WORLD
1,200kg of shark and ray fins confiscated at Zaventem Airport
Baku, June 4, AZERTAC
A consignment of 1,200 kilogrammes of shark and ray fins has been confiscated at Zaventem Airport near Brussels. The fins came from Liberia and were destined for Hong Kong. They were confiscated in a joint operation mounted by the Customs, the Federal Food Safety Agency and the Federal Health Department last week.
It is the first time that these kinds of fins have been confiscated here in Belgium. A total of 24 bags containing the fins were found. Officially the were supposed to have contained “dried fish” and “intestines”. In 20 of the sack shark and ray fins were found. It is estimated that between 1,600 and 2,000 sharks would have had to be killed to provide enough fins for the consignment.
The consignment was destined for Hong Kong. In Asia shark fins are used to make soup. Although most of the fins can from species of shark that are not yet protected. However, some of these species are nevertheless endangered.