos (157 pounds) of seafood each year 

(AFP Photo/Isaac Lawrence)

Hong Kong (AFP) - A seafood lunch in Hong Kong is enjoyed by locals and visitors alike, but with threatened species on the menu and fishing practices that endanger marine life, campaigners want to change the city's appetite.

Hong Kong is the second-largest consumer of seafood per capita in Asia -- an average resident consumes 71.2 kilos (157 pounds) of seafood each year, more than four times the global average, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature Hong Kong.

Seafood is ubiquitous in Hong Kong, where

 customers often choose their fish live from

a tank (AFP Photo/Isaac Lawrence)

Yet the city of seven million has been forced to become one of the biggest seafood importers in the world as local waters are depleted of fish stocks.

Whether in high-end restaurants or waterside eateries, seafood is ubiquitous in the southern Chinese city, where customers often choose their fish live from a tank.

Baked lobster with noodles in cheese and deep-fried prawns in salted egg yolk are among local favourites.

But a "fish tank index" compiled by WWF Hong Kong found that more than 50 percent of the species available in the city's traditional restaurant tanks were from "highly unsustainable" sources.

"Overfishing is driving the collapse of the world's ocean fish stocks and edging many types of fish towards extinction, yet they are still on our menus," WWF Hong Kong conservation director Gavin Edwards told AFP.

"Hong Kong has a special responsibility to turn the tide as one of the biggest consumers of seafood."

Unsustainable fish include those caught by controversial fishing practices, such as using cyanide poison, or from overfishing already depleted species.

Popular, threatened seafood in Hong Kong include grouper, wild sea cucumber and humphead wrasse -- a coral reef fish.

Lack of information

The WWF has launched a new online seafood guide for Hong Kong detailing which types are deemed unsustainable.

Popular, threatened seafood in Hong Kong

 include grouper, wild sea cucumber and

 humphead wrasse -- a coral reef fish

(AFP Photo/Isaac Lawrence)

It also recently held a "Sustainable Seafood Week" asking restaurants to provide ocean-friendly options.

But there is still a way to go to change consumer habits.

Visiting Hong Kong for a post-graduation trip, Japanese student Ted Machizawa, 22, has just finished lunch in the coastal town of Sai Kung, famous for its seafood.

He says he had no idea whether his meal -- steamed grouper and shrimps -- could pose a threat to the ocean.

"We're just trying to see what it's like here. We are probably not too keen on knowing what kind of fish it is," he said, sitting metres away from tanks packed with live crabs and reef fish.

Hong Konger Janice Fung said restaurants rarely gave information on sourcing.

"If you go to an expensive restaurant or a specialised seafood shop they might tell you. Otherwise the information is not comprehensive," she said as she waited for a meal at Cafe Deco on the city's famous Peak, which serves a wide range of seafood.

"If you tell me what I am eating is not sustainable I will try to avoid it," she added.

Cafe Deco has opted to provide an alternative sustainable menu as part of the WWF push -- shunning the controversial delicacy shark fin, for example.

Ng Wai-lun, one of the owners of Chuen Kee Seafood Restaurant on Sai Kung's

 promenade, says he would have to scrap 70 percent of the menu to make it

 ocean-friendly, something he fears would drive customers away (AFP Photo/
Isaac Lawrence)

"You can't necessarily tell the difference (in flavour)... if you don't use shark fin to make dumplings," senior chef William Chang told AFP as he put the finishing touches to ocean trout-stuffed ravioli, a dish on the sustainable menu.

Chang says restaurants should "take the first step" to change people's eating habits.

Some suppliers are also trying to help.

Banker-turned-fish farmer Mark Kwok hopes that by farming groupers, which are on the decline in the ocean, he can help stem the crisis.

His farm in the northern hillside town of Yuen Long was accredited as sustainable by the WWF in 2013.

"We have about 35,000 fish. Even if you were to eat all of them, it wouldn't make a dent in the ecosystem because these are farmed fish that have never seen the ocean," he told AFP.

Environmentalists in the Philippines say stocks of grouper are dwindling near the island of Palawan, a major source for Hong Kong.

"We have fishermen who say they used to catch them near the coast. But now, they have to go further out to sea," said Melo Ponce De Leon, spokeswoman of the government's Palawan Council for Sustainable Development.

