Taobao.com-Alibaba.com Shark Fin Solution

Last month online sharks fin trader Alibaba.com and parent company Taobao.com put out a press release stating "Taobao.com announced to its 400 million online members that all shark fin products will be banned from trade on Taobao.com starting 1, January 2009."

Full release here.

As we have reported this week we attempted to purchase sharks fin from the Alibaba.com web portal to test the effectiveness and real world reality of that press release.

After 7 days and less than 30 minutes of time spent we were able to source over 80,000lbs of dried sharks fin from sellers worldwide. Clearly this represents a massive roll out failure on the part of Alibaba.com and parent company Taobao.com

Here are our observations concerning areas that "with little effort" Taobao.com and Alibaba.com can make improvements-drastically reducing the sales of sharks fin and educating the public at the same time. Education would represent a big win for Taobao.com and Alibaba.com

Taking the lead in educating seller and consumer on their web portals would represent a worthy and admirable leadership stance. We would be the first to commend them.

Purchase Side Changes

1. When doing a search for "sharks fin" or any variations thereof Alibaba.com could initiate a pop up with the rules and regulations regarding sharks fin sales. We will suggest they build a "Red Site", listing "by section" items that are banned from sale or trade.

2. When signing up as a buyer Alibaba.com can use this process to direct the buyer to their "Red Site" using consumer drill down sales models they have identified internally.

Sales Side Changes

1. Sellers of all shark products and seafood products should receive warnings that are posted to each sellers site on Alibaba.com automatically. For example if you arrive at seller X's sea product site there's a link to the new "Red Site" with a warning about sharks fin sales.

2. Sellers are given a one strike policy. If sales of "Red Site" items happen and are verified they (seller) are banned forever.

These are a few positive and lasting changes that would have an immediate effect. Taobao.com and Alibaba.com could, if serious about banning the sale and trade of sharks fin, make these simple and industry leading changes within the month.

Alibaba.com-Selling sharks fin 5000 kilos a week

Last month online sharks fin trader Alibaba.com and parent company Taobao.com put out a press release stating "Taobao.com announced to its 400 million online members that all shark fin products will be banned from trade on Taobao.com starting 1, January 2009."

Full release here.

This release was heralded by the conservation community as an exciting development. Net the fact Yahoo! was still heavily invested in Alibaba.com and had never disavowed the rampant sale of sharks fin via a web portal they had invested billions in. In many cases sellers were producing and selling 5000-10,000 kilos of sharks fin per week-1 kilogram = 2.2 pounds.

While we are cautiously optimistic about this announcement we decided to run with the old adage "trust but verify". Unfortunately over the past 7 days of verification we have come across a 98% continuing sales rate of sharks fin at Alibaba.com.

The problem is "window dressing". While Alibaba.com has stopped all overt sales of sharks fin via web searches, they have not stopped buyers from asking the sellers of sea products directly for sharks fin. Over the past 7 days we have posed as three different buyers asking for 5000 kilos a week (11,000 pounds) of product from various sellers.

We posed this question to eleven sellers. Nine answered positively, we did not get a response from two others. The aggregate total of sharks fin we were able to source in just 7 days from Alibaba.com, was a staggering 40,000 kilo or 88,000 lbs.

Here is one example from just one inquiry:

From:Mr XXX XXX
Date:Mon, Jan 05 2009 01:14:24 (GMT)

Dear Mr. XXX XXX,

Thank you very much for your message.

As per your requirement we can supply you good quality product Shark Fin's from XXX at reasonable price.

Kindly mail us.

Yours sincerely,
XXX XXX

XXX,
XXX, Bangladesh.
Mobile :XXX
Fax: XXX
E-mail: XXX
MSN: XXX

Message IP Address:123.xx.xx.*
Message Origin:Bangladesh

Alibaba.com aims to provide you with accurate Sender Details, we are not able to fully guarantee the accuracy of every Sender's IP information.

Note: The final legal wording on this email "Alibaba.com is neither responsible nor liable for any of the above information."

Shark Fin Du Jour-Sponsored by Yahoo! Inc

Our weekly feature on Underwater Thrills:Swimming With Sharks is the "Shark Fin Du Jour".

It's a weekly look at Alibaba.com the NYSE of Shark Fin Products and sales on the Internet-Sponsored by Yahoo! Inc.

We will take you to the individual sellers listed on that site and introduce the top companies, what species they sell, and how many thousands of pounds of shark fins they have for sale on the global market.

Today our Shark Fin Du Jour is UMS Enterprises who can source a staggering 500 kilograms of sharks fin per week:

Place of origin:	Pakistan
Model No:	SF 1173
Fob Price:	US$ 30~180 Karachi (Air/Port)
Port:	Karachi (Air/Port)
Payment Terms:	L/C
Minimum Order Quantity:	500 Kilogram
Supply Ability:	500 Kilogram per Week
Package:	15kg - 30kg Polypropylene Bags
Delivery Time:	Minimum 10 Working Days

Shark Fin Du Jour-Sponsored by Yahoo! Inc

Our weekly feature at Underwater Thrills:Swimming With Sharks is the "Shark Fin Du Jour".

It's a look at Alibaba.com the NYSE of shark fin products on the Internet-Sponsored by Yahoo! Inc.

We will take you into the individual sellers listed on that site and introduce the top companies, what species they sell, and how many thousands of pounds of shark fins they have for sale on the global market.

Today our Shark Fin Du Jour is Stavcorp Australia Pty Ltd who can source a stunning 10 tons of sharks fins a month and who have a minimum order of shark fin via Alibaba.com of 3000 kilograms or 6500 pounds-per order.

To put this into perspective 10 tons of sharks fin equals roughly 11,000 dead sharks-per order.

Shark DNA Markers-Hope In FINS

From A Couple Dives Blog this morning good news on the tech front with shark fins and mislabeled shark products.

With testing like this in "field conditions" companies like Alibaba.com and Yahoo! can be held to account for the selling and trafficking of protected shark species:

New technology can provide a way to stop seafood companies from mislabeling shark meat.

Researchers in Spain are reporting that a new DNA identification method could put an end to the false labeling of shark species used in seafood products, such as the expensive Chinese delicacy known as shark fin soup. The study is scheduled to be released in the November 26 issue of ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. The scientists describe the use of a relatively new technique called forensically informative nucleotide sequencing (FINS), in which DNA isolated from unknown biologic samples is compared to a database of DNA markers from known species.

The unfortunate truth is that the consumption of shark meat appears to be on the rise worldwide. And, for now, the only recourse shark conservationists may have would be to regulate the species of sharks that are consumed. Recent reports have shed light on some seafood companies having substituted cheaper shark species for more expensive species and incorrectly labeling their products. EU regulations now require listing the species name on shark products to avoid fraud and to help conserve protected shark species. However, a fast, reliable method for distinguishing between different species of shark remains undiscovered.

In the new study, the scientists collected DNA markers from nine different commercial seafood samples containing shark meat and compared them to known DNA markers from 23 different shark species. The scientists found that two of the nine shark products analyzed had been labeled with incorrect species names, demonstrating the effectiveness for the FINS method.

EBay Going Unnoticed-Template for Alibaba.com

Something remarkable happened last month in terms of eco enforcement and for the most part this watershed event went unnoticed by the larger NGO community and the broader implications for the ongoing battle against Alibaba.com and Yahoo!

EBay has decided to ban the sale of Ivory products system wide. As it turns out EBay's decision to institute the ban came just before the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) released findings from a three-month investigation in 11 countries.

This study is in our humble opinion first rate work by an NGO that resulted in an opening to both Yahoo! and it's 50% stake in Alibaba.com for continued unregulated sales of shark fin. As we have been covering Alibaba.com is "The New York Stock Exchange" of shark fin sales world wide and remain one of if not the largest sharks fin portal on the planet.

