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Up to 90 percent of Russian Sockeye salmon, far more than Russia is reporting to have caught, is being exported from East Asian countries to the United States, according to a statement released by the World Wildlife Fund and Traffic, a wildlife trade monitoring organization. Traffic and the WWF said in a new report that illegal salmon is being shipped to the United States through China, which serves as a low-cost processing center for the catch before being shipped to the West.
Traffic monitors wildlife trade worldwide to ensure conservation. WWF is a conservation organization with a membership of 1.2 million people that works in 100 countries to support wildlife protection efforts.
"American salmon consumers should buy salmon that‘s traceable to avoid supporting an illegal and harmful industry," Bubba Cook, a senior fisheries officer for the World Wildlife Fund‘s Bering Sea and Kamchatka program, said in a press release.
He said packaging containing salmon should be marked with a label displaying MSC, or Marine Stewardship Council, which certifies that the salmon was caught legally.
Between 2003 and 2005, excess numbers of Russian Sockeye salmon had entered East Asian markets, which is estimated anywhere from 8,000 to 15,000 tons a year and valued between $40 and $76 million.
According to the two organizations‘ report, salmon going to South Korea is generally shipped out without proper customs records. The origin and destination of the fish is very difficult to trace due to lack of documentation or because the papers have been altered.
Japan, the largest importer of salmon in the world, has about half of its frozen Sockeye salmon supplies coming from Russia.
Craig Kirkpatrick, director of Traffic in East Asia, said that South Korea, China, Japan and Russia need to tighten their end of the salmon trade so illegal products don‘t find their way onto the market and to prevent overfishing of the species. Russia, according to WWF and Traffic, underestimate the quantities of its true catches.
The organizations point out that underestimating salmon catches may be due to inaccurate reporting by fishermen or flaws in the way the government conducts its reporting.
The report by WWF and Traffic recommends a set of measures that will require the salmon fisheries in the Far West to be brought under control.
The report recommends stricter controls on borders and ports; stopping salmon cargo as they are transferred to ships at sea; enhanced cooperation between East Asian port authorities and Russia to monitor ships in Russian territory; more transparency in inspecting warehouses; information on detecting and seizing phony documentation; more random inspections of cargo; and better labeling. Source:
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