More Top Stories

National
League
Athletics
Economy
Rugby league

Moana target 2025 World Cup

11 November 2022

Shark cargo stirs debate in Tahiti

Saturday 11 April 2020 | Written by Legacy Author | Published in Small World

Share

Shark cargo stirs debate in Tahiti
Shark bodies stitched up with cut-off fins inside them. Photo: Te Ora Naho FB

French Polynesia's environmental group Te Ora Naho is challenging the government over its response to a Chinese fishing vessel found with sharks in its hold, RNZ reports.

According to Te Ora Naho, laws have been broken but it's being ignored by authorities.

Last month, the ship Shen Gang Shun 1 ran aground on the reef of Arutua atoll and its crew of 36 was immediately rescued by another fishing vessel belonging to the same Chinese fishing company.

In the hold, the island's mayor found sharks, whose bodies were stitched up with cut-off fins inside them.

The vice-president, Teva Rohfritsch, issued a statement a day after the find was reported in the local media, confirming that there had been no poaching in French Polynesian waters.

Read more:

* Shark cargo in Chinese ship stirs debate in Tahiti