Activists target seven Seoul hotels for serving controversial shark fin

Shark fin dishes at a Chinese restaurant in Seoul. Korea Times file

By Ko Dong-hwan

Korean activists are targeting seven top-rated Seoul hotels that serve shark fin dishes. The activists are boycotting the establishments for ignoring ecological damage and because of human rights violations linked to the illegal stripping of fins from sharks.

The Korea Federation for Environmental Movements (KFEM) named Lotte Hotel Seoul, Lotte Hotel World, The Shilla Seoul, Grand Walkerhill Seoul, Westin Chosun, Le Meridien Seoul and Koreana Hotel after surveying 25 premium hotels in Seoul.

KFEM said the number of Seoul hotels serving shark fin dishes was down from 12 in 2016, when the organization began campaigning against hotels selling shark fin soup and other shark fin dishes.

"Our 2016 campaign had aroused enough public attention and support to deter some of the hotels from selling the foods," the activists said.

KFEM released its report on July 14, which is internationally observed as Shark Awareness Day.

The controversial reality of the shark fin industry was publicized in May by public interest advocacy group APIL. Kim Jong-chul from the Seoul-based group revealed how a Chinese fishing vessel exploited Indonesian sailors to maximize profits from catching and trading shark fins from around Samoa in the Pacific Ocean.

Long Xing 629, described by Kim, was a tuna-catching vessel owned by Dalian Ocean Fishing but had special equipment for hooking sharks. The vessel left Busan in April 2019 and caught more than 20 sharks each day for 13 months. By the end of the journey, the vessel had 18 boxes ― each weighing 45 kilograms ― of shark fins.

The sharks had their fins cut off and were then thrown back into the water where they were left to die because they could not swim. The sharks included mako sharks and smooth hammerheads, which are endangered.

"There were 11 other Chinese vessels around Samoan islands that also caught sharks for the same purpose as Long Xing 629," Kim said in the report. "Because stripping sharks of their fins at the cost of the creatures' lives was illegal, the vessels, as they approached nearby ports, moved the boxes of fins to other ships to avoid possibly being searched."

Shark fins being dried in Jakarta, Indonesia. Reuters-Yonhap

A Korean vessel was also involved in illegal fishing for endangered sharks, KFEM said. In September 2019, an insider from Sajo Industries revealed that the company's vessel had caught silky sharks and butchered them to use as buffer material for tunas that were caught. Citing the Citizens' Institute for Environmental Studies in Korea, KFEM said, "The animal crime by Sajo could have gone unnoticed if it weren't for the insider's tip-off."

Abuse of Indonesian sailors on Long Xing 629 also made headlines in Korea. Four of the sailors died on the ship after being forced to work at least 18 hours a day for 13 months. Being sick did not stop the ship's operator from exploiting the Indonesians. Three of the dead Indonesians were thrown into the sea, an event that was video-recorded and posted on Facebook. It aroused the Indonesian public and led to an Indonesian government investigation.

The surviving Indonesian sailors said they were deprived of taking a shower, drinking clean water and eating proper food. They returned from the harsh seafaring in May this year after transferring from their vessel to the Tian Yu 8 and the Long Xing 605, which were headed to Busan.

The severe working conditions, according to Kim, resulted from signing an "unfair" employment contract a day before the boat put to sea that the poor laborers could not afford to refuse.

"Long Xing 629, despite the sailors being so sick that some died, couldn't go to a port because they were afraid their illegal activities would be found out," Kim said. "Abuse of sailors and illegal animal poaching persist because we have no monitoring eyes and no properly working policies."

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