SAN DIEGO (AP) — Seven people have been charged with smuggling bladders from an endangered fish in what authorities said Wednesday may be a growing
international practice in which the bladders are sold for more than $10,000 each to be used in a highly desired soup.
U.S. border inspectors in Calexico have seized about 500 bladders since February that were believed to be destined for China and Hong Kong, said John
Reed, a group supervisor for Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations unit.
The probe began when an inspector spotted about 30 bladders buried in an ice chest.
The bladders came from totoaba fish that live exclusively in Mexico's Sea of Cortez. Also known as Mexican giant bass or giant croaker, the fish can
measure up to 7 feet long and weigh more than 200 pounds. The cream-colored, leathery bladders alone measure up to 3 feet.
The fish are captured with gillnets when they migrate in the spring to the shallow waters in the northern Sea of Cortez, authorities said. The
gas-filled bladders, which keep the fish buoyant, are removed and taken to stash houses along the border, with the carcasses left to rot on gulf
shores near the tourist town of San Felipe.
"It sounds like a substantial amount of them are going from Mexico directly to China but then we've also been seeing a large number being smuggled
into the U.S.," Reed said.
The totoaba has been protected under the Convention on International Trade and Endangered Species since 1976 and was added to the U.S. Endangered
Species Act in 1979. Fishing is also prohibited in Mexico.
The totoaba population began to plummet in the 1940s after construction of the Hoover Dam in the U.S. limited the flow of Colorado River water into
Mexico. Totoaba spawned near the mouth of the river.
Heavy fishing and inadvertent capture of young fish in shrimp nets also exacerbated the decline.
Just as sharks are coveted for their fins used in a different Asian soup, the totoaba is desired for its meat but even more for its dried bladders.
The bladders are used in fish maw soup, absorbing flavors of other ingredients.
The soup is also made with bladders of other fish, including the bahaba, an endangered fish from the south coast of China that is prized for medicinal
purposes.
Jason Jin Xie, 49, of Sacramento was charged in federal court with unlawful trade in wildlife, accused of taking delivery of 169 bladders on March 30
in a hotel parking lot in Calexico, about 120 miles east of San Diego. Xie told investigators he was paid $1,500 to $1,800 for each of 100 bladders in
February.
Anthony Sanchez Bueno was charged with the same crime after authorities said he drove the 169 bladders across the downtown Calexico border crossing in
three coolers. He told investigators he was to be paid $700.
Investigators believe U.S. citizens are transporting the bladders to Los Angeles then to China. Reed said they are being caught illegally by the
hundreds, suggesting the species could be coming back after years of careful breeding by Mexican researchers.
[Edited on 4-24-2013 by baitcast]
[Edited on 4-24-2013 by baitcast]woody with a view - 4-24-2013 at 07:36 PM
i'd post a foto of some pretty big croakers but i'm not on my home 'puter....Skipjack Joe - 4-24-2013 at 09:21 PM
What was the fine? Imprisonment?
It should be a multiple of what they receive for each bladder otherwise the reward pays off the fine and then some.mtgoat666 - 4-25-2013 at 09:12 AM
I think the english word "Endangered Species List" translates into chinese as "menu" jbcoug - 4-25-2013 at 11:34 AM
Goat,
You got that right!
Johnwillardguy - 4-25-2013 at 07:35 PM
I was surprised to see maybe a 40#er at the 6th fish market this afternoon, the purveyor excitingly calling it a medio, explaining that they are
commonly as big as he was. no doubt came up in a shrimp seiners net!
I said nice white sea bass! he agreed. baitcast - 4-26-2013 at 10:27 AM
baitcast - 4-26-2013 at 10:32 AM
We caught small ones often,they and small WSB would be mixed in with the Corvina right on the beach around Gonzaga they are all kin so it makes
sence,very tasty.
Robwillardguy - 4-26-2013 at 10:42 AM
and you can turn one into a WSB with a pair of scissors!David K - 4-26-2013 at 05:34 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by woody with a view
i'd post a foto of some pretty big croakers but i'm not on my home 'puter....
Woody, you have caught the largest croakers I have ever seen (yellowfin and spotfin)... I recall seeing your world record spotfin croaker posted here
and on WON,yes?
YES, but i hate to brag....
woody with a view - 4-26-2013 at 06:35 PM
here are a couple more from the place that has no name, er, BAJA!
PROUD tosay no endangered species were eaten in this thread!!!!
^^^29 inches via tape measure and it must have been pushing 12 pounds!!!^^^ look it up. we ate a world record....
[Edited on 4-27-2013 by woody with a view]woody with a view - 4-26-2013 at 06:37 PM
SORRY for the brag, Rob! You da man! Hope you're well and we still wanna take you there to pull on these toads!Skipjack Joe - 4-27-2013 at 10:01 AM
Rub it in, why don't you?durrelllrobert - 4-27-2013 at 10:32 AM
In addition to consuming the bladder the Chinese and other Orientals eat, or use as medicine, almost every part of a fish including the eyes, brain,
tongue, throat, stomach, liver and heart. The also eat Jelly fish.Skipjack Joe - 4-27-2013 at 10:52 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by baitcast
The gas-filled bladders, which keep the fish buoyant, are removed and taken to stash houses along the border, with the carcasses left to rot on gulf
shores near the tourist town of San Felipe.
