More than 10,000 shark fins were recently seized in Callao, Peru. That number is staggering—but what it really represents is tens of thousands of sharks killed in one of the most brutal ways imaginable.

Sharks are often pulled from the ocean, their fins sliced off while they are still alive, and their bodies thrown back into the water to bleed or suffocate to death. This isn’t fishing. It’s torture for profit.

This massive seizure exposed a transnational criminal network trafficking fins worth more than $11 million, laundering them through false declarations, and preparing them for export to overseas markets. Peruvian authorities, with international support, did their jobs. But seizures alone won’t stop this trade if the punishment doesn’t match the crime.

Right now, shark finning and trafficking in Peru are treated too lightly for the scale of harm involved. Weak penalties allow organized criminal networks to treat fines and short sentences as just another cost of doing business. As long as that remains true, sharks will continue to be slaughtered, ecosystems destabilized, and Peru’s waters exploited.

Sharks are apex predators. When they disappear, entire marine ecosystems unravel. Coral reefs decline, fish populations collapse, and coastal communities suffer the consequences. This is not only an animal welfare issue—it’s an environmental, economic, and national security issue tied directly to illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.

We are calling on the Congress of the Republic of Peru, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of the Environment to act now.

Shark finning and large-scale shark fin trafficking must be classified as federal crimes, with mandatory prison sentences, asset forfeiture, and penalties strong enough to dismantle criminal operations—not just inconvenience them.

Peru has shown it can lead with enforcement. Now it must lead with the law. This seizure should be a turning point, not a temporary victory.

Sign this petition to demand real consequences for shark finning—and real protection for Peru’s oceans.