US shark fin restrictions carry little weight in Hong Kong

By Staff Writers
Dec 26, 2010 Hong Kong (AFP) Dec 26, 2010 – The US Senate’s move to toughen laws on shark finning is unlikely to have much impact in Hong Kong, dubbed the “Grand Central Station” of the controversial trade, environmentalists say. The new legislation passed last week is aimed at protecting the ancient fish which experts fear is on the brink of extinction due to growing demand in Chinese restaurants, which use the fins in a hugely popular soup. Few places prize the gelatinous delicacy more than Hong Kong, where it is a staple at high-end restaurants and wedding banquets, a mark of affluence in a city that accounts for as much as 80 percent of the world trade in fins. Hong Kong was the largest importer of shark fin globally in 2007, buying about 277 million US dollars worth of fins, or 10,209 tonnes, according to United Nations figures. … But demand remains strong and tens of millions of sharks are killed each year, often by fishermen who slice off their fins before throwing them back in the water to die. The US banned finning 10 years ago, but the new law closes a loophole that allowed it in the Pacific as long as sharks were not finned onboard a vessel and led to a booming clandestine industry. The bill does not ban the sale of shark fin, which is readily available in many upscale Chinese restaurants in the US. Silvy Pun, a spokeswoman for the conservation group WWF Hong Kong, told AFP the US move would have little impact on the trade in the southern Chinese city. “More than 80 countries actively contribute to Hong Kong’s shark fin imports and the US is only one of them,” she said. “A lot more could be done, especially in terms of banning shark-slaughtering or at least imposing a legal limit on how many sharks can be killed each year,” she added. …