The stunning news that a commercial Sea Cucumber operation in the Bahamas is considering moving into shark fin harvesting should have pretty much every single commercial diving operation in the regional and beyond in an uproar.This is the worst news to hit the region for sharks in a decade.
Once shark finning begins it will be nearly impossible to stop and with the lack of fisheries enforcement in the region it will spread.
Currently shark fin retails for anywhere from $150-$1400 a kilo making this a top priority. Sea Cucumber also retails for anywhere from $40-$300 a kilo.
The company in question is SUNCO Wholesale Seafood LTD and has existing trade contacts in China with Shenzhen Fengyuhua Trade Co., Ltd via a shell company in New Jersey Yafee Inc.
A call to Yafee Inc this morning confirmed they are a dried seafood wholesale outfit.
Good News?
In May of 2010 a new seafood trade association The Bahamas Marine Exporters Association (BMEA) was formed in the Bahamas to manage sustainable lobster fisheries in tandem with outside help and guidance from NGO's.
The BMEA has an existing relationship with WWF in the region making WWF an additional point source to leverage fisheries contacts to begin the process of rolling back SUNCO's regional shark fin ambitions in tandem with The Bahamas National Trust.
Update: The Bahamas Commercial Fisheries Alliance is taking point on this issue.
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