Article Summary:

Business Week has reported that the Brazilian environmental group, Environmental Justice Institute, has sued exporter Sigel do Brasil Comercio over claims that it has illegally exported over 25 tonnes of shark fins since 2009. In Brazil, it is illegal to separate shark fins from the carcasses, and in May government agents reported finding 3.3 tons of shark fins during a single raid on the company. Cristiano Pacheco, director of the group said:

“This is an extremely serious situation and represents only a fraction of the sharks that are illegally killed off Brazil’s northeast coast.”

Pacheco’s group filed its suit for $790 million against Sigel do Brasil Comercio in a federal court in the Amazon jungle city of Belem.