7 charged with smuggling fish bladders to China
Associated Press
Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Updated 3:45 pm, Wednesday, April 24, 2013
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Seven people have been charged with smuggling bladders from an endangered fish in what authorities said Wednesday may be a growing international practice in which the bladders are sold for up to $20,000 each to be used in a highly desired soup. The gas-filled bladders, which keep the fish buoyant, are removed and taken to stash houses along the border, with the fish carcasses left to rot on gulf shores near the tourist town of San Felipe. Heavy fishing and inadvertent capture of young fish in shrimp nets also exacerbated the decline. Just as shark fins are coveted for use in a different soup, the totoaba is desired for its meat but even more for its dried bladders. Investigators believe U.S. citizens are transporting the bladders to Los Angeles then to China, said John Reed, a group supervisor for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations unit. Reported by SeattlePI.com 2 hours ago.
Associated Press
Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Updated 3:45 pm, Wednesday, April 24, 2013
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Seven people have been charged with smuggling bladders from an endangered fish in what authorities said Wednesday may be a growing international practice in which the bladders are sold for up to $20,000 each to be used in a highly desired soup. The gas-filled bladders, which keep the fish buoyant, are removed and taken to stash houses along the border, with the fish carcasses left to rot on gulf shores near the tourist town of San Felipe. Heavy fishing and inadvertent capture of young fish in shrimp nets also exacerbated the decline. Just as shark fins are coveted for use in a different soup, the totoaba is desired for its meat but even more for its dried bladders. Investigators believe U.S. citizens are transporting the bladders to Los Angeles then to China, said John Reed, a group supervisor for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations unit. Reported by SeattlePI.com 2 hours ago.