Over 20,000 Shark Fins Seized, Canadian Importer Fined

On September 25, 2017, Hang Hing Herbal Medicine Ltd. imported a shipment containing 22 bags of processed shark fins, declared as fish bone, into Richmond, BC. The Canada Border Services Agency noted that the shipment contained wildlife products and referred it to ECCC Enforcement. Wildlife enforcement officers inspected the shipment and concluded that the products, declared as fish bone, were in fact shark fins. DNA testing was used to determine that the shipment contained two species of shark, one being a CITES Appendix II-listed species, Carcharhinus longimanus (oceanic whitetip shark). An importer must obtain a permit from the country of export before importing an Appendix II species into Canada. No permit to import the 12, 984 Oceanic Whitetip Shark fins had been obtained.

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eBay Trades in Endangered Shark and Ray Body Parts

Currently eBay allows for vendors to claim or require buyers have CITES permitting without verification, thereby condoning traffic of body parts of protected wildlife. We call on eBay to strengthen and enforce its wildlife policy to block all sales of endangered and protected species including jaws, rostra and shark fin products.

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Where Have All the Blue Sharks Gone?

While Blue Sharks are some of the most extraordinary, personable swimmers of the ocean as well as one of the most abundant pelagic shark species in the world, little is still known about the biology or population health of this beautiful shark. This is primarily due to a disregard by fisheries management and general indifference to the high amount of bycatch and the emergent threat of shark finning.

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