SAN FRANCISCO — February 24, 2014 — On a recent morning in this city's bustling Chinatown, a state wildlife official peeked into plastic bins filled with live bullfrogs and glass jars stuffed with dried abalone at various shops, searching for illicit shark fins. There were none to be found.
It was perhaps a sign that the state's eight-month-old ban on shark fins, a traditional Chinese delicacy served in soup, was working, said the inspector, Robert Farrell, an assistant chief at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Or it could mean that the lucrative trade has been effectively pushed underground.
Just which is the case is difficult to determine, Mr. Farrell said, as his department contends with a growing list of such laws to enforce.
"We hover around the same number of officers in the field and every year we just get more and more stuff piled on," said Mr. Farrell, a 21-year-veteran at the department. Among other recently added duties: patrolling 19 new protected areas along the Northern California coast and a package of rules governing Dungeness crab trapping.
The situation is mirrored in the seven other states with bans on the pricey fins, which sold for up to $500 a pound in California before its ban went into full effect. