SAN ANTONIO — Texas Game Wardens report they found 381 whole shark fins in the refrigerator of an unidentified San Antonio restaurant.
The game wardens were assigned to Bexar County and were performing an inspection along with a K-9 team on the seafood restaurant on April 13.
On top of the shark fins found in the fridge, the inspection also uncovered nearly 30 pounds of frozen shark fins in the freezer.
According to a Texas law passed in July 2016, all sales, trade and purchase and transportation of shark fins are illegal. This is considered a Class B Parks and Wildlife Code misdemeanor no matter where the shark was caught.
Under the bill, the Parks and Wildlife Department is allowed to issue a permit for the possession and sale of shark fins for research purposes.
All shark fins were seized at the restaurant as evidence and the case is ongoing.
In some instances fins are removed from live sharks in act called shark finning. This is banned in many countries and typically results in the death of the shark. Shark finning has been associated with an increase in the demand for shark fin soup in recent decades. It’s estimated that anywhere from 73-100 million sharks are killed every year by finning.