{"id":94447,"date":"2023-07-22T12:16:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-22T05:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ekuatorial.com\/?p=94447"},"modified":"2023-08-11T20:57:39","modified_gmt":"2023-08-11T13:57:39","slug":"uncovering-indonesias-illegal-shark-trade-1-tracing-shark-fins-from-papua-to-java-and-on-to-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ekuatorial.com\/en\/2023\/07\/uncovering-indonesias-illegal-shark-trade-1-tracing-shark-fins-from-papua-to-java-and-on-to-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Uncovering Indonesia’s illegal shark trade [1]: Tracing shark fins from Papua to Java, and on to China"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Brondong Port in Lamongan District, East Java, was bustling on a Friday morning in late February 2023 as workers unloaded fish from the many boats that arrived that morning. The catch included hundreds of sharks and rays. Among them were vulnerable or critically endangered scalloped hammerheads, silky sharks, and various species of wedgefish and guitarfish. <\/p>\t\t

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThis story also appeared in Mongabay Indonesia\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

Rizal, one of three fish buyers who had been there since dawn, was happy as he had secured the most goods, more than 10 tons of sharks and rays. His workers had already cut off the fins from some of the sharks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fins interest Rizal most because he can sell them for between Rp 400,000 and Rp 12 million per kilogram, depending on their size. By contrast, shark meat sells for only Rp 14,000 per kilogram. Rizal said buyers come to his house from Surabaya, Pati, Tegal, and Jakarta to buy 50-100 kilograms of fins at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"A.
<\/span>A. Asnawi\/Mongabay Indonesia<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>
A worker cuts shark fins at Brondong Port, Lamongan District, East Java, February 23, 2023.<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

Brondong is just one of many Indonesian ports where sharks and rays are landed. Reporting from January to April 2023 found that the practice was rampant in all ports on the north coast of Java, such as Tasikagung Beach fishing port in Rembang District, Bajomulyo fishing port in Pati District and Tegalsari fishing port in Tegal City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every day, hundreds of sharks and rays are landed at each of these ports. Most are protected species or are subject to strict regulations. But there are no officials present to monitor this trade. It often takes place illegally, with consequences for shark populations and, ultimately, the health of entire marine ecosystems.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"A.
<\/span>A. Asnawi\/Mongabay Indonesia<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>
The atmosphere at Brondong Port, Lamongan District, Central Java. A worker (center) weighs a load of stingrays, February 23, 2023.<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

Read also: Shark trade: Unsupervised shark fishing and trade continue in Sangihe<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rules to follow<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The shark fin trade is a lucrative and controversial industry driven by high demand, particularly in China. Indonesia controls the capture and use of sharks and rays through Regulation 61\/2018<\/a> of the Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This regulates the use of fish species that are fully or partially protected under national law, or are listed in the Appendices of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which Indonesia ratified in 1978. The regulation also covers species that look like the protected or CITES-listed species, and for which traders must obtain a recommendation letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fully protected species include whale sharks, sawfish, manta rays and four types of freshwater rays. It is illegal to catch, keep or trade them. Other CITES-listed shark species subject to Indonesian trade controls include hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna zygaena<\/em>, Sphyrna lewini<\/em>, Sphyrna mokarran<\/em>), thresher sharks (Alopias pelagicus<\/em>, Alopias superciliosus<\/em>, Alopias vulpinus<\/em>), whitetip sharks (Carcharhinus longimanus<\/em>), silky sharks (Carcharhinus falciformis<\/em>) and mako sharks (Isurus oxyrinchus<\/em>, Isurus paucus<\/em>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rays covered by the Regulation because they are CITES-listed include mobula rays (Mobula<\/em> species), wedgefish (Rhynchobatus palpebratus <\/em>and Rhynchabatus springeri<\/em>) and guitarfish (Rhina ancylostoma<\/em>, Glaucostegus typus<\/em> and Glaucostegus thouin<\/em>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any business that wants to export these species or sell them domestically must have a Fish Type Utilization Permit (SIPJI) and a Fish Type Transport Permit (SAJI). Traders must also have been allocated a quota covering the amount they can export. But as Mongabay Indonesia has found, it is easy for traders to circumvent the regulation and evade detection.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"A.
<\/span>A. Asnawi\/Mongabay Indonesia<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>
A pile of sharks and white spotted wedgefish at Tasikagung Harbor, Rembang District, Central Java, March 5, 2023.<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

Fin traders<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In December 2022, an Indonesian-flagged container ship owned by PT SPIL docked at Tanjung Perak Port in Surabaya, East Java, having departed from Merauke Port in Papua. Its cargo included 589 kilograms of shark fins. According to the Fish Quarantine and Health Center (BKIPM) document, the fins were sent to Hendrik Setiyoko, a resident of Purwodadi, Kediri District, East Java. But they did not belong to him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“They belonged to my boss,” said Hendrik, an employee of PT Jaya Dina Buana (JDB), a fish processing company in the Osowilangun Permai warehouse complex in Surabaya. He admitted that the company had deliberately used his name to receive the shipment. “Maybe because I have experience,” he explained, adding that he had previously worked at another company that also traded in shark fins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JDB is based in Bandung, West Java and was only established in October 2022, according to the company profile document obtained from the Directorate of Legal and General Administration of the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The document states that the managing director is Gamma Wilasa; Tutantra Tanu is a director and Daweiri Tanu is a commissioner. When Mongabay Indonesia contacted the company by telephone, the person who answered declined to comment and ended the call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite being so new, the company already has a strong network of shark fin buyers that export to countries including China, Singapore, and Vietnam. \u201cEverything is exported,” said Hendrik. He said shipments the company receives from Papua can reach two tons, or 3,500 fins. They arrive by ship, or sometimes by plane, and are usually taken directly to the company\u2019s warehouse in Surabaya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n