Fishers call for strong action to prevent bycatching

Desy Nurhayati, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar | Fri, 06/18/2010 10:29 AM

Fishers from local communities and private companies in the Coral Triangle region have called for a stronger partnership and collaborative measures to prevent the unintended capture of animals in commercial fishing gear.

A three-day forum, which closed here Thursday, discussed ways to prevent the phenomenon, which in the industry is known as “bycatching”. The forum heard that millions of marine animals were inadvertently killed every year by the fisheries industry in the Coral Triangle.

Bycatching is a major cause of death of endangered species, such as turtles, sharks, marine mammals, as well as thousands of tons of fish species that are not eaten that get entangled in fishing gear each year, the forum heard.

“Such ineffective fishing practices are undoubtedly depleting our highly valuable marine species on which millions of people depend for food and income,” said Keith Symington, bycatch strategy leader of the coral triangle program at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

“This forum has created a collaborative platform for fishers to start working closely together to solve bycatching and secure a more sustainable and equitable future for the fishing industry in this region,” he said.

The forum was jointly held by the WWF, the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry and the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC).

Some 100 participants at the forum collectively agreed on a set of recommendations, including mainstreaming bycatching regulations in regional legislation and implementing them into national policies, as well as providing incentives to fishermen to turn to more environmentally friendly catching methods.

Other recommendations included conducting more research and studies to inform decisions on policy.

The forum also agreed to establish partnerships with academic institutions and fisheries schools to raise awareness about bycatching among new fishermen.

“It is urgent for fishers in this region to transform their practices into more eco-friendly ones and cooperate with key players across the entire supply-chain to ensure the health of ocean resources and the future of their business as well,” Symington said.

Narmoko Prasmadji, the ministry’s representative and the executive secretary of the national coordination committee of Coral Triangle Initiative Indonesia, said the ministry would support a plan of action arrived at during the meeting in line with its own policy of reducing bycatching.

“The bycatching issue should be included in the mainstream of the national fisheries policy and should be well implemented and legally enforced,” he said.

The SEAFDEC noted that many fishing operations were guilty of bycatching, with many simply throwing unwanted dead catches back into the sea.

Some shrimp trawling operations can discard up to 90 percent of their catches, while some fishing

operations kill seabirds, turtles and dolphins, sometimes in large numbers.

The Ministry’s Center for Analysis and International Cooperation estimated that 15 percent of every 5-ton catch was bycatch, while the FAO estimated commercial fishing wasted at least 27 tons of marine resources every year due to indiscriminate fishing.

Since 2006, WWF Indonesia and the ministry have initiated a bycatch mitigation program that requires the use of circle hooks for long-line tuna fishing in harbors in Benoa in Bali and Bitung in North Sulawesi.

Bali Police Pull Endangered Turtles From the Pot

Jakarta Globe, Made Arya Kencana, May 19, 2010

A policeman holding up one of 71 green turtles rescued in Bali on Wednesday. Despite a ban on the turtle trade, the reptile’s meat remains a delicacy on the island. (JG Photo/JP Christo)

Denpasar. Bali Police announced on Wednesday that they had rescued 71 endangered green turtles being kept for their meat.

Some of the turtles “were so big it took three people to lift each one,” Andi Taqdir Rahmantiro, director of the Bali Police’s detectives unit said, adding that the biggest turtles weighed as much as 200 kilograms each.

Green turtles (chelonia mydas) were once commonly used in ritual sacrifices across the predominantly Hindu island, while their meat is a traditional delicacy. In recent years, however, there has been a shift toward symbolic sacrifices where the animals are released alive into the sea.

Andi said the animals were seized on Wednesday from a warehouse in Denpasar owned by Jero Mangku Buda. He added Buda had long fronted as a pork vendor, but actually sold turtle meat on the sly.

Police had staked out Buda’s food stall for months before posing as potential turtle meat buyers to make the arrest. During questioning, the suspect told investigators about the warehouse, just 200 meters away from the food stall.

Buda said he had bought the consignment of turtles for Rp 35 million ($3,850) from a fisherman at Amed Harbor in Karangasem a day earlier, who in turn had netted them in the Sulawesi Sea.

He did not tell police whether he had killed or sold any from the batch, but said he often sold off entire turtles for Rp 700,000 each, while serving up turtle meat for Rp 45,000 a portion.

