Focus on Arts and Ecology

China’s Ministry of Agriculture has temporarily halted the operations of all fishing vessels owned by the Fujian-based Fuzhou Honglong Ocean Aquatic Products company, which owns the refrigerator ship Fu Yuan Leng 999, involved in a shark-smuggling case near the Galapagos Marine Reserve, reports Caixin Global. In August, the vessel was found with more than 6,000 shark carcasses onboard. Fu Yuan Leng 999 was also found carrying baby sharks and endangered species, like the scalloped hammerhead. The vessel had been authorised to transport squids in the south-west Atlantic and south-east Pacific oceans. However, it was found carrying unauthorised loads of tuna and sharks in the protected waters around Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands. Upon finding the captain and the crew guilty of possession and transport of endangered species, Ecuadorian courts sentenced them to prison and a fine of US$5.9 million was imposed. China’s distant-water commercial fishing vesselsare the most active in the international fishing industry, and the government isstruggling to regulate their actions.