The IUCN/SSC Shark Specialist Group
Shark News 2: October 1994
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East Asian fin trade
North-west Pacific subgroup of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group
This article is extracted from The status ofelasmobranch fisheries in
the western North Pacific. Report of the North-west Pacific
subgroup of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group, Regional Vice Chair
Sho Tanaka.
The full report presents the status of the landing and fisheries of
elasmobranchs in eastAsian countries, based on FAO Fishery Statistics,
reviews trends in landings over the past ten years, and identifies
flirthpr fisheries rpwarch needed.
Catches of elasmobranchs by east
Asian countries
The (landed) catch of chondrichthyan fishes in the world's oceans
has shown a increase since 1983 and exceeded 700,000 metric
tonnes (t) in 1990. East Asian countries landed about 200,000 t from
1981 to 1988. Their catches then increased and reached 270,000 t
in 1990, representing one third of the recorded world landings.
FAO areas 61 and 71 border east Asian counties. Catches in the
former area showed a reduction in 1988, but have remained stable
at about 100,000 t. On the other hand, the catches in area 71
increased gradually after 1983 and lately came level with those in the
former area.
Figure 1. Exports of shark fins in the world and east Asian countries.
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The recorded catches in FAO area 61 are attributable to Hong
Kong, Japan, South Korea and probably Taiwan, but the catches in
this area by China, North Korea, Russia and Viet Nam are not
described in FAO Fishery Statistics. Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia,
Philippines, Singapore, south Korea and Thailand record their catches
in FAO area 71. Oceanian countries also make a catch of
chondrichthyan fishes in FAO area 71. The full Shark Specialist
Group report from which this article is extracted reviews and
explains the recorded catches of elasmobranch fishes in each country
by FAO area.
Figure 2. Imports of shark fins in the world and east Asian countries.
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Shark fin trade
In south-eastern Asia, shark fin is an important ingredient of
Chinese soup. The first dorsal fin and lower lobe of the caudal fin are
more valuable than the second dorsal and pectoral fins. The value of
fins also varies with species. When a shark is caught the fins are cut
off and usually dried naturally, and the body is frozen as a semi-
dressed fish or fillet, or discarded. In Japan, fin landings are not
recorded and fins are traded directly between fishermen and fin
merchants. The wet weight of the first dorsal, caudal and pectoral fins
is 4%-7% of body weight.
Landings of shark fins are not published for east Asian countries,
but export and import data for shark fins in each country are available
from FAO. As shown in Figure 1, world exports varied from 3,200 to
4,300 t until 1986, then increased sharply to 5,400 t in 1990. Exports
from east Asian countries have represented 72%-80% of the world
total since 1985, Hong Kong and China show a strong increase in
exports from 1985, and those from Singapore are subject to sharp
fluctuations. The exports from Japan, however, continue to decrease
and have halved over ten years. South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam
all export less than 100 t of shark fins.
Similarly, world imports of shark fins were stable at about 4,200
t until 1986 (Figure 2). They then increased rapidly to a level of about
6,600 t. Imports to east Asian countries commonly comprise over
95% of the world total, and Hong Kong handles more than half of all
recorded world imports. Singapore's imports have been steady between
800 and 1,000 t, except in 1988. China shows a gradual increase from
1986 and imported more than Singapore in 1990, Imports to Malaysia
and Thailand have been about 100 t for the last five years.
What catches of sharks are estimated from these fin transactions?
If the dry fins are assumed to be three percent of total weight of a shark,
[see Editor's note below] the catches estimated from the exports in
1990 are 180,000 t. This estimate is almost equivalent to the catches
from east Asian countries. Figures for the exports and imports of shark
fins for Hong Kong and Singapore are much larger than the catches
of elasmobranchs in the countries. Though the Philippines and
Taiwan land large catches of sharks, they do not trade shark fins.
Landings of elasmobranchs in China and Viet Nam are not published
in FAO Fishery Statistics, but these countries do trade in shark fins.
Editor's note: The Fishery Management Plan for Sharks of the
Atlantic Ocean (NMK, NOAA, US Dept of Commerce, 1993) estimates
a fin yield of 0.7%, and Shark Fisheries in the Maldives (Anderson and
Ahmed, 1993) a yield of 1.45%: total shark catches of 770,000 and
370,000 t respectively.
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