Thursday, June 27, 2013

Shark fishing in Tonga!

Shark fins in Vava'u - report here.

Remember?

I just stumbled upon this.
The Tongans do eat (great quantities of) pretty much anything, among which Sharks, so I'm not too sure about the allegation that the Sharks are being finned -  but then again, read this!
Apart from the usual factual errors, the petition does contain some reported export numbers that may be useful for making comparisons despite most certainly being too low due to under-reporting.

That was only 4 companies with only a handful of boats. 
So what about those 22 Taiwanese vessels and their impact.
Likely not much when it comes to export figures from Tonga, as the fins are likely to be landed here in Fiji. They will obviously be declared as mere bycatch - and latest since Monday, we all know exactly what that means!

Just saying.
All of this is in no way surprising - but we're approaching an anniversary, and it will play a role then!

Keep watching this space!


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

What are the factual errors you're referring to? The allegations I brought up regarding shark finning IS an introduced (foreign) practice to Tonga. Sharks is not eaten in large quantities in Tonga, as I have not eaten shark meat while growing up in Tonga. If you must criticize or have suggestions, you at least could have the decency to find my contact infos instead of writing a blog post about it!

'Eseta Schaaf

DaShark said...

Bula 'Eseta,
if you post a public petition, expect public comments!

Every year, 100 million fins are barbarically cut off live sharks to make an expensive soup considered an Asian delicacy
is pure speculation that is not supported by evidence.
The latest research indicates that approx 97m Sharks are being killed each year.

Read
this
and
this

And as a bonus.
Sharks are not apex predators - some species are, but the majority are not.

So now that you know better - will you reformulate your petition? :)

Tropical Selkie said...

I have a question. If the fins are landed in Fiji and now can't be flown out (unless proven 'sustainable' which won't be for a while, if at all), then must they be dried first before shipping to Hong Kong from Fiji? (Or is that already happening in Fiji -- large quantity of fins drying somewhere, do you think?) Is there any way to figure out this 'chain of custody'? Just wondering...

thanks for the info. as always.

DaShark said...

They get strung up on the vessels, dried in parking lots, etc.
There are several traders with warehouses that aggregate them by the thousands before shipping them out, now most likely via sea.

The trade has not been stopped by any means - it has just been re-routed.