Fishing boat owner pleads guilty in shark finning case

HONOLULU (AP) — The business that owns a Japanese fishing boat has pleaded guilty in a shark finning case. Court documents say Hamada Suisan Co. Ltd. has agreed to pay a $126,000 fine and forfeit another $119,000 after an investigation found shark fins in crew members’ luggage in 2018. It’s against U.S. law to remove the fins of sharks at sea. Prosecutors say the fishermen harvested fins from sharks that were still alive, then discarded their carcasses into the ocean. Fins are a pricey delicacy often used in soups. Hamada Suisan agreed to plead guilty to aiding and abetting the attempted shark fin export.