Ibama seizes 28 tons of shark fins – 06/19/2023 – Environment

Ibama (Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) said it had seized 28.7 tons of shark fins. The animal parts are of two species, one of which is endangered.

Most of the seizure took place in Santa Catarina: 27.6 tons of fins were with an exporting company located in the state of Santa Catarina.

Another portion, of 1.1 tons, was seized from a company at the São Paulo International Airport, in Guarulhos, which was trying to export the fins out of the country.

According to Ibama, the total capture of more than 28 tons is the largest of its kind ever made in the world.

It is estimated that around 11,000 sharks died to have that amount of fins: 4,400 were from the blue shark and another 5,600 from the anequim, the latter recently entered the Brazilian list of endangered animals.

Sharks were captured by vessels that did not meet several requirements. The first is that targeted fishing for these animals is not allowed. In addition, they operated with a load that exceeded the permitted limit by about 80%. Fishing equipment also did not follow the rules of the legislation.

Companies still did not adopt mandatory measures to prevent the death of seabirds. Ibama says that thousands of these birds died as a result of the actions of the vessels — some species are also endangered.

In the press release, the institute states that shark fins are considered high value-added delicacies, especially in the Asian market. Ibama also says that fighter jets of this type will continue to be fought by the agency. The seizure took place in the midst of Operation Makaira, which seeks to combat illegal fishing.