After successful conduct of a racket, the recent reports of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence has revealed that the demand for shark-fin soup has reached to the heights that the slayers had killed nearly 20,000 sharks in the Indian waters in past one year. A single shark fin soup bowl, which is considered to be an aphrodisiac for men and a secret to a glowing complexion for women, costs approximately $100.
Considering this a serious cause of concern, DRI arrested four people from Mumbai for allegedly exporting over 8,000 kg of shark fins, worth Rs 45 crore in the international market, to China, Vietnam and Hong Kong. According to the DRI sources, this is the highest seizure of shark fins ever made in India.
The agency has seized about 3,000 kg and 5,000 kg of shark fins from a godown at Sewri in Mumbai and a warehouse at Veraval in Gujarat, respectively. The fins were intended to be exported to China and Hong Kong.
The DRI has arrested Sharafat Ali, owner of Global Impex; his brother Hamid Sultan, in charge of the firm’s business in Mumbai; Asik Ahmad, in charge of the company’s accounts who used to take export orders from Hong Kong and R Sivaraman, in charge of storing the fins and concealing them with the help of fish maw during exports.
More about Shark Fin Soup –
Shark fining is the cruel act of removing fins from sharks, often while the shark is still alive. Once the fin is removed, the sharks are discharged into the ocean. These sharks sink into the bottom of the ocean and die as they are unable to swim without fins.
The fins are used for preparing a delicacy called the shark fin soup in Chinese and Vietnamese cuisines.
Although health experts claim that the shark-fin soup does not have any specific benefits, the soup has become the ‘it’ food item in powerful circles. Once considered as ‘manna from above’ for emperors and aristocrats, today shark fin soup has become a status symbol at ‘by invitation only’ parties across Asia.
