Allgov.com - The bust of a Bay Area restaurant last month for serving shark fin soup led investigators for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) to San Francisco fish vendor Kwong Yip Inc., where they found 2,138 pounds of recently-banned shark fins.

It was the first significant haul of contraband since the 2011 California law banning the traditional Chinese delicacy was fully phased in last July. DFW Lieutenant Patrick Foy told the San Francisco Chronicle the fins came from “probably thousands of sharks.”

California joined a worldwide movement against the mutilation of sharks for their fins—and decimation of shark populations in general—when it passed the law banning possession and sale of shark fins. Fishermen catch sharks, cut off their fins and then throw the fish back in the ocean because demand for shark meat isn’t high. Continue