Saving Seafood

‘Indiana Jones’ shark gains protection at Cites meeting

October 4, 2016 — Known for its long whip-like tail, the threatened Thresher shark is among a number of marine species given extra protection at the Cites meeting.

Devil rays and Silky sharks have also been given additional safeguards.

These shark species have seen huge population falls over the past decades, due to the demands of the shark fin trade.

Devil rays are valued for the gill plates which are used in Chinese medicine.

Campaigners believe the safeguards under Cites will make a real difference to these species survival.

Few sharks protected

It’s estimated that around 100 million sharks of all types are killed in commercial fisheries – with their fins often destined for markets in China and Hong Kong.

Despite the scale of the fishing, there are just eight species given some protection under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites).

At the previous Cites meeting in Thailand in 2013, hammerhead, oceanic whitetip and porbeagle sharks were added to Appendix II as well as all species of manta rays.

Appendix II means that trade is allowed but it has to be shown to be sustainable.

Read the full story at the BBC

China Suppresses Protests in Fishing Village, Arresting 13

September 13, 2016 — BEIJING — Chinese police fired rubber bullets at villagers and arrested 13 people Tuesday in an overnight crackdown to suppress demonstrations in a southern fishing village that became internationally known five years ago for protesting land seizures.

Police stormed into the village of Wukan in the southern province of Guangdong and arrested leaders of ongoing demonstrations in their homes. Videos posted on social media show one person with blood on his arm and chest, and another being treated for an apparent bullet wound on his hand.

Another video shows a line of black police vans streaming into the village, a hamlet of about 13,000 people on the South China Sea near Hong Kong.

Wukan carries symbolic importance due to the success of 2011 protests that broke out over land seizures and corruption. Villagers were able to expel government officials and police, and barricaded the village. The siege was resolved only after the provincial secretary of China’s ruling Communist Party agreed to allow a local election.

The winner of that election was Lin Zuluan, a former protest leader. Lin was planning to lead a new round of protests this year over more land grabs. Instead, authorities detained him and then charged him with taking bribes.

Read the full story at The New York Times

Shutting Down ‘Shark Finning’: US Fishermen Promise a Fight

July 26, 2016 — American fishermen are digging in for a fight over a proposal to shut down the vestiges of the U.S. harvest of shark fins, prized for soup and traditional medicine in Asia, and send a message to the rest of the world.

The traditional “finning” of sharks — in which they are pulled out of the water, have their fins sliced off and are discarded into the sea, often still alive but unable to swim — is already illegal in the U.S., but fishermen are still allowed to hunt sharks and have their fins removed during processing on land.

A bill backed by Sen. Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, and others promises to ban the sale and possession of shark fins to ensure U.S. fishermen and seafood dealers no longer participate in the global fin trade. Supporters say the bill would close loopholes left open by measures passed in 2000 and 2010 to protect sharks.

“America can become a global leader by shutting down the domestic market for shark fins,” Booker said.

Jeff Oden, a former North Carolina shark fisherman who left the business about 10 years ago to focus on other species amid mounting regulatory pressure, said the legislation is well intentioned but won’t stop international finning, and could actually increase pressure on sharks.

“Other countries that are less likely to be as sustainable as us will fill our void,” Oden said.

Shaun Gehan, a lawyer who represents shark fishermen, said the inability to sell fins would devastate the shark fishing business, which he described as conservatively managed already. Eleven states already have laws against the sale of shark fins, though shark fin soup can still be found on the menu in Chinese restaurants in many states.

Read the full story from the Associated Press in the Portland Press Herald

Sea snails on pace to bring bigger prices

July 11, 2016 — LITTLE COMPTON, R.I. — Cooking a channeled whelk is not for the squeamish. But sliced and sprinkled over a bed of linguine, it’s a chewy delicacy in old-fashioned Italian eateries along the East Coast.

The sea snails known by Italian-Americans as scungilli used to be such a niche market that fishermen ignored them when they turned up in lobster traps or oyster dredges.

Now they’re a prized commodity. Because of growing demand in Asia and the collapse of other industries, such as lobster, fishermen searching for something else to catch are keeping and selling the big marine snails.

“There’s an international market for the product, primarily in Hong Kong and South China,” said Rick Robins, who owns Bernie’s Conchs in Virginia and manages export sales for Chesapeake Bay Packing. “It’s a popular item in Cantonese cooking.”

Most people who order a plate of scungilli probably haven’t seen one of the hairy-shelled gastropods in the wild. A voracious predator, it crawls along the bottom of Atlantic coastal inlets from Nantucket Sound to North Carolina’s Outer Banks, piercing its razor-edged proboscis into clams and other prey.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

China Fishery, Pacific Andes file bankruptcy in US

July 1, 2016 — Pacific Andes International Holding (PAIH) and its subsidiary China Fishery Group have filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York, the Wall Street Journal and Reuters reported.

The Hong Kong and Singapore-listed companies submitted the filing June 30, in the southern district of New York, along with more than 15 affiliates.

The Journal said four affiliates including Pacific Andes Resources Development (PARD), the Hong Kong-based parent company of China Fishery, have filed for chapter 15, a part of the bankruptcy code which covers international insolvencies.

The newspaper adds the filing will allow the company to benefit from US bankruptcy law, including protections that prevent creditors from seizing assets.

Citing court papers, the Journal writes that China Fishery officials said they filed for bankruptcy to protect the company’s business from the possibility of “hostile and aggressive action” from certain creditors.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News 

In Quirky Hong Kong Voting System, Fishermen Play Key Role

July 23, 2015 — Since China took control of Hong Kong from Britain in 1997, the city’s billionaires have played a leading role in hewing the Asian financial center to Beijing’s priorities. So too have a dwindling band of fishermen and farmers.

The desire of China’s communist leaders to enlist the tycoons’ cooperation is understandable given the influence they have through their control of large swathes of the semiautonomous Chinese city’s economy. Chinese President Xi Jinping last year summoned a group of them for an emergency meeting as political tensions in Hong Kong mounted.

Less known outside Hong Kong, however, is the political role of fishermen and farmers, remnant industries in Hong Kong that form a large slice of the 1,200-member committee that selects the southern Chinese city’s pro-Beijing leader. They also have their own representative in the territory’s legislature.

Fishing and farming make up less than 1 percent of Hong Kong’s $274 billion economy but command 60 votes in the leadership committee, far more than groups or industries with much greater economic or social significance.

Their outsized role is a source of discontent in a city that was rocked by pro-democracy protests over the past year as many Hong Kongers chafed against a rising tide of mainland Chinese influence.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at ABC News