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Ernest Kao

Activists are turning up the pressure on US logistics giant FedEx to follow other carriers and ban the transportation of shark fins.
About 20 representatives of WildAid and the Shark Foundation – some dressed as sharks with hacked-off fins – protested outside the firm’s Kennedy Town express service centre on Sunday.
The centre was closed but activists delivered their message by plastering the gates in gory images of the finning trade, grabbing the attention of passers-by.
HK Express becomes first Hong Kong airline to ban shark fin cargo
They also held up placards and shouted slogans calling on FedEx to stop shipping fins


WildAid campaigner Alex Hofford said such demonstrations were small but effective.
“It doesn’t matter whether there’s 20, 100 or 200 people, it’s about making a point,” he said.
Hofford said he had written to FedEx twice and amassed an online petition of 300,000 signatures, but was yet to receive a response.
Conservationists scored an important victory last year when UPS, a FedEx competitor, bowed to public pressure and banned shipments of shark fins.
In May, carrier HK Express became the first local airline to ban such cargo. A similar announcement was made by Cathay Pacific a month later.
Hong Kong airlines Cathay Pacific and Dragonair impose total ban on carriage of shark fin
More than 30 airlines have imposed bans on shark fins – severely limiting the choice of traders. Several shipping lines have also followed suit.
At the heart of the matter are the complicated, expensive and time-consuming tests of whether fins are from a regulated species.
“What we want to do is cut the supply chain,” Hofford said. “Logistics firms like FedEx provide critical links in a long supply chain from illegal fishing boats ... to the mouths of consumers.”
A FedEx spokeswoman said the company was “opposed to the trafficking of animal parts that were obtained from the exploitation of any species protected by law”, which was reflected in its service terms and conditions.

Asked whether a ban was on the horizon, she added: “Our shipping guidelines and conditions of service are periodically reviewed and adjusted as laws and regulations change.”
Andrea Richey, of the Shark Foundation, said “30 sharks have to be killed for one wedding banquet”. She hopes to “restart a dialogue with FedEx to get them to be a leader”.
Lending her support was Clearwater Bay School student Meara Johnson, 11, who also helped lobby for the Cathay ban with a 1,837-signature petition.
“The first target was Cathay Pacific. We didn’t want to stop,” she said.
About 70 million sharks are killed globally for their fins each year, conservationists say.


FedEx under pressure to follow carriers and ban shark fin cargo as activists picket Hong Kong depot

Shark fin activists protest at the FedEx depot in Kennedy Town. Photo: Nora Tam

Wildlife Activists To Stage Bloody Protest At FedEx Depot in Hong Kong FEDEX, G/F, 12/P, Smithfield Road, Cheung Hing Industrial Building, Kennedy Town, Hong Kong

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