A well-known Chinese blogger was fined 125,000 yuan (about 348,000 Mexican pesos) for showing on networks how she cooked and ate an endangered shark, and that it is protected by the authorities.
The events occurred in the Sichuan province of China. There the influencer Tizi dedicated to gastronomy showed the images of her “feat”.
C.He bought the shark for 7,700 yuan (21,469 Mexican pesos) in April 2022 and between May 29 and June 2 he shared various photos posing with the boiled animal on his social networks, Global Times said.
On June 12 last year, the woman shared the video of the shark boiling in a pot in her kitchen to local platforms Kuaishou and Douyin, which became a trend.
She noted that her post sparked outrage from many Chinese netizens who accused her of attracting visitors at the expense of illegally consuming protected species.
The Maritime Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences said it was a great white shark, an endangered species.
The Nanchong City Market Supervision Office said in its report that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs valued the shark at 25,000 yuan.
In January of this year, Tizi received a fine for violating the Wildlife Protection Law, at the hands of a local control body.
The seller, identified as Shen, and Yan, who fished him up, were arrested by police in Zhangzhou city, Fujian province, and could face heavy fines or up to 10 years in prison.
On January 4, China approved the revision of its Wildlife Protection Law to increase penalties for hunting, trading, and transporting wild animals that live, grow, and breed in the wild for food. The amendments will be enacted in May 2023.