The problem with these sales? 100% are unregulated with many protected species being sold along with literally tons of sharks fin that are being moved daily through this site. Worldwide sharks are being killed at an estimated 50-70 million animals a year to feed the lucrative Asian fin market. Yahoo! Inc is a California based company with a multi billion dollar stake in Alibaba.com. Yahoo! has refused any discussion about it's involvement in this ongoing slaughter calling the issue a "cultural practices one" (see video).

Congratulations to EBay for seeing the light, now all eyes turn to Yahoo! Will they see the light as well? For our money as long as Jerry Yang is at the helm, probably not.

Recent Yahoo! stock numbers here.

Shark Fin Du Jour-Sponsored by Yahoo! Inc

Our new weekly feature on Underwater Thrills:Swimming With Sharks is the "Shark Fin Du Jour".

It's a weekly look at Alibaba.com the NYSE of Shark Fin Products on the Internet-Sponsored by Yahoo! Inc.

We will take you into the individual sellers listed on that site and introduce the top companies, what species they sell and how many thousands of pounds of shark fins they have for sale on the global market.

Today our Shark Fin Du Jour is Horn of Africa Traders based in the U.K. While their commercial website states they are traders in Myrrh and Frankincense dried gum resins. Once they became a member of Alibaba.com they started trading in sharks fin as well:

Horn of Africa Traders first established in North Eastern Somalia and our current head quarter is in United Kingdom. Our company specializes manufacturing and exporting of various products such as dried shark fins salted and unsalted.

Shark Fin Du Jour-Sponsored by Yahoo! Inc

Our new weekly feature on Underwater Thrills:Swimming With Sharks is the "Shark Fin Du Jour".

It's a weekly look at Alibaba.com the NYSE of Shark Fin Products on the Internet-Sponsored by Yahoo! Inc.

We will take you into the individual sellers listed on that site and introduce the top companies, what species they sell and how many thousands of pounds of shark fins they have for sale on the global market.

Today our Shark Fin Du Jour is Escualia Market Spain who can source a staggering 220,000 pounds of sharks fin per month:

Company Dedicated To The Purchase And Sale Of Frozen Shark Fin's In The Market Spanish (VIGO)

Blue,
Mako
Hammer
Anex
Dogfish

About 100, 000 KG monthly

Google Bans Shark Finning Ads

From the guys over at A Couple Dives this mornings blog post and simply stunning news. For search giant Google to take on such a critical issue opens the doors to others within the search industry-namely Yahoo! who have not only allowed fining ads on their sites but have directly invested in shark fining to the tune of a billion dollars via Alibaba.com.


Google is following suit as the world takes a stand against the brutal practice of shark finning.

Finning is the inhumane practice of hacking off the shark's fins and throwing its still living body back into the sea. Finning is illegal in America (and elsewhere) but the ban is difficult to enforce. Every year tens of millions of sharks die a slow death because of finning. Since the 1970s the populations of several species have been decimated by over 95%. Just a few months ago, the United States fisheries service ruled that fishermen must bring their shark catches to shore with fins still attached.

And now, since July, Google AdWords has taken the next step forward in ending this cruel practice by implementing a new policy regarding endangered or threatened species, including sharks. Google's advertising platform will no longer promote products obtained from endangered or threatened species. This includes, but is not limited to, the sale of products derived from elephants, sharks, tigers, whales, rhinoceroses, or dolphins.

The new policy comes after Coral Cay Conservation and supporter John Nunes from California wrote to Google urging them to change their policy on accepting paid advertising from shark fin product manufacturers.

Yahoo! and Alibaba.com continue to be the worlds largest online source for illegal shark products, who continue to enable the sales of thousands of tons of dried shark fin each and every month.

Hopefully this move by Google will force the hand of other companies such as Yahoo! and put an end to this barbaric practice.With a squelching of the demand for such products, fishermen will no longer profit from their sale and this kind of slaughter will be rendered obsolete.

Do you think Google should be doing more to lead the way in ending the cruel practice of shark finning? Should more action be taken against companies such as Yahoo! that condone such acts? Let us know in the comments! And make sure to check out Shark In The Pool!.