Breeders tear their hair after hijacking of coveted crab

Expensive and sophisticated laser technology fails to deter a flood of fakes

A highly prized hairy crab unique to a lake near Suzhou has become the target of pirates, who have hijacked the crustaceans' brand and flooded the Shanghai market with fakes despite the use of laser technology to protect its name.

Fishermen say the pirated crabs have cost them millions of yuan in revenue, while consumers have lost confidence in their brand. The crabs - which cost more than 200 yuan (HK$185.80) each in fancy restaurants in Shanghai - are caught from Yangcheng Lake, near Suzhou. To protect their brand, a breeders' association decided the 'Yangcheng' name could only be used for crabs caught in seven parts of the lake.

They bought 20 laser printing machines for members to imprint the Yangcheng brand on the shell of the crab, believing the sophisticated and expensive technology would protect them from fakes.

However, they underestimated the ingenuity of the competition. For every 4,000 real Yangcheng crabs shipped to Shanghai this year, there were 40,000 fakes - all carrying the coveted brand name.

'Our plan was to brand 850 to 1,000 tonnes of crab, but the fakes were so widespread that we had 10 per cent of that amount,' said Yang Weilong, head of the Suzhou city Yangcheng Lake Crab Association. 'We lost more than 10 million yuan in revenue and no one has confidence in our brand.'