More good news in the fight to deter illegal shark-finners comes from China, where 50 tons of shark-fin, fish swim-bladders, sea-cucumbers and abalones were confiscated by Jiangmen Customs Anti-Smuggling Bureau on 10 September.
The customs officers, who had reportedly been tracking a major smuggling ring’s activities for 10 months, arrested 35 suspects in the Guangdong cities of Jiangmen, Guangzhou and Maoming, and in Yunnan province, according to China Daily.
Jiangmen is regarded as China’s main shark-fin-processing centre. Five years ago authorities there seized £33 million worth of fins in what was at the time the largest operation of its kind in China, but the latest haul was reported by the paper to be worth £90m.
The seafood was said to have been bought in Africa, South America and South-east Asia and packaged in Hong Kong before being smuggled into Yunnan via Vietnam for processing. The case remains under investigation.
