Man fined R1.5m for shark fins

Serve you right! But if they are willing to risk such a high fine there's obviously a lot of money in poaching sharks for their fins. Stop eating shark fin! You are adding value to illegal activity! This guy went all the way from Taiwan to Africa to get shark fin, can you imagine how much the mark up cost is.

Man fined R1.5m for shark fins
06/04/2009 14:16 - (SA) News24.com

Cape Town - The skipper of a Taiwanese fishing vessel has paid a R1.5m fine for contravening permit conditions, the department of environment affairs said on Monday.

This was the highest fine ever imposed for such a transgression, the department said.
The Chien Jui number 102 was seized in Cape Town harbour two weeks ago, and law enforcement authorities confiscated more than 1.6 tons of dried shark fin and 5.1 tons of shark carcasses from it.

The fine was for contravening permit conditions for foreign vessels entering the South African exclusive economic zone.

The number of fins did not match the number of shark bodies, and the discrepancy was beyond "tolerance" limits.