TEMPO.CO, Tangerang-Soekarno-Hatta airport fish quarantine officer foils the smuggling of thousands of shark fins that will be sent to Hong Kong, officers said Tuesday, October 6.

The protected whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus) fins valued at Rp 1.9 billion was sent by someone via PT SPJ, in West Jakarta and Tangerang. “Their warehouse is in Tangerang," the Head of Monitoring, Control and Information Fish Quarantine, Quality Control and Safety of Fishery Jakarta, Rusnanto said on Tuesday.

Rusnanto estimates that as many as 3,000 sharks from the Java Sea were slaughtered for their fins. Thousands of the whitetip fins were packed in 74 bales mixed with stingray fins and other shark species, which are not reserved.

Based on the description in the travel documents, the fins were reported to fish quarantine officer to be sent to PT SPJ with an address in West Jakarta and warehouse in Tangerang.

PT SPJ reported to have 42 cartons weighing 999 kilograms containing dried stingray fins Liong Bun type (Rhina Ancylostoma) and 31 cartons weighing 967 kilograms of Lanjaman (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchoides) shark fins.

"After we checked, in it was found 24 cartons or approximately 600 kilograms of whitetip shark fins," said Rusnanto.

Oceanic whitetip shark, according Rusnanto, is a fish species that is protected under the Regulation of the Minister of Marine and Fisheries No. 59/PERMEN-KP/2014 on Prohibition of Whitetip Shark Exports and Hammerhead Shark (Sphyrna spp) from the territory of the Republic of Indonesia.

According Rusnanto, shark fins are widely used as ingredients in tonics, also for sale at restaurants for soup mix. In calculating the value of sales, whitetip shark fins are sold for Rp 5-9 million per kilogram.

To follow up on the smuggling case, the fish quarantine service will collaborate with various agencies. Under the Fisheries Act No. 31 of 2004 and No. 45 of 2009, particularly Article 7, paragraph 2, the sender could be convicted.

JONIANSYAH HARDJONO