Mumbai: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has arrested four persons and seized 8,000 kg of shark fins worth Rs 45 crore, which are the main ingredient in a soup by that name. Apart from being regarded as a delicacy in Vietnamese and Chinese cuisine – a standard bowl costs over $100 – the soup has legendary aphrodisiac qualities.
Shark fins are a banned item in India and the accused intended to declare the consignment as that of dried ray skins, dried marine products and fish maw to avoid detection and circumvent the ban. The Mumbai office of the DRI made the seizure on a tip-off, which led it to two godowns in Sewri and Veraval in Gujarat. The seized material was handed over to the wildlife inspectors, who have certified that the consignment is that of “shark fins”.
Shark-finning entails the removal of fins from sharks, often while the shark is alive. Fishermen choose to keep just the shark fins, which is only one to five per cent of a shark’s weight and throw the rest of the shark away, as the less valuable parts take up space on the boat. These sharks, without their fins, are still alive when they are tossed back into the ocean, but without fins they are unable to swim; this causes them to sink to the bottom of the sea/ocean and they often die of suffocation or get eaten by other predators. A DRI official refused to reveal the names of the arrested persons, as they suspect the accused is a part of a larger group operating in China. The official said, “The arrests were made on the basis of a notification passed in 2015, in which the Directorate General of Foreign Trade had banned the possession and sale of shark fins in India.