Philippine Airlines bans shark fins

This video is called Stop Eating Shark Fin Soup.

From Wildlife Extra:

Shark fin banned from airline

Shark fin will no longer be tramsported by Philippine Airlines, the company have announced after a report showed the carrier had flown 6.8 tons of illegal products from Dubai to Hong Kong.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post, a Philippine Airlines spokesperson, confirmed that the carrier would stop the shipments. “It’s a total stop. We are stopping the shipment on all fronts, not just to Hong Kong,” said Cielo Villaluna. “PAL takes the issue of protection and conservation of endangered marine life seriously.”

The decision follows the news that the Conservation group WildLifeRisk and ocean-advocacy group Fins Attached had found 136 bags, each with 50kg of dried shark fins, “freshly arrived from Dubai” on Philippine Airlines earlier this month (April 2014).

“Obviously we’re delighted that Philippine Airlines has seen fit to turn its back on the dirty shark fin trade by joining a growing family of airlines that take their corporate social responsibilities seriously,” WildLifeRisk director Alex Hofford told the newspaper. “It’s another victory for the sharks and we hope that other regional carriers such as Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways will quickly follow.”

Philippine Airlines said in a statement “it will formalize and strengthen a freight policy it has recently adopted to stop the shipment of shark fin in support of its overall commitment to sustainable development.”