A fishkeeper from Essex has pleaded guilty to selling arowana illegally.
Heng Low, 54, of Ilford, pleaded guilty to two charges of selling the protected species, and has been fined 2000 and ordered to pay 800 costs.
Low, known as HP Low, who ran a small business importing and selling Asian arowana, operated from his home and was raided last year by the Metropolitan Police Wildlife Crime Unit as part of Operation Charm, which is targeting the trade in endangered species. (See Arowana seized in London raid, News, November 29, 2007.)
In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said that police officers assisted by the Metropolitan Police Wildlife Crime unit and the national Wildlife Crime Unit executed a search warrant on Low's home address and found several tanks holding some 20 fish.
The Asian arowana, is protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and can only be legally sold if a licence to permit this has been issued by the Animal Health department of DEFRA.
Although Low had licences permitting the import of the fish, he did not possess licences (known as Article 10 documents) allowing him to trade in the species.
Commercial operationThe Metropolitan Police said that the sting came after officers from HM Revenue and Customs noticed that Low had been importing large numbers of fish from Singapore over a two-year period, which it said amounted to a commercial operation.
Low was arrested and during interview said that he had licences to import the fish, but not the licences to permit them to be sold. Low said that he'd made around seven thousand pounds by trading in the species.
Police seized Low's computers which revealed the scale of the operation, with over 600 emails between Low and customers who had paid between 350 and 1200 per fish. The Metropolitan Police said that the computer also contained several advertisements offering the fish for sale.
Wildlife crimeWildlife Crime Officer Tony Leader said that the The World Conservation Union considers the arowana to be at very high risk of extinction in the wild:
"This case shows that strong trade controls are in place to protect endangered species and the police will take action against anyone trading illegally. Although the sale of captive-bred arowana can be licensed, illegal trade threatens the species' survival."
Arowana are farmed commercially in Singapore and Malaysia and Practical Fishkeeping believes that trade in wild fish is minimal.
Most of the popular forms of arowana, and those that Low is likely to have been trading, are the brightly-coloured selectively-bred forms, which are all bred on licensed farms.
Initial reportsInitial reports on Low's arrest, which were based on a press release from the Metropolitan Police via Operation Charm, were questioned by Low.
Low told Practical Fishkeeping that none of the fish were seized, that the fish were smaller than stated, and that most were worth 350 each, not the 2000 claimed in the police's statement.
"The Wildlife Crime Unit accept they were legally imported with papers but were not happy about the absence of Article 10 papers. It's my contention that the fish are legally imported, each fish inserted with a microchip which can be scanned.
"I have been legally importing aros for the past four years - where I appear to have erred is not applying for the Article 10 paper."
At the time of his arrest, Ruth Shulver of the Specialist Crime Desk at New Scotland Yard told Practical Fishkeeping: "Our original press release did originally state that the fish were 18 inches long. This is a mistake and the fish seized are in fact approximately 18cm long.
"The exact cost of the fish forms part of the investigation. This type of fish can cost up to 2,000 but may also be sold at a lower price."