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The SFPA has confirmed that an investigation is underway into an incident involving an Irish razor clam export to Hong Kong
The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority has confirmed that it is investigating an incident involving a batch of Irish caught razor clams that were exported to Hong Kong.
It is understood that the batch of razor clams were caught and landed in the harbour of Skerries, Co Dublin as ‘blackfish’. A buyer then bought the batch of razor clams and tried to export them from the Ireland via a fish processor in Scotland.
It is believed that the SFPA became aware of the activity and tracked the batch to Scotland, where Scottish authorities were alerted to the issue. The batch of razor clam was voluntarily withdrawn from the market.
It was rumoured that the authorities in Hong Kong had closed their markets to imports of razor clam from Irish boats, but the SFPA has confirmed that this is not the case, at this moment in time.
In a statement to The Fishing Daily an SFPA Spokesperson said:
“An individual batch of Razor Clams that were exported to Hong Kong, via Scotland, that originated from Ireland are currently subject to investigation by the SFPA.
“As a consequence of the investigative work being carried out by the SFPA in conjunction with the Scottish authorities, the individual batch of Razor Clams in question have been voluntarily withdrawn from the market.
“The SFPA has not been made aware of any restrictions on the exporting of Irish Razor Clams to Hong Kong.”
