It's not that bad. The sharks he had were small and in a decent sized pond for holding purposes. He also claims he made sure his buyers had the appropriate set up to house the fish.
It's interesting that even though they said it was illegal for him to take the fish and keep them in captivity, the sharks were sent to a public aquarium where they will spend the rest of their lives in captivity. Irony or Hypocrisy?
The big issue were the dead sharks and sawfish. Not sure why they died or how many other sharks have died in his care. That is a problem.
Should he be taking sharks and selling them?
According to the government, no he should not. But having said that, people catch and kill sharks all the time and nobody is getting fined for that. The Australian government has sharks nets and lines all around the coast and they regularly pull up dead sharks, rays, turtles and even whales. Other countries have similar set ups with similar results.
If the governments around the world were really serious about protecting sharks and other fishes, they would put a blanket ban on catching/ killing fish for a few years so the numbers could build up. Then have set bag limits on what you can take. They would also do something about climate change, pollution and people overpopulating the planet. Sorry guys, but those things are gonna kill the sharks in larger numbers than a few illegal collectors poaching some small ones for the aquarium trade.
The guy is a moron for driving without a license. That's where he came unstuck. Pulled over for a minor traffic offence and that lead to a much bigger crime being discovered. Most criminals really aren't that smart.
As for the $5000 fine, seriously, he probably gets that much for each fish he sells.
www.nytimes.com
