Nearly 400 illegal shark fins — the main ingredient in shark fin soup — were found inside a San Antonio seafood restaurant, according to the Texas Game Wardens.
Aside from the 381 whole shark fins, an additional 29.2 pounds of frozen shark fins were found inside the local restaurant’s commercial freezer, investigators said Monday in a social media post.
The practice of taking fins off sharks is illegal in Texas due to the cruelty inflicted on the fish.
The fishy discovery was made on April 13, as game wardens with a K-9 team conducted an inspection at an unnamed local restaurant. All of the fins were taken into custody as evidence.
“Because a business is involved, we have to gather all the facts and see who is actually involved,” Texas Game Warden Kevin Winters told KENS-TV.
“Sometimes, the District Attorney will request that we file against the business itself.”
Taking fins off sharks is illegal in Texas due to the cruelty. Getty Images“Shark finning” has been outlawed in the Lone Star State since 2015 with the passage of H.B. 1579 into law.
“What they do is, they catch the sharks, they take the fins off, they throw them back in the ocean, ultimately leaving the sharks to die,” Winters told the station.
“Multiple states throughout the United States have been jumping on board to protect the species because every year there’s anywhere between 70 to 100 million shark fins that are taken from waters across the world.”
