A leading Thai laboratory, in conjunction with the conservation group WildAid, recently released a report confirming that many shark fins on the Thai market may be contaminated with high levels of the heavy metal mercury.

Chula Unisearch, a testing laboratory of Chulalongkorn University, randomly tested 45 shark fins in Bangkok and subjected them to rigorous chemical analysis and concluded that 1/3 of them contained levels of mercury higher than allowed for human consumption by the FDA.

These results follow another test commissioned by WildAid last year, which concluded that 7 out of 10 fins sampled had very high levels of mercury. Those first results were released by WildAid in July 2001 as part of a public awareness campaign to conserve sharks. WildAid had also released a report and film showing that many shark populations in Thailand and around the world were in rapid decline due to increased sales of shark fin soup, and that fishermen were often resorting to finning the animals alive to supply the burgeoning international shark fin trade.
WildAid's campaign led to a drop in shark fin soup sales in Thailand, prompting several shark merchants here to sue the organization for damages of $2.5 million. The merchants also told the Thai press and courts that they would withdraw their lawsuit if WildAid apologized to the public for lying and stopped its campaign.

" We are not singling out shark fin merchants in Thailand,"

added WildAid Director
Steven Galster.

" Thailand is part of a global trade. Many of the fins on the Thai market come from Hong Kong, the main distribution point for shark fin sales internationally. Fins sold out of Hong Kong come from sharks fished all over the world. So the consumer of shark fin soup -whether they are in Bangkok or San Francisco-is part of a global threat to sharks. And that same consumer may be risking his or her own health by ingesting an unpublished ingredient,
Galster said."

Today WildAid also released an update report in Thai and English about the shark fin trade internationally. The group is concerned that in Thailand shark populations will never recover if the Thai government does not develop a shark management plan, as it has been requested to do by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Furthermore, WildAid is concerned that whale sharks that migrate through Thai waters, and play a signicant role in the diving and tourist industry, may be declining due to a trade in its meat and fins. Whale sharks are the largest fish in the ocean.

WildAid President Kraisak Choonhavan will also announce the new formation of WildAid Foundation-Thailand, as well as its plans for the future. Senator Kraisak is being joined on the WildAid Board by Prince Chatrichalerm (see next issue of Thai Diver).