Hundreds of Illegal Shark Fins Discovered at Texas Restaurant

THINKEAT

Apr 25

Shark finning, the practice of cutting off a live shark’s fin, is prohibited in U.S.-controlled waters.

Nearly 400 illegal shark fins have been seized by officials, after being discovered inside a restaurant in Texas.

Two game wardens found 381 whole shark fins as well as 29.2 pounds of frozen shark fins inside a commercial freezer, investigators said in a social media post. They added that the case against the restaurant is pending.

Some of the haul came from blacktip reef sharks, a species considered “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, said Kevin Winters, a game warden for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The species is found throughout the gulf of Mexico, although it’s not clear if these sharks originated from there, according to Winters. He also said that not all of the species of shark were able to be identified.

"Some were peeled already, prepared to be cooked for the soup," he said.

Shark finning in the U.S.

Each year, around 73 million sharks are slaughtered for their fins, mostly for use in shark fin soup, and with the international fin trade driving many of these top predators to extinction. To obtain these fins, fishermen slice them off live sharks before throwing the animals back into the sea to drown, starve, be eaten alive by other predators, or die of blood loss. This practice is known as ‘finning’.

Shark finning is prohibited in U.S.-controlled waters, while 17 states and three U.S. territories have passed laws banning or limiting trade in shark fins. In the remaining states, shark fin can still be found on restaurant menus and grocery store shelves, with many of these fins imported from unregulated waters and countries that have ineffective shark finning bans.

The U.S. also serves as a key transportation hub, with unfettered shark fin shipments frequently passing through U.S. ports. Some nations in Central America transport up to one-third to one-half of their shark fin exports through U.S. ports.

Texas banned the trade of shark fins in 2015 after the state’s trade grew at an unprecedented rate, increasing by 240 percent since 2010. The possession of shark fins with the intent to sell is a Class B misdemeanor in Texas, punishable with a $2000 fine and/or up to 180 days in jail.

This is the first known shark fin bust in San Antonio, according to Winters, but not the game warden’s biggest case. Alongside two other wardens, he found 861 shark fins and other shark fin products at a store in Houston.

"It is pretty significant that in a city that's one-and-a-half or two hours from the coast, we're still finding shark fins for sale,” he said.

Winters is working to combat the trade within the state, while educating the public about the impact the slaughter of sharks is having on the ecosystem.

"Our sharks are apex predators. Our oceans need them," Winters said. "If we start losing our fish and our apex predators and so on, it can have a tremendous effect on human beings.

"It's imperative now that we have the opportunity to try to protect the resource as much as we possibly can," he added. "So we're not talking about sharks 10 years from now being extinct."

In 2021, the U.S. Senate introduced the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act (SFSEA). If passed, this will make it illegal to possess, buy, sell, or transport shark fins of any product containing shark fin.

Solutions for change

Shark fin itself does not contribute to the flavor of the soup, only the texture. As awareness continues to grow through public outreach campaigns and legislative progress, shark fin alternatives are becoming more and more popular. Some seafood restaurateurs, vendors, and customers have embraced the substitutes, such as bean noodles or konjac gel, an ingredient used in vegan seafood alternative products due to its fishy smell.

Meanwhile, cellular food company, Aleph Food Labs, have created ‘The Faux Fin’. “Our main ingredient, shark fin, has been cultured in a bioreactor with an algae based nutrient medium,” reads Alpha Lab’s website. “It’s then added to the soup to give it the signature texture and taste that has been enjoyed for ages at Chinese Weddings, Holidays, and other special occasions.”