World's biggest endangered species slaughterhouse bust in China

A factory which processes around 600 whale sharks annually has been
found in southern China, a conservation group said Monday, calling it
the world’s biggest slaughterhouse for the endangered species.


Hong Kong-based conservation group
WildLifeRisk said it discovered the
factory in the town of Pu Qi in
Zhejiang province after a four-year
investigation.
It said the sharks are slaughtered
and processed mostly to produce
shark oil for health supplements.
Undercover video footage produced by
the group showed workers cutting up
the large dotted back fins of whale
sharks and other shark species.
“How these harmless creatures, these
gentle giants of the deep, can be
slaughtered on such an industrial
scale is beyond belief,” said a WildLifeRisk statement sent to AFP.
“It’s even more incredible that this carnage is all for the sake of non-
essential lifestyle props such as lipsticks, face creams, health
supplements and shark fin soup.”
The slaughterhouse also handles other species of sharks including
blue sharks and basking sharks and produces 200 tonnes of shark oil
annually from the three species, its owner — identified only as Li —
said in the video. Li also said he needed to “smuggle” whale shark
skin out.
In another segment of the video, a man identified as Li’s brother said
the whale shark skins are exported to European countries such as
Italy and France, where they are used by Chinese restaurants.
Whale sharks measure as much as 12 metres but are harmless to
humans and feed on tiny marine animals. They are on the “Red List”
of endangered species drawn up by the International Union for the
Conservation of Nature.
They are also listed on Appendix II of the UN’s Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), meaning countries
must show that any exports were derived from a sustainably managed
population.

Exports and imports should also be monitored.