Harrowing pictures reveal brutal practice of shark finning

The illicit trade often involves hacking off a shark’s fin while it’s still alive.

Photographer Jacopo Brunetti, 32, from Italy, snapped these grisly photos of sharks in Todos Santos, Baja California Sur. 

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, more than 100 million sharks are killed per year by humans. 

Shark finning was prohibited in Mexico in 2007, and in 2011 shark fishing was banned between the months of May and August.

Jacopo started taking the photos in 2011, and says fishermen are still slaughtering the sharks daily. 

He said: “They kill hundreds of baby sharks and pregnant mothers. 

“Fins hold the highest value but every part of the shark is eaten - even the meat of the jaws are precisely picked clean with care.”

The shark fins are cut off and sold to restaurants and fish shops in Mexico and in Asian markets where shark fin soup is considered a delicacy. 

Jacopo said: “Fin soup is very expensive and the shark fins are sold between $100 and $500 per kilo in auctions.

“It’s considered a delicacy and an aphrodisiac, but it can actually cause sterility because of the amount of mercury present in the shark.”

Pictures show fishermen slicing off parts of the sharks and putting them in containers to be sold.

Jacopo said: “The body of the shark can also be sold to small local restaurants or fish shops and passed off as swordfish or marlin.

“In one picture you can see a man who is going to buy a box of fins and sell them in Cabo San Lucas.”