Species: Tachypleus tridentatus
Dates: 1980 to 2001
Location: Hong Kong.
Horseshoe crabs are not protected in Hong Kong.
Between 1980 and 2001, a Japanese pharmaceutical company set up a clandestine horseshoe crab bleeding facility in Hong Kong, to extract Tachypleus Amoebocyte Lycate (TAL) from local populations of the Chinese horseshoe crab Tachypleus tridentatus.
This clandestine bleeding facility was set up in a shark fin warehouse in Sheung Wan District, Hong Kong and horseshoe crabs were delivered there on a daily basis from the local trawling fleet. Because of the nature of the fishing industry in Hong Kong at the time, it is highly likely that many of these horseshoe crabs were caught in China. The crabs were bled dry, then returned to the fishermen for disposal.
In parallel with these clandestine bleeding activities, populations of T. tridentatus in Hong Kong collapsed, with conservative scientific estimates putting population declines at around 90%.
Japanese pharmaceutical company has set up other clandestine horseshoe crab bleeding facilities
Having bled the Chinese horseshoe crab population of Hong Kong dry, this pharmaceutical company tried to set up similar clandestine facilities in China, but State Law prohibits the export of horseshoe crab products, so they moved their attention to Vietnam and Indonesia, where they now operate similar clandestine bleeding facilities.
Photographs of clandestine horseshoe crab bleeding facility in Hong Kong
Photographs of the clandestine bleeding facility in operation in Hong Kong in the early 2000’s are posted below:
Horseshoe crabs were delivered on a daily basis by the trawling fleet.
Bleeding for TAL in a shark fin warehouse.
Female T. tridentatus being prepared for bleeding.
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