A fishing vessel from Sri Lanka, sailing under a Kenyan flag, was recently seized and impounded for illegally fishing endangered sharks in the Mozambique Channel, off the coast of Madagascar. That’s according to a press release from environmental groups Alliance Voahary Gasy (AVG), based in Madagascar, and Local Ocean Conservation (LOC), in Kenya.
The ship, named the Maab Aqua, was discovered fishing without a license. In the ship’s hull, authorities found 5,200 kilograms (11,464 pounds) of whole sharks, 70 kilograms (154 pounds) of shark fins, and 135 kilograms (297 pounds) of salted sharks. The illegally killed sharks include white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias), whitetips (Carcharhinus longimanus), blacktips (Carcharhinus limbatus), hammerheads (Sphyrnidae), and gray sharks (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos), according to a communiqué released by a coalition of environmental groups.
According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), more than a third of all shark species, and nearly three quarters of oceanic species, are threatened with extinction. They are functionally extinct in many coral reefs, meaning there are not enough sharks present to serve their ecological function. Much of the decline can be attributed to overfishing; sharks are harvested their fins and meat which are sold mostly to Asian markets. In Hong Kong, widely seen as the epicenter of the fin trade, shark fins are a status symbol and a luxury item served at weddings.
As an apex predator, sharks are key for maintaining healthy ecosystems. They keep populations down the food chain in check and can indirectly help maintain healthy seagrass beds and coral reefs. Without them smaller fish down the food chain can overgraze delicate coral ecosystems. Research suggests that large sharks are also important as carbon sinks. When large fish, including sharks, die they sink to the bottom of the sea and take the carbon in their bodies with them. If they are instead harvested from the ocean, the carbon they contain is partly emitted into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, contributing to the climate crisis.
The waters off Madagascar are a hotspot for shark biodiversity and have a long history of “intrusions by foreign fishing boats,” Ndranto Razakamanarina, president of AVG, told Mongabay in an email. He commends authorities in Madagascar for their swift action in this case.
The crew aboard the ship has pled guilty and agreed to pay a fine of 5.4 billion Ariary ($1.2 million). They have seven days to pay the fine or the case will automatically go to court. Prosecution for three crimes including intrusion without a visa, intrusion without authorization, and collection of protected species are also possible and may result in a prison sentence, according to the communiqué.
Razakamanarina also calls upon the government of Madagascar to investigate the owners of the ship. The ship and the haul it contained are valued in the hundreds of thousands of dollars which suggest that criminal profiteering is involved, according to the AVG/ LOC press release.
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