“He says he’s only done it once before, but we’re not buying it,” Bali Police spokesman Gde Sugianyar Dwi Putra said. “In the meantime, we’re tracking down the supplier.”

Buda would likely be charged with poaching, which could see him face up to five years in prison and Rp 100 million in fines, Sugianyar said.

Police will deliver the 71 turtles to the Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) office in Bali, which plans to release them into the sea from Kuta Beach.

“For now, though, we’ll keeping them at the turtle conservation center in Serangan,” BKSDA Bali head Pamen Sitorus said.

Indonesia implemented a turtle trade ban in 1999, and rejected a proposal last year by Bali Governor I Made Mangku Pastika to set an annual quota of 1,000 animals for sacrificial ceremonies. However, high demand has driven the trade underground, with police foiling several smuggling attempts in recent years.

In February 2009, police stopped a boat carrying 26 turtles, while in July a shipment of 42 turtles from Java was foiled. In September, authorities seized 140 kilograms of turtle meat.

Tokelau declares whale sanctuary in South Pacific

BBC News,

The tiny New Zealand territory of Tokelau has declared a whaling sanctuary in its waters.

The new 290,000 sq km (112,000 sq mile) sanctuary brings the number in the South Pacific region to 11.

Tokelau's leader, Foua Toloa, said South Pacific countries had a "common responsibility" to protect its whales.

The sanctuary will have no immediate impact on whaling, but conservationists say it will strengthen the 1986 worldwide moratorium on whale hunting.

"Tokelau's decision to declare its exclusive economic zone a sanctuary for whales is based on our firm belief that we share a common responsibility in the Pacific for the protection of these species," Mr Toloa told a meeting of the South Pacific Whale Research Consortium in New Zealand.

"Whales don't recognise national boundaries and Tokelau would be remiss if we failed to support our Pacific island neighbours in the quest to help recovery of the whales in our region."

Scott Baker, a US member of the consortium, said the establishment of the sanctuary sent "a very strong messages to the global community and particularly to the whaling nations that they are in a minority".

Commercial whaling has been frozen by an international moratorium since 1986, but some 3,000 whales are killed every year by Norway, Japan and Iceland under loopholes in the legislation.

Japan kills several hundred whales each year for what is termed scientific research. Most of its hunting takes place in the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary in the Antarctic.

Tokelau's territory is just 12 sq km (4.7 sq miles) and lies halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand.

It has a population of 1,500 and has been administered from Wellington since 1926.

Commercial Sharks Still Circling Around Endangered Species

Jakarta Globe, Fidelis E Satriastanti, March 31, 2010

Sharks caught by fishermen at the port of Banyuwangi in East Java. Conservationists say growing demand for shark meat and fins around the region has drastically depleted stocks.  (AFP Photo)

No amount of scientific data will be able to protect endangered species unless countries have the political will to prioritize conservation over trade, environmentalists said following the disappointing CITES meeting in Doha last week.

The two-week meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora ended without agreement on new trade measures to protect four species of shark with great commercial value — the Scalloped Hammerhead, Oceanic Whitetip, Porbeagle and Spiny Dogfish.

These species failed to make it onto CITES Appendix II, a second-level protection list, after big importing countries such as Japan, China and Singapore, with the support of Indonesia, one of the biggest exporters, voted down the proposals, keeping the sharks on the market and on seafood restaurant menus.

Marine expert Suharsono, who was a member of the Indonesian delegation to the CITES conference, said there was no controversy over the country’s decision to support the shark trade. He said numerous outstanding issues still had to be resolved before putting the sharks on the list.

“From a scientific point of view, the Indonesian delegation considered that the proposals were not based on complete scientific data and information,” he said. “The data presented to us came only from northern seas and the Caribbean, not worldwide.”

Suharsono added that no scientific findings had been presented on whether shark hunting caused environmental damage.

“The submitters relied a great deal on data from [the UN Food and Agriculture Organization] that shark populations are declining, but to us that was not strong enough,” he said.

The Doha meeting accepted 24 proposals, rejected 10 and seven were withdrawn.

Indonesia voted for all the conservation proposals except for those on marine species.

Its decision to reject efforts to conserve the sharks was criticized by Imam Musthofa Zainudin, the fisheries program leader at WWF-Indonesia, who said delegates should have put more trust in the scientists.

