The Twittersphere is up in arms after a blue shark was put on parade then cooked and eaten at a fish festival in Plymouth, sparking outrage and disbelief from both the public and from conservation charities alike.

Visit Plymouth’s official Instagram account posted an image of the blue shark being paraded before the crowds at the Plymouth Seafood Festival, before it was later served up to the masses at the event.

In the photo, two men can be seen raising the shark up above their heads in front of onlookers near the Shark Trust’s stall.

While blue sharks are considered “near-threatened” globally, there are currently no limits on catches in the UK. The shark offered to the crowds at the Plymouth festival had reportedly been caught inadvertently by a commercial fishing trawler.

Even so, the organizers of Plymouth Seafood Festival said they were “surprised and disappointed.”

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One commenter online claims the shark was already dead when caught and that it is, in fact, against the law to return a dead catch to the sea once landed. He also insisted that the shark was authorised for human consumption by officials before it was distributed to revellers at the festival.

Many online were disgusted by what some, albeit mistakenly, saw as the consumption of an endangered species by an unwitting public.

And just like that, one less blue shark. These heartless fools. Very disgusting and very sad.#SaveBlueSharks#SaveSharks — Curiosity Cat 🙀 (@CuriosityCaty) September 17, 2019 Saddened and shocked to see a blue shark paraded through a seafood festival in Plymouth at the weekend before being cooked and sold to attendees. BUT delighted and heartened by the public response to the spectacle. #sharkbelongintheseapic.twitter.com/lvDbrDukDY — @bite_back (@Bite_Back) September 17, 2019

“As an Ocean conservation charity, we do not condone the eating of blue shark and were disappointed to see that a blue shark was shown off at the ‘catch of the day’ session, as well as being featured on the chef’s stage,” said Helen Gowans, the Ocean Conservation Trust public and community engagement manager.

The news comes just a week after Plymouth Sound was declared a Marine reserve.

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