JAPAN: Fears of Rare Fish Slipping Through Customs Net

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Oct 17 1995 (IPS) - A new penchant among Japanese for rare pets is worrying conservationists who fear that a number of the wide variety of exotic tropical fish being imported into the country are slipping past customs controls without proper documentation.

A major concern has been the rise in the imports of the rare Asian alowana, a large fish native to Southeast Asia which is considered an endangered species and protected by CITIES, the Geneva-based international organisation that monitors wildlife.

Imports from Indonesia under special licence that allows the trade of alowana bred in captivity, has already reached 6,000 fish this year, double the number imported in 1994.

Japan, in keeping with international laws, allows the trade only after the importer presents the relevant documentation to custom authorities. This includes a photograph of the import and specific permits from the breeder that prove the fish has been bred in captivity.

But conservationists worry that such documents could easily be forged by unscrupulous traders who would go to any extreme to bring in the fish that fetch enormous profits.

A red alowana, the most popular, measuring more than 30 centimetres can fetch as much as two million yen (20,000 dollars) — an indication of how lucrative the trade is.

According to TRAFFIC, an international wildlife protection environmental organisation, incidents of smuggling of alowana have already been uncovered by customs authorities.

Just last week, a trader was caught by Japanese customs at the airport with two alowana fish he had attempted to smuggle in his bag.

Incidents of drugged fish wrapped tightly in vinyl bags sent to traders through delivery mail orders, have also been detected by the Japanese authorities.

There are also special brokers who deal in the dangerous smuggling of the rare wildlife. They pay their contacts in exporting countries handsomely — another incentive for illegal trading, say conservationists who point to a recent discovered case of forged documentation of imports out of Singapore.

In that incident, the falsified documentation claimed the alowana had been bred in captivity, but subsequent investigations by local authorities found that the alowana had not been even bred in Singapore. The tip-off had been the high quality of the fish.

“These incidents indicate smuggling could be rampant which signals the new dangers the rare fish face — doubly so because the unscrupulous trading practices means a number of the rare alowana are dying in the process,” explained Hisako Kiyono of TRAFFIC Japan.

The red alowana is specially popular with Japan’s rich who buy the fish because it is a status symbol. Other alowana, which come in greens, blues and yellow, have caught the fancy of the Japanese buyer because of their pretty hues plus.

But Shiho Ohashi, a member of the Japan Animal Welfare Society, says that once bought, these animals do not get the care they require.

Ohashi has launched a campaign to try to force the authorities to tighten up laws so that only specially accredited pet show owners can import the rare breeds.

Some pet shops just import rare animals to draw customers, but do not know how to properly care for them, she says. “Japan does not have proper laws to control pet shops that thrive on this trade.”

Imported birds, ferets, monkeys, lizards and snakes from developing countries are commonly displayed in pet shops in Japan.

Besides the alowana, among the myriad of tropical fish currently “in vogue” are the pirarucu, a big silver fish from the Amazon river, another species protected under CITIES.

Imported coral is also a popular buy. The rare varieties such as stony coral and black coral from Asia and the South Pacific, that need special import permits, are also popular items at many pet shops.

JAPAN: Fears of Rare Fish Slipping Through Customs Net

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Oct 17 1995 (IPS) - A new penchant among Japanese for rare pets is worrying conservationists who fear that a number of the wide variety of exotic tropical fish being imported into the country are slipping past customs controls without proper documentation.
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