Kerala turning blind eye to shark killing: PETA

PANAJI - The Kerala government is turning a blind eye to large-scale butchering and sale of sharks, which is banned in India, a top animal rights NGO has claimed.

Addressing a press conference in Panaji Thursday, Nikunj Sharma, a senior campaign co-ordinator for the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said a government- owned port facility in Kochi, Kerala was being used as a nodal point to trade sharks harvested from the sea.

“The government-owned port at Kochi in Kerala bans visitors carrying cameras inside. We did an undercover operation using a spy cam and found out that sharks were being sold there,” Sharma said.

“Sharks are protected under the wildlife protection act of 1972. But sharks and dolphins are being killed openly at these ports and sold for as cheap as Rs.2,000 per piece,” the PETA official said.

PETA also released a 10-minute long video based on the footage from the Kochi port and other footage, which showed how protected species of fish were bred in unhygienic conditions and often tortured and left to die.

“During 1999-2000 alone, as many as 591 sharks were slaughtered for consumption and for their liver oil,” Sharma said, adding that not much was being done by the government to stop the over-exploitation of marine resources.

“We are the third-largest harvesters of fish in the world. India accounts for almost 64 lakh tonnes of fish harvested worldwide,” he said.

“Bottom trawling is one of the most damaging, unsustainable fishing practices in India. It involves dragging huge, heavy nets along the sea floor,” he said, adding that entire habitats of deep water life forms ended up being destroyed by the heavy nets.