The Panamanian police have seized over six tons of shark fins that were hidden in a twelve-meter long container. The find was made in the community of La Pita, about 60 kilometers west of Panama City. According to the police, the shark fins were on their way to Asia.
In Asia, a kilo of shark fin can cost almost 10,000 kroner because the dish shark fin soup is considered a delicacy in many parts of the world. Already in 2020, when a kilo was estimated to cost SEK 7,000, shark fins had become more valuable than drugs.
– The price goes up and up all the time because the sharks are getting fewer and fewer, says David C. Bernvi, marine biologist and shark researcher.
The scientist: 100 million sharks are killed every year
Since the 1980s, the number of sharks caught to make the soup has increased explosively, and several shark species have declined by as much as roughly 90 percent worldwide. Some are even functionally extinct.
– They talk about at least 100 million sharks being killed every year, says Bernvi.
According to him, the trade in sharks is particularly problematic because the animals are so-called “top predators”. This means that many ecosystems where the sharks live risk collapsing when other species risk extinction as a result.
– When you remove key species, you create an unpredictable eco-collapse, he says.
Shark fins not illegal in Sweden
In many places in the world, shark fin soup and the trade in shark fins are illegal – but not in Sweden. Statistics on the import of shark fins are also not kept here, so no one knows how much we bring in.
– There are estimates that five percent of the Swedish population has eaten shark fin soup at some point. That corresponds to quite a lot of sharks, says Bernvi.
– It does not belong in our present. We have to put an end to this, because this is not good for anyone.
See police footage from the record-breaking seizure in the video above.