Target: Judge Simón Angulo

Goal: Applaud that shark finning and shark spining will be punished with prison time in Costa Rica.

The first-ever prison sentence for shark finning and shark spining has been ordered in Costa Rica, thanks in part to petitions like ForceChange’s End Cruel Shark Hunting Techniques. Applaud this victory toward deterring violence against sharks and its negative ecological impacts.

A judge in Costa Rica ordered a Taiwanese businesswoman to serve six months of jail time after customs and fishing officials found 652 shark fins and and 151 shark spines on board her ship. Shark finning involves pulling a shark out of the water and slicing off its fin to be used in a soup that’s considered a high-price delicacy.

Officials believe the fins that were still attached to spines were part of the ship’s effort to bypass a Costa Rican law which states fins must arrive to port attached to the bodies. By keeping only the spines, operators can save space on ships by not needing to have the fin attached to the full body of the shark.”

Even with this attempt to get around the law, Costa Rican judge Simón Angulo sentenced Hue Ju Tseng Chang to six months in jail. Applaud that these atrocious practices will now be punishable with jail time.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear Judge Angulo,

I’m writing to thank you for sentencing a Taiwanese woman to jail time for leading a ship filled with disgusting bundled up shark spines and fins into Costa Rica. Shark finning and shark spining are not only barbaric and painful for these innocent animals, but they are wiping out shark populations and disrupting ocean ecosystems.

It’s vital that these crimes are punished in order to deter them from continuing to happen. I applaud you for standing up for sharks and ocean ecosystems, and I hope that you continue to do so.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Photo credit: Su Neko