It's that time of year again.

The Japanese company Yashima Shoji Ltd is in town to promote the Mitsubishi conglomerate's huge frozen stockpile of critically endangered bluefin tuna at the Hong Kong Food Expo.

Seemingly unphased by the fact that, according to the IUCN Red List (international Union for the Conservation of Nature), their samples were akin to pieces of sliced panda, these gents seemed either too ignorant or blinded by greed to care.

And so the public gorged themselves on free samples of this utterly beguiling sashimi. Get it while stocks last. At the rate we humans are consuming it, that certainly won't be long. Some estimates say the bluefin tuna has about one year left before extinction.

"But it's so good!", one woman said. I see. So that makes it OK, does it?

Then Gary Stokes, an activist from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society turned up. Who tipped him off? I have absolutley no idea.

A bit of a face off ensued. Security showed up. Tensions rose. A crowd gathered. Sampling stopped. Revenue streams were temporarily disrupted. A PR girl from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council became flusterred. A blockade began.

Seashepherd effectively shut the booth down for the rest of the day. No deals done, no bluefin tuna tasted.

And the pieces of endangered species were carefully removed from the display cabinet and put back in the freezer at the back of the booth. 

FINAL SCORE

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society 1-0 Japanese Marine Environment Gangsters

ALEX HOFFORD : HONG KONG CHINA BLUEFIN TUNA PHOTOGRAPHER