Hong Kong dried seafood shops slapped with HK$110,000 fines for possessing endangered fish maws
Sai Ying Pun firms found with outlawed totoaba during swoop by government inspectors
Two dried seafood stores were slapped with fines totalling HK$110,000 after admitting to an illegal possession of endangered Totoaba macdonaldi fish maws for commercial purposes, in a landmark prosecution at Eastern Magistracy on Tuesday.
The court was dealing with the first batch of summonses issued under section 10 of the Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance, breaches of which carry a maximum penalty of a HK$5 million fine and two years in prison.
It was also the first case concerning Totoaba macdonaldi, which has since 1977 been listed in Appendix I to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
The two companies involved – Kwok Tai Marine Products Company and Yue Hing Marine Products Trading Company – were both found in possession of the endangered species at their Sai Ying Pun outlets during an inspection by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department in May.
Neither store had a valid licence to sell totoaba and all the fish maws were confiscated.
On behalf of their companies, Kwok Tai’s Lee Yui-chiu and Ko Chun-sing of Yue Hing pleaded guilty to a total of three summonses issued under the ordinance.