(Brasilia) Brazilian authorities announced on Tuesday the seizure of more than 28 tons of shark fins destined for Asia, where they are highly prized, in what would be the largest operation of this type in the world, according to the environmental agency Ibama.
These 28.7 tons of fins represent some 10,000 blue sharks (Prionace glauca) and mako (Isurus oxyrinchus), assured the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources in a press release, specifying that they had been fished “in several regions of the Brazilian coast”.
“This is probably the biggest take of this type of product in history,” said Jair Schmitt, one of the agency’s leaders, quoted in the press release.
Almost all of the fins were seized from a company in the state of Santa Catarina (south) and the rest, which was about to be exported by another company, was intercepted at Sao Paulo airport ( South East). Other companies could be involved in the traffic, according to Ibama.
The fins were to be exported illegally to Asia, where this trade, centered around Hong Kong, is worth around 465 million euros [671 millions $ CAN]. The fins can be sold for 1000 dollars per kilo in East Asia to make very famous soups of traditional Chinese gastronomy.
At the end of May, Brazil put the mako shark on the list of endangered species. This initiative follows the historic decision taken in November in Panama at the Conference on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), aimed at protecting around fifty species of sharks threatened by the trafficking of their fins in Asia.