Fear of change

Baked lobster with noodles in cheese and 

deep-fried prawns in salted egg yolk are 

among local seafood favourites (AFP

Photo/Isaac Lawrence)

Some Hong Kong restaurateurs worry that changing their menus would dent their incomes.

"Many of our customers are from mainland China and they want to get something they have never seen before," says Ng Wai-lun, one of the owners of Chuen Kee Seafood Restaurant on Sai Kung's promenade.

"They like to pick the colourful ones... or something caught fresh from the wild," said Ng, pointing out a tank of humphead wrasse and groupers.

Ng says he would have to scrap 70 percent of the menu to make it ocean-friendly, something he fears would drive customers away.

But campaigners say progress has been made.

"We found in a recent survey that 80 percent of customers would not buy unsustainable seafood if they knew it was unsustainable," says Edwards.

"There is more awareness, but we still have much further to go."

New Chinese cruise liner to set sail for Taiwan

Want China Times, Li Hsin-tung and Staff Reporter 2015-04-14

The Chinese Taishan sailing back to the port of Yantai in Shandong after
its maiden voyage, August 2014. (File photo/Xinhua)

China's first wholly-owned and independently operated cruise ship, the Chinese Taishan, is set to embark on its maiden voyage to Taichung later in the month, as more mainland tourists visit Taiwan on cruises, reports our Chinese-language sister paper China Times.

The Chinese Taishan will dock at Taichung on April 25 on the first of its eight cruise tours to Taiwan this year and then head to Kaohsiung before returning to Zhoushan in east China's Zhejiang province, Taiwan International Ports' Taichung branch said.

From May 9, the ports of call for the ship will include all four major ports of Taiwan — Taichung, Kaohsiung, Keelung and Hualien, the first time a foreign cruise ship has done so, the port operator in Taichung added.

The four-port cruise trip, which takes six days and five nights, is priced between 3,000 to 5,000 yuan (US$480-$805) per person, and is especially attractive to mainland tourists, since they can visit as many places as possible this way.

The cruise ship is operated by Hong Kong-based Bohai Cruise, which acquired the vessel from Carnival last year.

Unlike Western visitors, who prefer to visit several countries in one cruise trip, Chinese tourists are happy to just visit Taiwan in one trip, no matter how it is done, the tour operators said.

According to Taiwan International Ports, there were 785 round-trips between Taiwan and China by sea, including cruises and regular passenger services in 2014, carrying 167,000 people to Taiwan.

The number of trips and passengers are expected to rise to 1,006 and 228,000, respectively, this year, the company said.

Hong Kong captain jailed for 8 years over ferry tragedy

Yahoo – AFP, February 16, 2015

Hong Kong captain jailed for 8 years over ferry tragedy

Hong Kong (AFP) - A Hong Kong boat captain was on Monday sentenced to eight years in prison for the manslaughter of 39 people in a 2012 ferry collision, the city's worst maritime disaster in nearly four decades.

Sea Smooth skipper Lai Sai Ming, 56, was found guilty on Saturday following a trial that gripped the city, over the accident between his high-speed ferry and a pleasure boat near Lamma Island.

"I have concluded you should go to prison for eight years," judge Brian Keith told a court.

"You were in command of a fast ferry, not a small pleasure boat. You knew if you didn't check for the presence of other vessels you would be risking lives... your conduct that night fell way below the standard of professionalism," he said.

"The case has been personal tragedy for your and your family but that cannot begin to compare with the unimaginable grief to those who lost their loved ones," he said, as Lai listened from the dock with his head lowered.

Lai was jailed for a further 18 months for endangering the safety of others at sea, but the terms will be served concurrently.

Chow Chi-wai, 58, who was piloting the leisure boat Lamma IV with 120 people on board in the collision, was jailed for nine months for endangering others' safety at sea. He was acquitted of all 39 charges of manslaughter.

His lawyer Gerard McCoy said that, after the October 1, 2012 incident, Chow "has deep, abiding fear of the sea" and cannot go on ferries anymore.

Saturday's verdict came after a nine-member jury deliberated for four days following a 60-day trial.

Irene Cheng, who lost her 24-year-old son in the accident, told AFP that the sentences could not bring back the families' loved ones.

