Photo: NatGeo
[...This part of Galápagos National Park—a marine sanctuary where absolutely no fishing is allowed—has the greatest abundance of sharks known in the world. It’s this that has made these waters a target of fishermen looking to supply Asian markets with shark fin and shark meat. Worldwide, shark populations are declining, with more than a quarter of sharks and related species considered to be threatened with extinction...]
[...It was pure chance that the vessel was caught, Salinas says. For some reason (likely by accident, he suspects), it had its AIS—an automatic tracking system used by all ships—turned on. Ships engaging in illegal activity, for obvious reasons, turn them off. That likely lapse helped law enforcement track the vessel down...]