“The government did not feel confident about support the proposals because we still don’t have any data or information on the country’s shark populations, unlike for tuna, so it thought it was better for sharks not to be included in CITES,” he said.

“But these are critical species and numerous foreign research studies have over the years collected enough data and information to support protecting them.”

Imam said blaming its inaction on incomplete scientific data or information was “too cliched.”

“Scientific data supports the fact that these sharks are predators of the seas. If something goes wrong with them then it will affect the whole food chain,” he said. “It comes down to political will, as we know Indonesia is being criticized for being too pro-exploitation rather than supporting conservation.”

For Richard Thomas, communications coordinator at TRAFFIC International, the scientific evidence is incontrovertible and overwhelming that all the shark species up for listing are in serious decline .

“The scientific data is available and it is clear; the species warrant listing,” Thomas said.

“I believe the decision not to list shark species was not in the best interests of conservation. Unless measures are taken to protect sharks, their stocks will collapse and several species will soon become commercially, if not biologically, extinct.”

TRAFFIC says FAO data shows that from 2000 to 2008, Indonesia became the world’s top shark-catching country, with a total of 109,248 tons.

Imam said Indonesia had acknowledged sharks were in a critical state and needed more protection when it established a national plan of action for sharks.

“We have had our own national action plan for five years,” he said.

Even though it is not mandatory, the plan stipulates Indonesia’s commitment to ensuring the shark population does not decline.

“Since it was implemented we should have been preparing, doing more research to support data on our shark populations,” Imam said. “We should be embarrassed complaining that there is not enough research on the proposals to save sharks while not doing our own comprehensive research.”

Suharsono agreed Indonesia’s action plan on sharks had been poorly implemented.

Meanwhile, Willem Wijnstekers, secretary general of CITES, whose secretariat is administered by the UN Environment Program, said the rejection of more listings at the meeting reflected a transitional process of adjusting existing management of fishery stocks toward something more robust and coherent.

“The Doha conference was an important step in the long journey toward the conservation of commercial marine species,” he said. “The quality of the debate and the simple majority reached on three sharks and the red and pink coral proposals sent a strong signal to the international community on the urgent need to stop overexploitation.

“The results do not reflect well the real impact of this meeting, which will only be seen and understood when other international regimes discuss the fate of bluefin tuna and sharks in the coming months.”

Related Article:

New Zealand calls for whaling compromise

Indonesia Helps Defeat Hammerhead Shark Protections

Jakarta Globe, March 23, 2010

Hammerhead sharks are prized for their fins, which are used in traditional shark fin soup. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, file)

Doha, Qatar. Indonesia, Singapore and Japan teamed up to scuttle a U.S.-backed proposal to protect the heavily fished hammerhead shark at a UN wildlife meeting on Tuesday.

Tom Strickland, the U.S. Assistant Interior Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, argued regional fisheries bodies have done nothing to regulate the trade in endangered scalloped hammerhead, great hammerhead as well as the threatened smooth hammerhead, and their numbers have dropped by as much as 85 percent.

``The greatest threat to the hammerhead is from harvest for the international fin trade and the fin of the species is among highly valued of the trade,'' Strickland said. Shark fin soup is a much prized delicacy in China.

The measure was only narrowly rejected, failing by five votes to take the necessary two-thirds of the 175-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species to pass.

The tiny Pacific nation of Palau, which last year created the first ever shark sanctuary, joined the Americans in introducing the proposal. It called on countries to protect the species so they can be fished well into the future.

``We must preserve for our children these amazing species,'' said Palau's Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment and Tourism Harry R. Fritz, adding that his country supports the protection of other shark species as well.

Japan, which successfully campaigned against an export ban on Atlantic bluefin tuna and regulations on the coral trade, led the opposition to the shark proposal. It argued that better enforcement, not trade restrictions was the answer. It also complained it would be difficult to differentiate the hammerheads from other species and would deprive poor fishing nations of much needed income.

They were joined by other countries dependent on the trade, including Singapore and Indonesia which catches the most sharks.

CITES was due to take up similar proposals to protect the oceanic whitetip shark which is also used in the fin trade, the porbeagle shark which is also killed for its meat and the spiny dogfish shark -- a chief ingredient of fish and chips and fish sticks.