"I respect the court decision. But even if they were given a death penalty it cannot compensate... his life will not return and my family will never be the same," she said.

The collision raised questions over safety in the crowded waters of Hong Kong, one of the world's busiest ports, with an inquiry pointing to a "litany of errors" that caused the disaster.

Victims could have had vital extra minutes to escape if the Lamma IV had been equipped with a watertight door, while several were actually left trapped when seats fell on top of them, the inquiry found.

The boat also had no children's life jackets onboard when it sank, claiming the lives of eight youngsters.

It was the city's most serious maritime accident since 1971, when a ferry between Hong Kong and Macau sank off the island of Lantau during a typhoon, killing 88 people.

Related Article:

Costa Concordia captain Schettino sentenced to 16 years

Google joins fight against illegal fishing

Yahoo – AFP, 14 Nov 2014

One of the challenges in tackling illegal fishing has been the lack of jurisdiction

on the high seas (AFP Photo/Joel Nito)

Technology giant Google has taken the battle against illegal fishing online, with the company unveiling a tool in Australia on Friday that harnesses satellite data to track thousands of boats in real time.

A prototype interactive tool, which was developed in conjunction with environmental activists SkyTruth and marine advocacy group Oceana, was unveiled at the once-a-decade World Parks Congress in Sydney.

The tool is the latest salvo from environmentalists against illegal fishing, which is currently estimated by the Global Ocean Commission to cost the world economy up to US$23.5 billion a year.

An office worker checks out a map on 

Google's satellite image service, in Hong

 Kong, on October 18, 2005 (AFP Photo/

Laurent Fievet)

"While many of the environmental trends in the ocean can be sobering, the combination of cloud computing and massive data is enabling new tools to visualise, understand and potentially reverse these trends," Brian Sullivan of Google's Earth Outreach and Oceans section said.

The tool uses data points from the Automatic Identification System network, which picks up GPS broadcasts of a vessel's location to map movements.

The prototype has tracked just over 3,000 fishing vessels, with a public tool set to be released down the track.

SkyTruth said the system, which will only monitor fishing vessels, would make activities usually invisible to the wider public easily viewable.

"So much of what happens out on the high seas is invisible, and that has been a huge barrier to understanding and showing the world what's at stake for the ocean," SkyTruth's president and founder John Amos said.

"Satellite data is allowing us to make human interaction with the ocean more transparent than ever before."

The Global Ocean Commission, an independent panel launched in February 2013, said evidence showed seas have been fished to dangerously low levels, with 90 percent of the world's large fish stocks -- such as tuna and swordfish -- already gone.

The commission said one of the challenges in tackling illegal fishing was the lack of jurisdiction on the high seas.

While the high seas make up 64 percent of the ocean's total surface area, they fall beyond national jurisdictions and suffer from a lack of oversight, the organisation said.

The World Parks Congress, which is being held in Sydney until November 19, has drawn thousands of delegates and is set to lay out a global agenda for protected areas for the next decade.

Related Article:

Indonesia Declares War on Illegal Foreign Fishing Boats

Melia Hotel Chain Praised for Taking Shark Fins Off Menus

Jakarta Globe, Abdul Qowi Bastian, Aug 05, 2014

People walk past shark fins drying on a road in Hong Kong on July 30, 2014.
Hong Kong and China is one of the world's biggest markets for shark fins where it
 is commonly served as a soup at wedding banquets and corporate parties, but
 conservationists say booming demand for fins has put pressure on the world's
 shark populations prompting calls for measures to restrict their trade. (AFP
Photo/Dale De La Rey)

Jakarta. One of the world’s biggest hotel chains, Melia Hotels International, said on Tuesday that it had removed shark fins from the menus of its restaurants around the world, including the Gran Melia Hotel in Jakarta, joining a growing global campaign against the popular delicacy in Asia.

“With the removal of shark fin as an ingredient, Melia is contributing to the protection of the important role sharks play in maintaining balance in the marine ecosystem,” the company said in a statement. “As predators, sharks are a key species in the food chain and also indicators of the health of our oceans. They eliminate the weakest prey, maintain balance with competitors, and guarantee the diversity of species,” it added.

Melia, which runs more than 350 hotels in 40 countries, making it one of the world’s largest hotel companies, said the ban on shark fins would also apply to all events held within its facilities.

