In April 2020, Hong Kong customs officials opened two containers from Ecuador ostensibly holding frozen fish. Inside, they found 26 tons of fins shorn from an estimated 38,500 sharks. The find, the biggest such seizure in Hong Kong’s history, added to ongoing world concern about the trafficking of shark fins, which fetch high prices in Asia as the key ingredient in the delicacy shark-fin soup. In part, this concern has focused on Ecuador as a supplier of black-market shark fins, often with the participation of traffickers in Peru. This role has drawn Ecuador a warning under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites), the treaty established 50 years ago to ensure that commerce in plants and animals does not exceed sustainable levels. On Nov. 9, the Cites Standing Committee called on the country’s government to adopt measures within 120 days to... [Log in to read more]