China's biggest shipping and logistics company Cosco has pledged a total ban on transporting shark's fins, says SCMP. It called the move a "body blow" to the international shark's fin trade.
In a letter addressed to the Hong Kong branch of the US-based wildlife conservation group WildAid obtained by the Sunday Morning Post, China Ocean Shipping Company (Cosco Shipping) “pledges to implement” a “no shark fin” policy.
Kang Bingjian, a company spokesman, confirmed the letter and the policy change, but could not give a time frame for the move.
COSCO Shipping’s commitment follows concerns raised by WildAid and other wildlife conservation groups after Hong Kong Customs officials seized nearly 1 ton of fins from endangered hammerhead sharks, found inside a COSCO shipping container on board a COSCO vessel earlier this month.
Cosco Shipping is the world’s fourth-largest container operator with 7.7 per cent of market share.
Hong Kong accounts for 50 per cent of the global shark fin trade annually, according to WWF data.
"By acting responsibly and with great stewardship of our oceans, COSCO Shipping has joined the ranks of all the other major global container shipping lines by banning shark fin from their vessels with immediate effect,” said Alex Hofford, Wildlife Campaigner for WildAid Hong Kong.