Posted on: Saturday, August 24, 2002

Illegally cut shark fins found on Hawai'i boat

Associated Press

SAN DIEGO — Authorities seized a Hawai'i-based fishing vessel with at least 12 tons of illegally harvested shark fins on board, the Coast Guard said yesterday.

The 82-foot King Diamond II, with a five-member crew, was stopped and searched about 350 miles southeast of Acapulco, Mexico and towed to San Diego.

The crew of the King Diamond II, based in Honolulu, is suspected of buying shark fins from other fishing vessels while at sea in violation of a U.S. law adopted in 2000.

Agents from the National Marine Fisheries Service were trying to determine the exact amount of shark fin stored in the hold, and the amount could be as high as 35 tons, said Paul Ortiz, a senior enforcement attorney for the fisheries service. The fine for violating the ban on the harvest of shark fins can reach up to $120,000.

The fisheries service reported that in 1999, 87,576 sharks were caught on longlines in Hawaiian waters. About 29,000 of them were released live and 57,286 were finned.

One recent case in Hawai'i involved 2.6 tons of shark fins valued at $260,000 held inside the Full Means 2, the Taiwanese-owned vessel that came to Honolulu after the ship's captain and first mate were stabbed to death in March in international waters. No one was charged with wrongdoing in connection with shark fins because the vessel came to Hawai'i as a result of the murders and the crew said the sharks were caught in international waters with no intention of selling them in the United States.