Partner Report: Haikou's Trade in Shark and Shark Products (2011)(Ch)

Pacific Environment released a new research study on the shark fin trade in Haikou, the capital city of Hainan province, China. The new study, Haikou's Trade in Sharks and Shark Products, includes data collected from Haikou's supermarkets, shops, restaurants and fish markets.  This is the first comprehensive research on the shark fin trade conducted on China's southernmost island province. The study found that Haikou has become a major hub for the shark fin trade over the last several years.

Key research findings include:

•    State-owned offshore sea fishing fleets based in Haikou have increased their catch numbers on shark fins year by year since 2007. Haikou has now become a major hub for raw shark fin catch.
•    Hainan also maintains a number of offshore sea fishing fleets which often bring back large amounts of shark fins from the regions beyond the South China Sea.
•    Currently, there is no government documentation of shark fin catch and there is no monitoring of the shark fin trade in Haikou at all.
•    Shark catching has been active around the Spratlys Islands which is a disputed territory among China and Southeast Asia countries.

Being a popular travel destination for Chinese mainland tourists, shark fin has been mistakenly regarded as one of Haikou’s local delicacies and is widely served in major seafood restaurants.  Most consumers of this product are business and governmental employees. Dry shark fin products are also widely available for purchase in local supermarkets as souvenirs of Hainan.

Pacific Environment believes that the tourism boom in Hainan should not be at the expense of the shark population which is already experiencing a serious decline.

 Click below to read report (in Chinese).