Conservationist were outraged by the ruling, since it came after a string of defeats on marine species including a proposal last week on a shark conservation plan. Japan and China led efforts to kill that proposal as well.

Hammerheads, more than any other shark species, are killed for their fins and are the most threatened. Fishermen, both industrial and small-scale and many operating illegally, slice off the fins and throw the carcasses back in the ocean. There are as many as 2.7 million hammerheads caught annually.

Shark fin soup has long played central part in traditional Chinese culture, often being served at weddings and banquets. Demand for the soup has surged as increasing numbers of Chinese middle class family become wealthier.

AP

House Arrest for US Man Who Smuggled Fish from Indonesia

Jakarta Globe

Auspicious Arowana (Golden Dragon Fish)

A California man has been sentenced to six months of house arrest for trying to smuggle endangered fish into the US from Indonesia.

Ricky Vu must also pay a $7,500 fine and perform 200 hours of community service, the Orange County Register newspaper reported.

Vu pleaded guilty to charges of illegally importing the fish after flying from Indonesia to the US with six Asian Arowanas on September 28. Government authorities found the live fish in water-filled plastic bags in his suitcase.

Arowanas, also called "dragon fish" or "lucky fish," can fetch thousands of dollars on the black market, according to prosecutors. They cannot be imported to the US without a special permit.

JG

Size Doesn’t Matter on Gili Nanggu

The Jakarta Globe, Ade Mardiyati

Guests to the island can pay Rp 100,000 to have the opportunity to release endangered sea turtles back into the ocean as part of a conservation program. (JG Photo)

Gili Nanggu, situated just off west Lombok, is a small island of 12.5 hectares. Yet the island feels a lot bigger than this, with its undisturbed corners of natural beauty and numerous swimming spots.

The underwater world is also stunning with lots of brightly colored fish swimming close to the beach in the warm tropical water.

Traveling to the island is relatively easy — it’s a 45-minute boat ride from Lembar Harbor in Lombok, or a 15-minute boat ride from Taun Harbor, also in Lombok.

A taxi ride into Lembar from Selaparang International Airport takes about 45 minutes to an hour, while from the airport to Taun takes about 90 minutes.

Boats can be chartered from either harbor at any time of the day. Local operators charge about Rp 150,000 ($16) for a boat from Lembar with a maximum capacity of six passengers. From Taun it is about Rp 25,000 cheaper.

“Visitors are mostly foreigners from Europe, usually couples — honeymooners — because of the serenity and peacefulness here,” said Suherlan, or Herlan, a staff member of Gili Nanggu Cottages and Bungalows. “Vendors, like jewelry sellers [often spotted on the other islands in the Gilis], are not allowed to enter the area.”

The island has 10 cottages with timber floors and seven bungalows, with prices ranging from Rp 250,000 to Rp 350,000 per night with breakfast included.

Although cheaper, the cottages trump the bungalows due to their beachfront location. The upstairs bedrooms have large windows that open out onto a view of the sea and the balmy breeze.

Inside each cottage is a bed with a mosquito net and a fan. Some cottages also have a sitting room.

The bungalows are set back from the beach, just a short walk along a track.

The simple hut-like structures sit on a raised platform and the room comes with air-conditioning and an attached bathroom.

The resort has a restaurant serving local and European cuisine. Grilled fish is also available as local fishermen bring their catch to the island.

One of the most intriguing things about the resort is the conservation program it runs for the endangered Hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) — locally known as penyu sisak . The turtle is one of seven species of sea turtles found in the world. The name “hawksbill” refers to the turtle’s hooked beak.

The Gili Nanggu Sea Turtle Conservation Program has been functioning since 1995.

Adult sea turtles lay eggs once a year. If you are lucky enough to visit Gili Nanggu when the baby sea turtles are ready for release, you can take part in this natural conservation activity and help give the sea turtles a future.

“Fishermen around the area used to sell the turtles and the eggs to traditional markets in Lombok and Bali to be consumed or for religious purposes,” Herlan said.

Turtles are said to be used for offerings in Balinese ceremonies, but in fact this is rarely the case. People like to eat them, and most of the turtles that are sold illegally end up in the cooking pot.

“To stop the species from disappearing, we buy the eggs from the fishermen and hatch them here,” Herlan said.

The eggs are purchased for Rp 500 each from the fishermen, usually during the rainy season in February and March, Herlan said. For 45 days, the eggs are buried under the sand until they hatch. A year after, when they are strong enough to survive, the turtles are released into the ocean.

