Born Free USA’s law enforcement trainings yield big results in the fight against wildlife crime!
Two weeks following our training course for customs officers in Ivory Coast last October, the Customs Services at Abidjan Airport in Ivory Coast made its first ever seizure of shark fins: the confiscation of 257 pounds (116.4 kg) of fins, which was shipped from the airport of Pointe Noire, Congo.
The trafficker, a Guinean national, was arrested in collaboration with the Airport Anti-Trafficking Unit, tried, and sentenced to two months in prison.
The consignments of fins seized contained parts of at least 10 different species of sharks, four of which are listed in Appendix II (meaning they are not necessarily now threatened with extinction but could be if trade is not controlled) under Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Sharks are vulnerable to overfishing and are slaughtered for their fins, which are used to make shark fin soup, considered as a delicacy in parts of Asia. Born Free USA’s workshops in West African countries addressed this specific threat by including a module that provided specialized information on the identification of shark and ray species and their fins.
These seizures are examples of how effective training is for authorities in West Africa who fight every day to stop wildlife crime and its devastating impact on biodiversity and individual animals. We congratulate the Ivory Coast officials on their accomplishment and commend all of the dedicated men and women who are on the frontlines of the fight to stop illegal wildlife trade.
Born Free USA mourns the loss of so many precious shark lives, and we will continue to organize and expand trainings so that we can equip many more officials with the wildlife law enforcement skills needed for successful seizures and to strengthen legal frameworks and increase sanctions for wildlife traffickers.
For more information about the Ivory Coast training please see:
Keep Wildlife in the Wild,
Aurora
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