South Africa: Captain held for alleged shark fishing

Marine and Coastal Management (MCM) seized a Korean fishing vessel in Cape Town harbour yesterday and arrested the captain on suspicion of illegally fishing for shark.

The vessel, a tuna long-liner, allegedly had shark fins on board.

Marcel Kroese of MCM's law enforcement, said yesterday it was illegal to land shark fin in South Africa.

The vessel, the Oryang, was fishing under a permit issued by South Africa.

"We had information that the vessel (may have been) fishing in breach of its permit conditions. We suspect it may have finned sharks and dumped the carcasses at sea. The cargo is being examined.

"Sharks are allowed to be caught only as bycatch, and vessels are allowed only a certain percentage of bycatch to be sharks. They must land the whole shark carcass, not just the fins. This is to ensure that they don't cut the fins off at sea while the shark is still alive and dump the carcass back into the sea," Kroese said.

Finned sharks die a slow death.

Fins are sought after as a delicacy, particularly in the Far East.

Source: www.iol.co.za