Largest Shark Slaughterhouse in the World Revealed by Undercover Investigation [VIDEO]

An investigation in China has revealed an enormous abattoir that is "reaping huge profits" from the slaughter of at least 600 endangered whale sharks a year and the processing of at least two other highly protected shark species, according to WildLifeRisk, a Hong Kong-based wildlife conservation group.

The conservation group said that the slaughterhouse, located in China's Zhejiang Province, is the likely the world's largest shark abattoir - although it could be one of many - and that livers from sharks disembodied there supply an international beauty and health products trade that is "in contravention of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) regulations, as well as relevant Chinese national laws and regulations."

The CITES regulations on whale shark trade state that any country exporting the fish must show that it was derived from a sustainable population. A whale shark can sell for about $31,000 right off the fishing boat, and from there it passes through an "elaborate network of agents and middlemen, many of whom may be unaware of the full conservation status of whale sharks," WildLifeRisk said in a statement Monday.

WildLifeRisk officials investigated the processing plant, named "China Wenzhou Yueqing Marine Organisms Health Protection Foods Co Ltd," for three years. The abattoir operates openly in PuQi township, which is near Wenzhou in southeastern Zhejiang province, about 300 miles south of Shanghai.

WildLifeRisk investigators spoke on camera with the general manager of the abattoir, Li Guang, although it does not appear Li was aware he was being filmed.

Li said that whale shark skin dried at his facility is "smuggled" out of China, mainly to European countries where it is used by Chinese restaurants.

Li suggested that basking sharks and great white sharks are being processed at his facility and that their liver oil fetches high prices.

"The best oil is basking shark oil," Li said. "It produces between 10 and 20 tons per year."

Both basking sharks and great whites are currently afforded the highest protection under CITES regulations.

Their liver oil is transferred to a nearby facility where it is blended, turned into capsules and exported to the US and Canada as fish oil, the investigation revealed.

"We went there three times in the past three years and each time the scale of the slaughter was truly staggering," WildLifeRisk directors Paul Hilton and Alex Hofford wrote in the joint statement. "It's even more incredible that this carnage is all for the sake of non-essential lifestyle props, such as lipsticks, face creams, health supplements and shark's fin soup."

"We went undercover, posing as an international seafood trading company looking for new products," Hilton said, according to the South China Morning Post. "The general manager of the plant was filmed saying more than 600 whale sharks were processed there each year."

"There's nothing like this on this scale," Hilton said. "The amount of fins on the floor in the courtyard was phenomenal.

"It is legal to have a shark-processing plant, but the species they are actually processing are protected internationally and in China," Hilton told the South China Morning Post.

Closing their statement, the conservation group directors said they hoped their investigation would result in greater awareness about the shark trade and that those in it are held accountable for their actions.

"If we hope to save species such as the whale shark from extinction, we must hold individuals accountable for violation of international protection laws and demand transparency so that consumers can make educated decisions about the products that they buy," Hilton and Hofford said.

China Whale Sharks from WildLifeRisk on Vimeo.