SRI LANKA COAST GUARD APPREHENDED A FISHING VESSEL WITH ILLEGALLY HARVESTED DRIED SHARK FLESH

Sri Lanka Coast Guard personnel deployed at Dikovita Fishery Harbour for fishery monitoring and regulating duties, apprehended a Multiday Fishing Vessel with 7 fishermen in possession of illegally harvested 20 Kgs of dried Shark flesh on 14^th September 2021.

The apprehension was made during a search operation carried out on board Multiday Fishing Vessel which returned harbour after month long fishing. Apprehended items had been hidden in a compartment as they were found by the Coast Guard personnel. Retaining, transshipping or landing ‘parts of any shark species’ is an offence under the Shark Fisheries Management (High Seas) Regulations of 2015.

The arrested persons with apprehended items were handed over to Fisheries Inspector, Dikovita for onward legal actions.

Sri Lanka Coast Guard apprehended two Multiday Fishing Vessel along with 13 fishermen in possession of illegally harvested 41 numbers of Blue Shark fins at Dikovita harbor in the month of May 2021.