China Launches First Ever Totoaba Crackdown and Awareness Campaign

2017-02-09

China launched a month-long totoaba and Chinese bahaba crackdown and awareness education campaign in Guangdong Province from January 9th to February 9th, 2017, before the start of Chinese New Year, a time when dried totoaba bladders are often purchased as gifts. This campaign was jointly led by the Fisheries Bureau under the Ministry of Agriculture, the market control and enforcement arm of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, and the CITES Management Authority of China. The campaign targeted dried seafood markets, fish markets, retailers, hotels, and restaurants in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Shantou, all of which are major seafood consuming cities in China. This is the first time, following China’s CITES commitment to non-natives CITES appendix species, that there has been such a multi-agency enforcement and education campaign, thus demonstrating the country’s resolve to crack down on the illegal trade of these totoaba fish bladders. NRDC and WildAid supported the education and awareness campaign of this effort. 

×