Sawt Falasteen - Hong Kong adds two shark families on controlled trade list

The city is one of the world's largest markets for shark fin, which is viewed by many Chinese communities as a delicacy and often served as a soup at expensive banquets.

Its trade is regulated under an international treaty on endangered species, that requires export permits proving they were sustainably captured.

CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) -- the treaty's governing body -- approved in November a plan to include the requiem shark and the hammerhead shark families on their list, which includes more than 50 species.

Hong Kong amended its list of endangered species "to give effect to the latest regulations of CITES on the controlled species", said a spokesman for the city's agriculture, fisheries and conservation department on Friday.

The new protected species list includes the two shark families, as well as various types of turtles and stingrays, according to the statement.

Domestic consumption has shrunk after years of activist campaigning, but Hong Kong remains a vital trade hub for shark fins -- both legal and illegal -- headed for the Chinese mainland and Southeast Asia.

Marine biologists estimate that more than 100 million sharks are killed each year, pushing vital apex predators towards extinction and ocean ecosystems to the brink of collapse.

The fins are usually sliced from their bodies and the animals thrown back into the sea where they suffer a slow death.

Marine experts in Hong Kong say the majority of shark fins consumed in the city are blue sharks -- which are part of the requiem family.

N.AbuHussein--SF-PST