Ratna Sjamsiar Idris, director of marketing and communications at Gran Melia Hotel Jakarta, said that the ban takes effect immediately.

“The order [of the shark fin ban] was carried out before the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan,” Ratna told the Jakarta Globe on Tuesday. “We now no longer accommodate consumers who order shark fin soups in our establishment,” she added.

Prior to the ban, the delicacy was a popular dish for corporate functions or weddings, but not on individual orders, she said.

Environmental activists have for years campaigned against shark finning, during which sharks would have their fins sliced off — often while they are alive — before the fish are thrown back into the ocean to die.

Considered by many to be a powerful aphrodisiac, shark fin is popular in Indonesia and in other Asian countries such as China and Hong Kong, where, according to sharksavers.org, more than 70 million sharks are killed each year to fulfill the demand in the market.

Diver and environmentalist Riyanni Djangkaru appreciated the Melia initiative, saying it set an example for the country’s hospitality industry.

“What Gran Melia did was a breakthrough,” Riyanni, who is also the editor in chief of DiveMag Indonesia, told the Globe. “There were gentleman’s agreements among hotel chains in Indonesia to not serve shark fins to their clients, but those were unwritten. It’s time for a new public relations method like this, as customers these days care more about environmental issues,” she added.

A bowl of shark fin soup in Indonesia is priced at between Rp 400,000 to 1 million ($34 to $85), depending on the texture of the meat.

Indonesia, along with India, account for more than a fifth of global shark catches, according to 2013 data released by the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC.

Both countries account for nearly 80 percent of the total shark catch reported between 2002 and 2011.

Melia is the latest among a string of companies to boycott shark fin consumption in recent years following lobbying by conservationists.

The first shop in Indonesia to remove shark fin from its menu was Crown Marine Products, located on the premises of Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in 2012, after a petition circulated online.

National carrier Garuda Indonesia last year banned the transportation of shark fins aboard all flights. Garuda previously transported some 36 tons of shark fins a year, according to environmental conservation group WWF Indonesia.

Additional reporting from Agence France-Presse

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Hong Kong Bans Shark Fin at Official Banquets

Singapore casino stops serving shark fin

Shark fin goes off the menu at Peninsula hotels

Philippine Airlines Quits Flying Shark Fins Amid Outcry
Garuda Bans Shark Fin Transport on Flights: WWF-Indonesia

Fiji's Air Pacific bans 'unsustainable' shark fins
Korean Air Joins Cathay Pacific in Curbing Shark Fin Transport

Singapore casino stops serving shark fin

Yahoo – AFP, 12 June 2014

The US-owned Marina Bay Sands casino in Singapore, shown here in 2013, 

has is to stop serving shark fin at its restaurants, the latest boycott of the 

contentious delicacy welcomed by animal rights activists. (Photo: Roslan Rahman)

The US-owned Marina Bay Sands casino in Singapore has announced it will stop serving shark fin at its restaurants, the latest boycott of the contentious delicacy welcomed Thursday by animal rights activists.

The casino, part of Las Vegas gaming magnate Sheldon Adelson's portfolio, said the removal of shark fin dishes from its menus is a "bold testament to our commitment to reducing our environmental impact".

Its huge expo and convention centre, which held over 70 trade shows last year, will also cease serving the dish.

The casino is the latest among a string of Singapore-based companies to boycott shark fin consumption following years of lobbying by animal rights activists.

Singapore is the world's second largest shark fin trading territory after Hong Kong, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.

Shark fin is seen by many east Asians as a delicacy and is often served as soup at expensive Chinese banquets.

More than 70 million sharks are killed worldwide every year, with a majority of fins consumed in Chinese markets, according to environmental group WWF.

Jennifer Lee, founder of Project Fin, a local group campaigning against shark fin consumption, said the casino's decision is another milestone for animal rights activists.

"Hopefully this will put pressure on other companies to jump on the bandwagon as well to do their part to save our marine ecosystem," she told AFP.

Elaine Tan, chief executive of WWF Singapore, commended the casino for its "foresight and leadership in corporate sustainability".

"Sharks are a crucial part of marine ecosystems and their populations have a direct impact on fish stocks, which in turn affects many things, including our food security in the future," she said.

