July 06, 2006
Taiwan announced last week that it will reduce its Whale Shark harvest quota from the current 60 to 30 by 2008. THowever, this may not be enough to ensure a sustainable future for the species while unreported catches and/or illegal imports continue to enter its domestic markets.

The Whale Shark is widely distributed in all tropical and warm temperate seas and it is listed as "Vulnerable" by the IUCN Red List, and included in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Countries such as Belize, Honduras, India, Maldives, the Philippines, Seychelles, Thailand and the USA have legislated local protection for the species, while Taiwan has been identified as possibly the world's largest market for Whale Shark meat. .

"There is an underlying concern for illegal Whale Shark trade in Taiwan", said Joyce Wu of TRAFFIC's office in Taipei. "For example, 32.5 metric tonnes of meat reportedly obtained from legal harvests in 2004 corresponds poorly with the 68.5 metric tonnes of meat reported as sold the same year in just two of the major wholesale fishery markets in Taipei and Taichung."

The marked discrepancy between domestic catch data and the volume of Whale Shark meat on Taiwanese markets indicates a considerable volume of imports of fish caught elsewhere, or substantial under-reporting of the catch. According to the Customs statistics, however, no imports of Whale Shark have taken place in the past five years. During TRAFFIC's research on the management of trade of Whale Sharks in Taiwan in 2001, some retailers claimed Indonesia and Hainan Island, China to be source areas for some of the Whale Shark meat on sale in Taiwan.