Slaughterhouse of sharks revealed

Hundreds of sharks are slaughtered to prepare for further processing in Puqi township, East China Zhejiang province, May 20, 2011. [Photo/china.com.cn]

Environment protection organization WildlifeRisk reveals that a small town in East China is becoming the biggest shark slaughterhouse in the country, china.com.cn reported on Monday.

A company producing nutritional products made from marine organisms in Puqi township of East China's Zhejiang province was killing at least 600 sharks a year, which are under the protection of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species Protocol.

Through a three-year investigation, the protection organization found that shark fins, skins and other organs obtained by the company are processed into a variety of products and sold to Guangdong province and overseas markets.

The founders of WildlifeRisk, Alex Hofford and Paul Hilton, said in a research report that they have visited Puqi three times from 2010 to 2013. "The scale of slaughter we saw shocked us every time," Hofford said.

Results provided by the Guy Harvey Research Institute in Florida and another overseas research group show that sharks killed in the town include basking sharks and great white sharks, both of which are under the protection of CITES Protocol list.

Yueqing city's Ocean and Fishery Department defended the local shark processing industry, saying that the industry in Puqi is authorized by related national departments and the local processors are not directly involved in slaughter. The sharks are shipped to the town from other provinces, Southeast Asia and other regions, the department said.