Singapore's largest supermarket chains stopped sales of shark fin products in 2012, while major hotels, including Shangri-La and Swissotel the Stamford, have also stopped serving them.

Singapore's other casino operated by Malaysia's Genting Group does not serve shark fin, according to its website.

Hong Kong's government last year said it would stop serving shark fin at official functions to set a "good example".

Related Articles:

Indonesia, India named as biggest shark catchers

New Zealand to ban shark finning

EU tightens ban on shark finning

China Bans Shark Fin Soup From Official Receptions

Hong Kong Bans Shark Fin at Official Banquets

Philippine Airlines Quits Flying Shark Fins Amid Outcry

Garuda Bans Shark Fin Transport on Flights: WWF-Indonesia

Fiji's Air Pacific bans 'unsustainable' shark fins
Korean Air Joins Cathay Pacific in Curbing Shark Fin Transport

Philippine Airlines Quits Flying Shark Fins Amid Outcry

Jakarta Globe – AFP,  Apr 24, 2014

A family eats shark fin soup at Vancouver's Grand Honor Chinese restaurant
 in Vancouver, British Columbia, in this file photo. Philippine Airlines (PAL) said
on April 24, 2014 it has stopped flying shark fin cargoes. (Reuters Photo/Ben Nelms)

Manila. Philippine Airlines (PAL) said Thursday it has stopped flying shark fin cargoes, joining a number of other Asia-Pacific carriers in taking a stand for marine conservation.

The fins are used in shark fin soup, a much-valued delicacy in Hong Kong and China.

Conservationists say booming demand for such fins has put pressure on the world’s shark populations, prompting calls for measures to restrict their trade.

“PAL values the issue on protection and conservation of endangered marine life seriously, recognizing that the company’s long-term interest is and should be consistent with sustainable and responsible business practices,” a PAL statement said.

Air New Zealand as well as South Korea’s two largest airlines, Korean Air and Asiana, separately announced last year that they would ban shark fins from their cargo flights, a year after Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific also stopped shipping them.

Fiji Airways announced last year it would no longer carry “shark fins and shark-related products sourced from unsustainable and unverified sources”, and would only carry fins from species not threatened with extinction.

Agence France-Presse

Related Articles:

Indonesia, India named as biggest shark catchers

New Zealand to ban shark finning

EU tightens ban on shark finning

China Bans Shark Fin Soup From Official Receptions

Hong Kong Bans Shark Fin at Official Banquets

Garuda Bans Shark Fin Transport on Flights: WWF-Indonesia

Fiji's Air Pacific bans 'unsustainable' shark fins

Korean Air Joins Cathay Pacific in Curbing Shark Fin Transport

Hong Kong Bans Shark Fin at Official Banquets

Jakarta Globe – AFP, September 18, 2013

In this file picture taken on January 2, 2013 shark fins drying in the sun
cover the roof of a factory building in Hong Kong. (AFP Photo/Antony Dickson)

Hong Kong. Hong Kong’s government said Friday it would stop serving shark fin at official functions as “a good example,” following years of lobbying by conservation groups.

The southern Chinese city is one of the world’s biggest markets for shark fin, which is viewed by many Asians as a delicacy and is often served as a soup at expensive Chinese banquets.

Along with shark fin, bluefin tuna will also fall under the ban, which was prompted by what authorities called “conservation concerns.”

“The exclusion of these… items from official menus is a start and also serves as an example of raising public education and awareness on sustainability,” a government spokesman said in a press release.

“The government is determined to take the lead and set a good example on this front,” he said.

Trade in shark fin is not regulated in Hong Kong except for three species — basking shark, great white shark and whale shark — where the trade is restricted under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites), to which Hong Kong is a signatory.

More than 70 million sharks are killed every year, with Hong Kong importing about 10,000 tonnes annually for the past decade, according to environmental group WWF. Most of those fins are then exported to mainland China.

Shark conservationists applauded the government’s move saying it was a step towards ending the trade globally.

“Today’s decision is another important milestone towards ending shark mortality globally,” Program Manager at Hong Kong Shark Foundation Emma Kong said in a statement, adding shark conservation momentum in the city had been building for years.

