The end of Covid restrictions across China has spurred a recovery in the consumption of smuggled seafood in Hong Kong.
Demand for exotic and endangered fish species collapsed in Hong Kong during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, but has returned following the abrupt move by the Chinese government in December 2022 to end its restrictive travel and trading policies designed to curb the spread of the virus.
Yvonne Sadovy de Mitcheson, a professor at the Swire Institute of Marine Science at the University of Hong Kong, said the city’s authorities have done little to hinder the rekindling of illegal seafood trading following the two-year lull. Sadovy said there has been an increase of contraband supply by air, including an uptick in imports of endangered humphead wrasse, a delicacy much sought-after by diners at high-end restaurants in Hong Kong and mainland China. The fish, also known as Napolean wrasse, require a CITES permit to be conducted legally.
“I am guessing that the airport customs may not be inspecting live fish imports and hence not noticing imports of humphead wrasse, but they are evident in a number of shops around the city. Usually the same shops each time,” she said.
Hong Kong’s Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) had signed on to use a facial recognition app, called “Saving Face,” designed to facilitate tracking of illegal trading in endangered reef fish into the city. However, despite having an allocated budget to integrate the facial recognition app into its IT systems, the AFCD has not yet done so, Sadovy said. Adaptation of the app for use in identifying illegal seafood is “progressing far too slowly,” Sadovy told SeafoodSource.