Almost all shark’s fin sold here is from sustainable sources, said the Marine and Land Products Association yesterday, following the release of a study on Thursday that found Singapore to be a top trader of the controversial delicacy.
The group represents companies in the fishing and marine industry, including about 10 involved in the shark’s fin trade. This makes up about 70 per cent of the shark’s fin industry here, said Mr Yio Jin Xian, a representative of the association.
There are 30 shark and ray species threatened with extinction listed in Appendix I and II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites); permits are needed for trade in these species. However, the study noted that Singapore did not have species-specific product trade codes for all 30, so trade in the other species might be illegal and unsustainable, but goes unnoticed.
Said World Wide Fund for Nature-Singapore spokesman Janissa Ng: “With a quarter of the shark species in the world facing extinction, defining what is sustainable goes beyond quotas and sales practices.”
There are no shark fisheries that have been independently certified sustainable; nor are there systems that can track shark products back to the point of harvest, she said.
“The Singapore authorities need to take measures that lead to greater transparency in the global shark trade, such as more robust monitoring of species-specific trade volumes, so there is a clearer picture of whether the trade of certain species is legal and sustainable,” she said.
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Source: The Straits Times, 27 May 2017