Shark fins worth over Rs 16 lakh being smuggled to Dubai seized at Chennai airport: How are Shark fins used?

The Customs Air Intelligence unit officials at Chennai Airport on Wednesday seized 23.5 kg of shark fins from two passengers bound for Dubai. The total of shark fin haul is valued at about Rs 16.5 lakh

It is said that the Customs officials noticed that two passengers, identified as Sathackkathullah and Abbas, carrying a carton each, were moving in a suspicious manner each in the departure area. They were intercepted after they had cleared immigration and were proceeding towards security check

Shark fins are used to make shark fin soup, a delicacy once prepared exclusively for the Chinese emperors and nobility. The cartilage from the fin is carefully dried and prepared, and used as an ingredient in a soup flavored with seafood or chicken broth and herbs.

Shark fin soup is an expensive delicacy served in high-end restaurants abroad. The Chinese consider it a symbol of prosperity, status and conferrer of good health.

One way that humans hunt sharks is by using a practice called shark finning. This is the process of slicing off a shark’s fin and discarding the rest of the still-living body, often by dumping it back into the ocean

However, the animal cruelty implications are not the only reason to stop this practice. Another major factor is that shark fisheries and finning in particular are having catastrophic effects on shark populations around the world. Approximately 100 million sharks are killed globally each year, and one of the major incentives for this is the shark fin trade.