“After almost a decade of advocacy in the form of petitions, protest marches, letter writing and media campaigns, the Hong Kong government has finally seen fit to do the right thing — for which we applaud them,” Alex Hofford, the executive director of Hong Kong-based marine conservation group MyOcean, told AFP.

“We hope the citizens of Hong Kong can follow suit and finally lay this abhorrent tradition to rest,” Hofford said.

“The announcement is particularly significant as Hong Kong is the world’s largest shark fin market, representing approximately 50 percent of the global trade” said Joshua Reichert, the executive vice president of the Pew Charitable Trusts said.

Reichert also said populations of Pacific bluefin had declined around 96 percent, according to a recent study.

Campaigners say the trade has left up to a third of open-water species on the brink of extinction.

Marine conservationists expressed outrage in January after images emerged of a factory rooftop in Hong Kong covered in thousands of freshly sliced shark fins.

They estimated there were 15,000 to 20,000 fins being laid to dry on the rooftop on Hong Kong island ahead of an anticipated surge in demand over Lunar New Year in the following month of February.

In January last year, luxury hotel group Shangri-La said it would stop serving shark fin at its properties worldwide to protect the marine predators, following the example of Hong Kong-based Peninsula Hotels group, which said it would stop serving shark fins in 2011.

Shangri-La said it would also phase out Bluefin tuna and Chilean sea bass, which are under threat of extinction.

The city’s flag-carrier Cathay Pacific Airlines in September last year followed suit, saying it was “the right thing to do” in no longer carrying unsustainably sourced shark products on its cargo flights.

In 2011, almost 80 percent of Hong Kongers said considered it socially acceptable to leave shark fin soup off the menu for a wedding banquet, a survey by a shark conservation group said.

Agence France-Presse

Shanghai 'roasts' the giant Rubber Duck

Google – AFP, 27 August 2013

A boat made to look like a roasted duck on the Huangpu River

in Shanghai on August 27, 2013 (AFP, Peter Parks)

SHANGHAI — Shanghai has served up a "roasted" version of a Dutch artist's giant yellow duck, complete with drumsticks and crispy brown skin.

Florentijn Hofman's Rubber Duck installation gained rave reviews when a 16.5 metre-tall (54-feet) version arrived in Hong Kong this summer.

Hundreds of thousands of people viewed it against the backdrop of the skyscrapers that line the city's Victoria Harbour.

Not to be outdone, Shanghai -- which is vying with Hong Kong to be China's financial capital -- has unveiled its own version on the Huangpu River, which forms its waterfront Bund district.

"The design process took place during Shanghai's scorching hot summer days, so we just thought: 'Let's roast it'," designer Han Beishi told AFP.

The 16.5-metre-tall inflatable Rubber Duck

 art installation at Hong Kong's Victoria 

Harbour on May 2, 2013 (AFP, Philippe

Lopez)

"Other inspiration came from an ancient Chinese poem: 'The duck knows first when the river becomes warm in spring'," he added.

Shanghai's duck is actually a working ferry boat which state media reported Tuesday will carry passengers and host cultural performances including poetry reading.

The duck's head, at the bow, is yellow, but reversed and looking back towards its body which is made of papier mache, with jutting drumsticks and cooked wings.

Several Chinese cities rushed to display versions of Hofman's Rubber Duck -- which has been making appearances around the world since 2007 -- leading the official People's Daily newspaper to criticise the flock of copycats.

But the Huangpu river has made more headlines this year for a pollution scandal which saw more than 10,000 dead pigs drift down it in March, discarded by farmers upstream.

Han said he floated the idea of making a pig but city fathers were not amused.

"It was my first choice, but the organisers had some concerns and the idea was dropped," he said.

China graft crackdown hits Hong Kong's 'Dried Seafood Street'

Google – AFP, Celine Ge (AFP), 25 August 2013

A customer talks to a shopkeeper at a store selling shark fin in

Hong Kong, September 5, 2012 (AFP/File, Philippe Lopez)

HONG KONG — In a narrow Hong Kong street filled with the tang of dried sea creatures, shopkeepers are blaming China's recent corruption crackdown for falling sales of expensive banquet foods such as shark fin and abalone.

Such items have fallen off the menu since China's new leadership came to power demanding austerity from Communist Party and military officials as a means of reigning in graft and dampening public anger over corruption.

