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Rare Exotic Fish Succumb to Heat at Sochi Customs

by sara star | September 1, 2009 at 06:58 pm

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The home of the future 2014 Oylympics, Sochi boasts endless forests, meadows, waterfalls, wildlife sanctuaries, but gone are the Chinese exotic fish. They sat in an 18-ton container sweltering in customs for more than 14 hours. The customs officer felt sorry for the fish, but did nothing to prevent it.

The exotic fish had been raised in special farms and some were extremely rare.

Over 4,000 exotic tropical fish died at an airport in the Russian Black Sea resort city of Sochi after being kept in customs for hours in the summer heat.

“The 18-ton cargo, containing over 4,000 exotic fish from China, was standing at customs at Sochi Airport for more than 14 hours in quite hot weather,” said Amin Azzam, the head of the Sоchi Discovery World aquarium, where the delicate cargo was to be delivered.

He told RIA Novosti that by the time the containers with the exotic fish – worth a total of $480,000 – were opened, almost all the creatures were dead.

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The cargo arrived in Sochi at 8.30 a.m. local time on August 29, but was only checked by customs officials seven hours later. In addition, the plane carrying the fish from China made a 40-minute stop at Delhi Airport.

Azzam described the situation as “inhumane.” He said had never seen "living creatures to be tormented in such a way." He added that all the papers for the cargo were in order.

However, the head of the Sochi customs service, Svetlana Stepanova, denied all allegations. She told journalists that the Sоchi Discovery World administration didn’t provide the required documentation, including a customs declaration without which bringing cargo into the country is considered smuggling. Therefore, the customs authority couldn’t allow the oceanarium to keep the cargo at its storage facilities.

...According to the Interfax news agency, Aleksandr Troshin, first deputy speaker of the Federation Council, vowed to examine the situation and said those who are guilty will be punished.

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...Raised on special farms, some of the creatures were very rare, including a 3-metre long nurse shark and other unique species from South America and Southeast Asia.

The region around Sochi is home to more than 200,000 hectares of forests, a UNESCO World Heritage site, alpine meadows, mountain landscapes, waterfalls, glaciers, seaside landscapes, national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and botanical gardens.