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Shark Finning in Hong Kong:
What are the social and economic factors of shark finning in Hong Kong and how will it have an affect on the remaining population of sharks?
Victoria

Abstract
The rapid economic growth in Hong Kong over the past few decades has had an immense effect on the amount of shark finning taking place. With GDP steadily increasing the recent change in the spending patters has only contributed to an overuse of this resource. The pricing patters of this product show that as long as fishing remains economically viable sharks will continue to be at risk of extinction. There has been a lack of motivation to raise awareness on this topic and as long as fishing remains economically viable it will just continue to occur. To reduce the amount of shark finning in Hong Kong we need to enact more ant-finning regulations.
Keywords: finning, Hong Kong, disposable income

What are the social and economic factors of shark finning in Hong Kong and how will it have an affect on the remaining population of sharks? Shark fins are a valuable product and a delicacy to people in Hong Kong and many other surrounding populations that are heavily Chinese, but this overfishing has led to a major depletion of the shark species. Although several countries have made the effort to ban shark fishing, if it continues to happen at the current rate there will be a risk of extinction. Hong Kong has only increased their amount of shark fishing because of the recent growth and expansion of their economy. This growth in the economy can be explained by the change in the productivity and also through the performance of their export sector. This rapid expansion in consumer purchasing power due to growth has led to an increase in the demand for shark fins. The social concerns involving the shark fin trade outweigh the economic benefits that Hong Kong would gain from shark finning. If they continue to hunt sharks at the current rate, sharks will become completely extinct. In “Competitiveness of the Hong Kong economy,” Hongyi (2009) discussed the recent economic development of Hong Kong and how its competiveness over the years has grown in comparison to other markets. I use the recent development of their economy to show how it has affected consumer’s preference in spending which has led to an increase in the consumption of sharks. In “Estimates of Shark Species Composition and Numbers Associated with the Shark Fin Trade Based on Hong Kong Auction Data,” McAllister (2005) provides data on the total amount of shark fins processed in Hong Kong and traded globally. I used this information to show the impact that this sector of trade has had on the remaining populations of sharks. In “Social, Economic, and Regulatory Drivers of the Shark, Fin Trade,” Clarke (2007) points out the trend of the shark fin trade and how these social and economic factors will play a role in the future demand of shark fins. I used this research from this article to support my argument that the recent up-turn of Hong Kong’s economy has played a major role in the increase of shark finning. Since the Asian Financial Crisis beginning in 1998, Hong Kong has grown to become one of the largest economies in the world (Hongyi, Xiangdon & Danyang, 2009). This growth has led to a major expansion in the global trade of shark fins and has put them at risk of extinction. The desirability of shark fins has grown steadily as Hong Kong’s overall GDP has increased. (Wong, 2002) Clarke explains how the pattern of trade can be related back to the level of productivity and the amount of disposable income of residents in Hong Kong (Clarke, Milner-Gulland & Bjorndal, 2007). The Hong Kong per capita disposable income has increased from 16,000 in 1999 to about 20,000 in the year 2004 alone (Clarke et al., 2007). With this increase in income, consumers are more likely to spend their money on certain specialty goods, which could mean an increase in the purchasing patterns of shark fin-related products. To counteract this growth and control the demand side, imposing a tax on shark-fin related products in Hong Kong would greatly reduce the quantity of sharks being caught. As their economy grows and the city becomes integrated this tax implementation would control the amount of shark-fin demanded.
With Hong Kong’s economy continuously expanding and their city controlling about half of the world’s shark fin trade we can expect the quantity of shark fins supplied to increase as well (Clarke, McAllister & Michielsens, 2004). We can also predict the activity of shark finning through pricing patterns and the level of disposable income. Clarke points out that the, “relatively flat price trend since mid-2001 corresponds to a period of slightly negative growth in imports of shark fins into Hong Kong in 2001-2004” (Clarke, 2007 p. 314). Since Hong Kong’s economy is expanding along with their annual GDP steadily increasing we can expect the prices of shark fins to increase. The nature of demand in Hong Kong along with the higher amounts of disposable income will only lead to further depletion of this resource. The price of related products can also have an overall effect on the increase or decrease in the demand for sharks. Therefore, if disposable income continues to grow while the price of shark related products remains low consumption will only increase and cause more fishing to occur. The only solution to this problem of overfishing is to increase regulations and enforce bans on shark finning. By enforcing limits on Some might argue that bans can get to be expensive and that making the distribution and selling of shark fins illegal would only push the product into the black market, increasing its value even further. However, strengthening these anti-finning regulations would just be the the initial steps we need in the process to putting an end to shark finning. Clarke points out that shark fin imports to Hong Kong from Europe, “dropped by 30% (from 785 to 550 tonnes) between 2003 and 2004, the first year after implementation of the finning regulations, and remained below 600 tonnes in 2005” (Clarke, 2007 p. 316). If we don’t start making the effort to stop the fishing of sharks they will eventually cease to exist. (DATA) As stated by the Fishers and Oceans Canada (2011) since their rate of production does not compare to other species such as tuna that produce as many as 10 million eggs and grow much more rapidly, their species would not be able to handle the amount of fishing that is currently happening. Fong (2002) explains how imposing size limits on the amount of harvested sharks would give the species time to fully reproduce and mature so that we could ensure “biological sustainability” (Fong & Anderson, 2002). This decline in the population of sharks is likely to continue unless we can spread awareness of the As long as shark finning remains unregulated in Hong Kong this cruel act will continue and populations of sharks will be depleted even further. With the current economic improvements in Hong Kong this could only lead to further consumption of specialty goods. With increased incomes and changes in spending patterns this good is only put at higher risk for overconsumption. We need to start to raising awareness of the harmful and cruel effects shark fishing or the levels of consumption will continue to increase. It is important that we increase regulations on the imports and exports of the fin trade in Hong Kong so that we can start to see a decrease in the populations of sharks being killed.

References
Atlantic Bluefin Tuna. (2011, March 7). Retrieved October 8, 2012, from http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/
Clarke, S. C., McAllister, M.K., & Michielsens, C.G.J. (2005). Estimates of shark species composition and numbers associated with the shark fin trade based on Hong Kong auction data. Journal of Northwest Atlantic Fishery Science, 35, 453-465. doi:10.2960/J.v36.m488

Clarke, S., Milner-Gulland, E. J., & Bjorndal, T. (2007). Social, economic, and regulatory drivers of the shark fin trade. Marine Resource Economics. 22, 305-327.
Fong, Q.S.W., Anderson, J.L. (2002). International shark fin markets and shark management: and integrated market preference-cohort analysis of the blacktip shark. Ecological Economics, 40, 117-130.
Hongyi, L., Xiangdong, W., & Danyang, X. (2009). Competitiveness of the Hong Kong economy. China Economic Review, 20, 573–586. doi:10.1016/j.chieco.2009.04.005
Wong, Y.C. (2002). The Asian financial crisis, economic recession and structural change in Hong Kong. Journal of Asian Economics, 13, 623-634.

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