Butchered shark fins seized from shrimp boat off Key West
MARCH 31, 2017 5:39 PM
BY JENNY STALETOVICH
jstaletovich@miamiherald.com
Florida wildlife officers made a grisly discovery aboard a Key West shrimp boat this week: dozens of pairs of dismembered shark fins.
The boat was discovered about 20 miles north of the island Wednesday night, an indication that illegal finning still occurs in Florida waters despite being banned more than 16 years ago. Buying and selling fins also remains legal in most states, fueling a practice that targets some of the world’s biggest and longest-lived sharks that are also among the planet’s oldest species.
“When we import them we have no idea if they came from sustainable shark fisheries or fisheries where they’re still finning,” said Mariah Pfleger, a scientist for Oceana, which is pushing a bill to ban the trade.
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