Approximately 70 million sharks are inhumanely culled annually for the trade of making expensive Shark’s fin soup / credit: Wikipedia

By Gary Raynaldo     DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

The owner of a Japanese fishing vessel pleaded guilty on Friday to aiding and abetting the attempted export of shark  fins out of Hawaii. Hamada Suisan Co. Ltd., the owner of the Japanese-flagged fishing vessel, M.V. Kyoshin Maru No. 20, pleaded guilty, pursuant to a plea agreement, for trying to export shark fins in violation of the Lacey Act, the Department of Justice announced. The company was sentenced to pay a fine of $126,000, forfeiture of $119,000 (representing the value of the vessel), and a period of probation of three years.  The sentence represents the largest monetary penalty ever imposed for a federal shark finning case, according to the DOJ.  During the three-year probation period, the company must comply with a robust compliance plan developed in coordination with the DOJ and supervised by the probation officer.  The company must also retire and relinquish the fishing license in Japan previously associated with the Kyoshin Maru.

“Shark finning is inhumane, intolerable, and takes a very real toll on our precious ocean ecosystem. My office is committed to combatting this cruel practice by prosecuting to the fullest extent of the law anyone found to be trafficking in these types of shark fins.”

-said U.S. Attorney Kenji M. Price for the District of Hawaii.

On or about Nov. 6, 2018, the Kyoshin Maru traveled near Hawaii, and its Indonesian crew members legally entered the United States in order to board return flights departing from Honolulu International Airport.  During routine screening, Transportation Security Administration officers discovered the shark fins in 10 of the fishermen’s checked luggage.  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) seized the shark fins, which it later determined were worth as much as $57,850 on the black market.

$150 A Bowl For Shark’s Fin Soup From Butchering Sharks 

Credit: Wikipedia /  A bowl of shark’s fin soup is a delicacy to many with sophisticated, expensive palates

The price per bowl can range from just HK$5 (45p) to as high as HK$2000 (£180) depending on the type, style and preparation of the shark fin served.

Finning causes inhumane—and unsustainable—deaths    “It’s like cutting off your limbs and leaving you to bleed to death,” says Rebecca Regnery, deputy director of wildlife at Humane Society International. 

“Shark finning is a cruel practice, prohibited by federal law, numerous states, including Hawaii, and multilateral bodies to which both the United States and Japan belong,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jonathan D. Brightbill for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.

“The sentence imposed today, and Japan’s related actions holding this Japanese company to account, reflects the seriousness of these offenses and the United States’ and international commitment to ending this practice.”