Suppliers, restaurants, and hotels in the trading hub of Hong Kong all say the loss of appetite from the mainland has thinned out sales in a market looking for a portion of China's estimated annual 300 billion yuan (US$49 billion) expenditure on state-funded banquets.

On Hong Kong's "Dried Seafood Street", the centre of trade in dried delicacies, shopkeeper Leung Wing-chiu told AFP sales were down 20 percent at a time when increased ethical awareness over shark fin and rising rents are pressuring business.

"Beijing's frugality campaign has driven money out of my pocket," said the 94-year-old, who is also the Dried Sea Food & Grocery Merchants Association president.

A man works in a shop selling shark fin and

 dried seafood in Hong Kong, September 5,

2012 (AFP/File, Philippe Lopez)

"Demand from mainland buyers, especially hotels and restaurants, has shrunk a lot. This is particularly true for high-end goods such as dried abalone, shark fins and bird's nest."

Two catering companies listed on the southern Chinese city's stock exchange even cited the government's emphasis on frugality as they issued profit warnings to shareholders last month.

Leung said China's state-funded banquet culture was a key source of revenue, and while the economic slowdown had affected business over the past few years, "the situation has got a lot worse since the new leadership ascended to power".

Chinese officials have long held lavish liquor-drenched receptions as a way of building business relationships, greasing the wheels of power, and showing off wealth and status.

The Jiu San Society, one of China's eight legally-recognised non-Communist political parties, last year called for a curb on government spending on such banquets, which it estimated at $300 billion a year. Other scholars put the figure even higher.

And in June, President Xi Jinping launched a "thorough cleanup" of the ruling Communist Party, vowing to target extravagance and waste.

The Central Military Commission had already banned lavish banquets for high-ranking officers at the end of last year, while party officials were handed similar new rules.

Former high-flying Chinese politician Bo Xilai is currently on trial for corruption and revelations about private jet flights and rare animal meats have held Chinese readers spellbound.

Zhu Jiangnan, China Studies coordinator at the University of Hong Kong, said banquets were in a "grey area" of corruption.

"Actually, in China, the word 'corruption' (fubai) is linked not only with... graft, bribery, and embezzlement, but also unhealthy tendencies... such as extravagance and waste," she told AFP in an email.

Wong Hiu-wan, a shopkeeper selling bird's nests, which have been used in Chinese cooking for centuries, blamed the directives from Beijing for a slowdown in business.

"Now, we have to count more on local consumers, because orders from mainland hotels and restaurants have gone down dramatically," he said.

And Yeung Wai-sing, the chairman of the Association of Hong Kong Catering Services Management Ltd, also had reason to regret China's newfound abstemiousness.

"For years, this traditional business has been fuelled by orders from mainlanders, who consider dried seafood from Hong Kong to be premium in quality," said Yeung.

"But things didn't turn out well this year."

Two Hong Kong-listed catering giants, Tang Palace (China) Holdings and Xiao Nan Guo Restaurants Holdings Ltd, both issued profit warnings in July linked to the crackdown.

A waiter walks past a display of dried

abalone available on the menu of a

restaurant in Hong Kong, August 23,

2013 (AFP, Philippe Lopez)

Tang Palace largely blamed "the issuance of a set of regulations and restrictions to promote frugality and curb waste by the Chinese government, casting an impact on certain customer groups' expenditure".

Xiao Nan Guo said its first-half profit was hit by "the prolonged austerity campaign launched by the Chinese government to curb lavish spending and entertainment".

Others say traditional foods were already losing their attraction.

"The Chinese are turning their eyes towards Western and environmentally-friendly food rather than traditional banquet favourites like abalone and shark fin," said Ren Guoqiang of consultancy Roland Berger & Partner.

Bruce Shou, a student and food enthusiast who routinely visits Hong Kong from Hangzhou to dine at high-end restaurants, agreed.

"Sashimi, beefsteaks and foie gras look fancier to me, whereas abalones remind me of something old-fashioned and bureaucratic," he said.

On top of environmental campaigning against products such as shark fin and Hong Kong's eye-watering rents, the graft crackdown is adding to the pressure on businesses along "Dried Seafood Street".

"2013 is a tough year for us," Leung said.