A slaughterhouse that processes hundreds of whale and basking sharks a year has been uncovered in China. It appears to be, in fact, the largest whale shark slaughterhouse in the world. An investigation by a marine conservation NGO found the sharks were also being caught off the Chinese coast.
Whale and basking sharks are completely harmless to humans, subsisting on diets of very small creatures. Humans, on the other hand, are a massive threat to the sharks. Both these species are at risk of extinction, and one of the main reasons is hunting.
Killing them is completely illegal under international and Chinese law, but the government seems to be turning a blind eye. This processing factory has apparently been running for years and should have been shut down a long time ago.
Tell China to close this unlawful slaughterhouse immediately.
We the undersigned ask that you close the shark processing factory in the Zhejiang Province immediately. This factory is processing highly threatened species, including whale, basking and great white sharks. Its activities, moreover, are completely illegal under Chinese and international law, as these species are protected.
Slaughter for fish oil and other products is not a sustainable way to exploit these great sharks and is threatening to push them over the edge of extinction. The potential of whale shark ecotourism, which could be immensely lucrative give how many people are willing to pay to see and swim with these animals, can never be realised if there are no sharks left.
Please see that this unlawful factory is closed as a matter of urgency.
Thank you for your attention.
