Japanese vessel’s owners, officers charged with smuggling shark fins into and out of Hawaii

The owners and officers of a Japanese-flagged fishing vessel were charged Tuesday with smuggling and trafficking 962 shark fins into and out of Hawaii.

According to the court documents, Hamada Suisan Co., the Japanese business that owned and operated the fishing vessel M.V. Kyoshin Maru No. 20; JF Zengyoren, a Japanese fishing cooperative; Capt. Hiroyuki Kasagami; fishing master Toshiyuki Komatsu; and first engineer Hiroshi Chiba were charged with 11 counts related to aiding and abetting the trafficking and smuggling of at least 962 shark fins.

The complaint alleges they violated the federal Lacey, Magnuson-Stevens and Endangered Species acts.

Kasagami, Komatsu and Chiba face maximum penalties of up to $2.7 million each and imprisonment of between five and 20 years for each count. The two corporations face maximum fines of $5.5 million each.

Arrest warrants for Kagami, Komatsu and Chiba, who are presumably in Japan, have been issued. U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawaii Kenji Price said his office is making efforts to coordinate with Japan in the case.

The charges come weeks after 10 Indonesian nationals who were fishermen aboard the M.V. Kyoshin Maru No. 20 were charged with attempting to smuggle thousands of dollars worth of shark fins out of the state.

Price said the fishermen are on pretrial release under the supervision of the court in Hawaii while that case is pending.

The complaint filed Tuesday claims the shark finning occurred under the supervision of Kasagami and Komatsu. Approximately 300 sharks were caught and finned from November 2017 until November of this year.

“The fisherman primarily removed the fish from sharks that were bycatch. After removing the fins, the finless shark carcasses were discarded unused into the ocean,” court documents said.

It also indicated Chiba directed the fishermen to package some of the shark fins for him and Komatsu.

On Nov. 7, a water taxi took the Indonesian fishermen to a port in Honolulu after completing their yearlong stint aboard the Kyoshin Maru.

Court documents said a vessel agent with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection took them to the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport.

During a routine screening of their luggage, agents of the Transportation Security Administration discovered at least 962 shark fins weighing approximately 190 pounds in 13 bags.

Depending on the quality and species, court documents said the street value of the shark fins were estimated from approximately $6,700 to $57,850.

One of the species of the shark fins were oceanic white tip sharks, which is listed as a threatened species. Price noted the population declined approximately 80 to 95 percent in the mid-1990s. Two other species recovered included silky sharks and bigeye thrasher sharks.

All three species are listed on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

Price said the case highlights the unlawful practice of shark finning that is causing damage to the ecosystem. Without the shark species, “the entire ecosystem is thrown out of balance,” he added.

In 2010, Hawaii became the first state in the U.S. to ban the possession or distribution of shark fins.