“Guests can participate in the conservation program by paying Rp 100,000 to release a turtle,” Herlan said. “It is a nonprofit program as the money goes to the cost of purchasing the eggs and breeding the turtles for a year.”

Turtles are released every month by visitors to the island, Herlan said.

Gili Nanggu makes a wonderful holiday spot at any time of the year, but it’s best to avoid Muslim or school holidays, when the island is more crowded than usual.

How to get there

Boats can be chartered for one-way trips to the island from Lembar for Rp 150,000 and from Tuan for Rp 125,000. Reservations are required.Peak season is from June to August.

Tel. 0370 623783 or 081 237972299

www.gilinanggu.com

Indonesia rejects Bali plan for turtle sacrifices

The Jakarta Post, Niniek Karmini , Associated Press , Jakarta | Fri, 11/27/2009 4:19 PM

Indonesia has rejected a push by the resort island of Bali for rare turtles to be legally slain in Hindu ceremonies, siding with conservationists of the protected reptiles against religious advocates, an official said Friday.

Bali Governor I Made Mangku Pastika enraged environmentalists by advocating a quota of 1,000 green turtles to be killed each year, strictly for ceremonial purposes.

He said legally killed turtles should not end up in cooking pots, served to tourists in restaurants as soup or turtle skewers as they had in the past.

"It would be supervised tightly, and any violation would have to punished," Pastika told reporters in Denpasar, Bali, on Wednesday.

Turtle meat is a traditional delicacy in Bali, the only province with a Hindu majority in Indonesia's Muslim-dominated archipelago. But Indonesia banned the turtle trade and consumption a decade ago amid international concerns about the endangered species' dwindling numbers and threats by animal welfare groups of a tourist boycott of Bali.

Masyud, a spokesman for the Forestry Ministry which is also responsible for animal conservation, said Friday the governor's request for a Bali exemption from national protection laws was recently rejected on scientific advice.

"The law clearly mandates it was not possible, that the green turtles are included in the animals listed for protection," said Masyud, who like many Indonesians uses only one name.

Tens of thousands of green turtles nest on Indonesia's coasts, but sites have dwindled due to poaching and development.

Conservationist generally respect the Hindus' need for turtles in rituals, but railed against the number proposed.

Wayan Geria, coordinator of the Turtle Education and Conservation Center at Bali, described the quota plan as an embarrassment to protection efforts.

Creusa Hitipeuw, coordinator of the Indonesia turtle program of the World Wildlife Fund, said introducing such a high quota could trigger large-scale illegal trade and consumption.

"We recognize the need for the use of turtles in a ceremony, but it has to be managed well," she said. "What we are afraid of is the commercial trade. It's a death trap for this kind of population."

Bali Hindu Faith Council head Ngurah Sudiana called for Jakarta to approve a smaller quota.

"The central government should understand the need for green turtles as part of traditional ceremonies because it relates to our faith," Sudiana said. "Prohibiting it will hurt Balinese people."

Up to five turtles are needed for sacrifice at each of the 100 to 150 large ceremonies a year in Hindu temples around Bali, he said.

Turtles were traditionally decapitated. But since they became protected in 1999, ceremonies in many temples have changed with turtles being symbolically sacrificed through their release to the sea alive.

Associated Press writer Ali Kotarumalos contributed to this report.

RPT-FEATURE-Shark fin out of vogue among young Asians

Forexpros.com

By Ralph Jennings and Cheong Kah Shin, 2009-03-30 12:03:26 GMT (Reuters)

TAIPEI/SINGAPORE, March 30 (Reuters) - Singaporean groom Han Songguang took his campaign to stop consumption of one of Asia's top delicacies to a new level when he placed postcards of a dead shark on each guest's seat at his own wedding banquet.

Instead of shark's fin soup, a must at many ethnic Chinese wedding banquets, Han offered his guests lobster soup.

"If we can do our part to save 'X' number of sharks ... why not?" said Han, a geography teacher, who married a diving enthusiast in December.

Wildlife conservationists, who have long railed against the popularity of shark fin soup, are finally seeing signs that consumption is dropping as young Asians become aware of the environmental impact of this much prized dish.

Added to that is the global financial crisis, which is causing Asians to tighten their belts and either cut down on visits to restaurants or order more frugally from menus.

