These photos were taken on board the Fukuseki Maru No7 and the Wakashio Maru No 08, two Japanese longliners that were fishing in the Indian Ocean. Greenpeace inspected the vessels with Mozambican officials during our two week cooperation in Mozambican waters.
Shortly after inspection of the Wakashio Maru No 08, the crew onboard started hauling in their fishing line and we saw a number of blue sharks (Prionace Glauca) being caught. The sharks were pulled onto the deck and their shark fins were cut off. Hardly any tuna were caught on the line.
Read more about this particular inspection here.
The demand for sashimi and shark fin continues to rise in Asian markets, and Shark fins have become a hot commodity. So as tuna stocks dwindle due to lack of proper management, many longline vessels are now catching sharks for extra income.
Albacore tuna in the Indian ocean is now overfished and many shark species are becoming endangered.
The set of images below are graphic and may be upsetting.