A staggering 16,000 kilograms of shark fins were seized from different parts of the country between January 2010 to December 2022 and most of the confiscated Shark-derived products were destined for Singapore, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Sri Lanka, and mainland China.
According to a report by World Wide Fund for Nature-India (WWF-India) and TRAFFIC, the Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network, the confiscated shark fins constituted more than 80 per cent of the seizures. Significant volumes of shark cartilage and teeth were also seized.
A new factsheet "Netted in illegal wildlife trade: Sharks of India"-released by the WWF-India and TRAFFIC, a global non-governmental organization monitoring the trade in wild plants and animals -- has sounded alarm about India's illegal shark trade and highlighted ongoing threats and conservation concerns.
Tamil Nadu accounted for nearly 65 per cent of the shark seizure incidents, followed by other states such as Karnataka, Gujarat, Kerala, and Maharashtra.
The Shark-related products confiscated were bound for Singapore, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Sri Lanka, and mainland China.
"The demand for shark fins and meat is a major driver of the global shark fishery. Shark fins are the most sought-after shark product used to make "shark-fin soup,' a delicacy", Dr Merwyn Fernandes, Associate Director of TRAFFIC's India Office, said.
"Other shark products are also in demand, albeit to a lesser extent. Shark's meat is consumed as food; skin as leather; liver oil (squalene) as a lubricant, in cosmetics and as a source of vitamin A; cartilages for chondroitin sulphate extraction in the preparation of medicines and jaws and teeth for making curios", Dr Fernandes said.
Sharks are crucial to our ecosystem. Being top predators in the oceanic food web, sharks prey on various species, including plankton, fish, crustaceans and marine mammals. Overfishing, coupled with low biological productivity, puts them at a higher risk of extinction when compared to most other vertebrates.
Of 160 shark species reported in India, only 26 sharks and rays have been given the highest protection status under the amended Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972 by listing them in Schedules I and II.
Species in Appendix I and II of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) have been listed in Schedule IV of the Act.
Dr Dipankar Ghose, Senior Director of Biodiversity Conservation, WWF-India, and Interim Head of TRAFFIC's India Office, said: "Illegal shark trade is a serious conservation threat to sharks not just in India but globally. Misdeclaring relevant species on permits is one of the main ways sharks are traded illegally worldwide".
"The lack of capacity to identify the shark fins against numerous potential shark species in trade is a significant gap in curbing their illicit trade. Insufficient monitoring mechanisms further make it challenging to differentiate between legal and illegal trade of sharks," Dr Ghose said.
To help law enforcement officials such as Customs identify dried and unprocessed fins, TRAFFIC has created 3D-printed and painted replica fins. Last year, these were shared with the concerned enforcement agencies in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka by TRAFFIC's India Office.
