A wildlife conservationist with the Insta handle @Carapiranha, who is leading the Mud on Boots project for Sanctuary Asia, posted a story about India’s rampant shark fishing.
But hold your breath, because according to The Indian Express, India ranks second in the list of shark fishing nations.
During her research, @Carapiranha found that thousands of shark fins are being exported to China and other countries.
This is despite the fact that in 2015, a prohibition on the export of shark fins had been put in place.
During their research, she came across this photo taken by a tourist, which revealed the rampant ways of the trade.
In 2017, Shaili Johri, Postdoctoral Fellow with San Diego State University in California, told IANS that the rampant fishing of sharks can drive them to extinction in our country.
In India, about 10 species of sharks are listed under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act. Which means, they share the same level of protection as tigers.
Despite this, yesterday, 250 shark carcasses were recovered by the coast guard in Odisha.
Speaking to The Indian Express on the matter, the former member of National Board of Wildlife Biswajit Mohanty said:
Shark hunting is fairly common off the coast of Odisha. There is a network where traders in Puri buy shark fins and transport them to Chennai. From there, the haul is distributed across South East Asia.
Of the carcasses found, many were of Bull sharks, Hammerhead sharks, spot tail sharks among other endangered species.
Sharks are apex predators on the top of their food chain and play a vital role in the marine ecosystem and their extinction could lead to disastrous consequences. And not just for the shark fishing industry but also for the other fishing based industries as well.