Scores of animal rights activists gathered in front of a FedEx depot in western Hong Kong on Sunday to protest against the international shipping company for transporting shark fins, an epa journalist reports.

The demonstrators, from WildAid and Hong Kong Shark Foundation (HKSF), dressed in blood-stained shark costumes and wielded signs reading “When the buying stops, the killing can too”, alongside graphic photos of maimed sharks.

The rally in front of the closed doors of the FedEx World Service Center in Kennedy Town comes amid this year’s Shark Week.

“What we want to do is cut the supply chain. Logistics companies like FedEx provide critical links in a long supply chain from illegal fishing boats … to the mouths of Hong Kong consumers,” said non-profit WildAid campaigner Alex Hofford, as cited by the South China Morning Post newspaper.

According to wildlife conservation network SEEtheWild, more than 100 million sharks per year suffer from having their fins cut off and being thrown back to the ocean to meet a fate of either drowning or being eaten by other predators.

“Not only is the finning of sharks barbaric, but their indiscriminate slaughter at an unsustainable rate is pushing many species to the brink of extinction. Since the 1970s the populations of several species have been decimated by over 95 percent,” notes nonprofit campaign Stop Shark Finning.

In May this month Hong Kong Express airline became one of 25 airlines globally that have banned bulk shipments of shark fins in a sign of support for protecting the ocean predators, according to the HKSF, which aims to get FedEx and other shipping companies on board with the eco-conscious ban through rallies. EFE

Hong Kong, Jul 3 (EFE)