This may sound banal to some, but in Galapagos, it is a landmark legal decision announced by the Galapagos National Park Service yesterday.   For the first in history, despite the existence of a legal framework allowing it, the captain and the crew of the fishing vessel Fer Mary I were found criminally guilty of conducting illegal fishing of protected species inside the Galapagos Marine Reserve – a World Heritage site. 

It took 4 years of intense criminal proceedings by the Galapagos National Park, the Ministry of Environment to reach this judgment.   The 10 hour trial resulted in convictions against the defendants, creating very important judicial precedents under criminal law. 

The fishing boat Fer Mary I was captured on July 19, 2011, while conducting fishing operations 20 miles inside the Galapagos Marine Reserve.  When captured, their holds contained more than 357 sharks, more specifically: 286 thresher sharks, 22 blue sharks,  40 Galapagos sharks, 6 hammerhead sharks, 2 tiger sharks and 1 mako shark.

CNH Tours is extremely pleased at this outcome.  For too long, the judicial system would dismiss such cases, mostly out of a lack of importance attached to environmental crimes.    This really does mark a change in the way Ecuador handles such crimes, and we expect illegal fisherman will take note.    It is a good day for shark in Galapagos waters.

Sharks are illegally fished all over the world to feed the large shark Asian (mostly Chinese) shark fin market.  Shark fins are used to make “shark fin soup”.   What a tragedy that these magnificent animals are being annihilated so that we may have some soup.