A symbol of wealth and status in Chinese culture, shark fin soup has long been an essential part of banquet celebrations for weddings and to welcome in the Lunar New Year.

Until recently, only the rich could afford the soup. But demand has soared in recent years, hand-in-hand with rising affluence in East Asia. The quantity of shark fins demanded, around 800,000 metric tonnes a year, has caused a sharp decline in shark numbers. About 20 percent of all shark species are now endangered.

Wildlife conservationists also decry the killing of sharks through "finning", whereby the fins are cut off and the live shark is tossed back into the sea. Unable to swim properly, the shark suffocates or is killed by predators.

"Today we have incredible access to information. It has become much harder to say 'I didn't know'," said Glenn Sant, marine programme leader of the British wildlife group TRAFFIC.

He urged young Asians to take a stand and say: "'It shouldn't be an insult not to put shark fin on our wedding menu'".

Despite efforts to ban "finning", environmentalists say it is still carried out across the region as fishermen want the valuable fin but don't want to store the rest of the shark as its flesh fetches low prices at fish markets.

CONSERVATION

As young Asians such as Han take a stand against shark fin soup, environmentalists hope for a long-term drop in consumption. Still there is a robust market of older consumers who demand the soup at auspicious events.

"Students and people in their 20s wouldn't go to a shark eatery, and $15 for a dish is no cheap price," said Joyce Wu, programme officer with TRAFFIC.

Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand and China, including Hong Kong, are all major shark fin consumers, according to a TRAFFIC report. Trade in shark products was worth $310 million in 2005, with fins 40 percent of the total, the report says.

Those numbers are coming down as younger consumers eschew the delicacy of their parents.

Worldwide shark consumption dropped from a peak of 897,000 metric tonnes in 2003 to 758,000 in 2006, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation. Fins make up an increasingly small percentage of the total, TRAFFIC says.

Indonesia's overall 2006 haul of 98,250 metric tonnes compares to a 2003 peak of 117,559 metric tonnes, while Taiwan's 40,000 to 45,000 metric tonnes of shark caught per year is down from around 70,000 annually in the early 1990s.

Hong Kong shark fin hauls have held steady at about 10,000 metric tonnes per year since 2004, the region's government says.

"They live a long time. They have a low reproductive rate. In in other words they produce just a few young every year or every few years," said Yvonne Sadovy, a biology professor at the University of Hong Kong. "So you just can't take a lot."

CHANGING TASTES

Tastes have changed along with awareness for young Asians.

Shang-kuan Liang-chi, a National Taiwan University student who has tried the crunchy jelly-like dish twice at formal events, prefers other food and avoids a shark fin restaurant near campus. "University students never go in there," he said.

Even chefs are hoping to turn the tide. At Singapore's Annual Chefs' Association dinner, shark fin traditionally served at the occasion was taken off the menu.

"It is much harder to stop serving shark's fin in our restaurants as the consumers still demand it. However, in our personal capacity, we can make a stand," said Otto Weibel, a food manager at one of Singapore's top hotels.

Global entertainment giant Disney bowed to pressure from animal rights activists and took the delicacy off its menu when it opened Hong Kong Disneyland in 2005.

Some Asian fishery authorities have banned "finning" and monitor boats for illegal catches of endangered species.

"We care a lot about the problems that environmental groups have raised," said Chen Tain-shou, Taiwan Fisheries Agency deputy director-general.

Authorities in south China recently rescued a nurse shark from a tank after learning that it was to be slaughtered and its fins turned into soup for a 70-person banquet.

Shark fin sellers say their sales have also been tested by the economy. With Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong in recession, the restaurant business is flagging. Older consumers would buy more in better times, they say.

"If people are eating it, it's a major event," said Shen Lee-ching, a Taipei vendor of 30 years who sells dried fins by the bag for about $90 apiece. Some bags of dried, chopped fin have sat for years on her shelves.

In south China's hub city Guangzhou, the 1,200 dried seafood stores have seen shark fin prices fall by about 40 percent since the financial crisis began, said Wu Huihan, an official from the city's dried seafood association.

"People are keeping their money to spend on necessities, things that fill their stomach," said Singapore fin seller Jeff Poon.

(Additional reporting by James Pomfret in Hong Kong; editing by Doug Young and Megan Goldin)