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Seized shark fins dumped in Pacific ceremony
The Marshall Islands symbolically disposed of confiscated shark fins at sea Tuesday in a ceremony witnessed by regional leaders attending the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).
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The gesture underscored the progress made towards protecting the marine predators since the Marshalls declared a two million square kilometre (770,000 square mile) shark sanctuary in 2011, Angelo Villagomez from the US-based Pew Charitable Trusts said.
Villagomez said some commercial tuna fishermen still illegally cut the fins from sharks, even though they earned very little from the practice.
“Fishermen only receive a few dollars (per fin),” he said. “But once they are processed in China and sold in Hong Kong restaurants, the price can be as high as US$1,500 per kilo.”
The fins that were dumped off the capital Majuro were confiscated from a Chinese longline fishing vessel earlier this year that was fined $125,000.
Marshall Islands law requires that confiscated fins be READ MORE HERE
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