(CN - HKG) Shark fin traders await decision on species

January 7, 2010

By Martin Wong

Jan 07, 2010

South China Morning Post

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Hong Kong shark fin merchants will fly to Doha in March to attend an

international meeting which is expected to decide on a ban on trading in the

fins of the scalloped hammerhead shark - the most expensive in local

restaurants.

At the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna

and Flora meeting, the United States will propose the listing of six shark

species, including the scalloped hammerhead, as threatened, so that they

would be put under trade restrictions.

" As far as we know, proponents of a ban on trading in the scalloped

hammerhead are gaining the upper hand. There is a high chance that the fins

of this shark will be off restaurant menus, " Chiu Ching-cheung, the

vice-chairman of the Shark Fin Trade Merchants Association, said.

The great white, basking and whale sharks have already been restricted from

international trading under the convention.

Chui said there was nothing more the industry could do but to hear the

" final verdict " . Last month, scientists from Stony Brook University's

Institute for Ocean Conservation Science in the US found 21 per cent of fins

sold in the city came from the endangered scalloped hammerhead, found in the

western Atlantic.

Scalloped hammerhead fins sell for HK$800 to HK$2,000 per 500 grams - the

most expensive in the city - and gourmets love it because of the thickness

of its fin fibres, known as needles, Chiu said.

" It can be as thick as our little finger. There has been no shortage of

supply and it comprises about 10 to 20 per cent of our shark fin stock, "

Chiu said, adding that 80 per cent of local shark fins came from the blue

shark, which was sold at between HK$500 and HK$1,200 per 500 grams.

" Since it is the most expensive shark fins, it is not that popular. It is

only confined to wealthy consumers, " Chiu said.

" We cannot import more but we can still sell the stock we have. And fins

stored in the fridge can be kept for more than five years. "

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