Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Raid in Palau finds Taiwanese fishing company with huge haul of illegal shark fins

Posted at 18:33 on 16 September, 2007 UTC

A raid on one of Palau’s largest foreign fishing companies has uncovered over 1,000 pounds of shark fins and crocodile meat.

The search was carried out at the facilities of Palau Marine Industries Corporation or PMIC.

The illegal items were frozen and wrapped in plastic bags and stored in a large container for possible shipping.

PMIC, a Taiwan fishing firm, is the same company that was found guilty of major tax evasion charges, involving 5.8 million US dollars.

PMIC is one of the three major fish exporting companies in Palau along with Kuniyoshi Fishing Company and Palau Marine Industries Corporation or PITI.

PITI was the subject of an August 15 Marine Law Enforcement seizure of 94 shark carcasses, 10 shark heads and 650 shark fins.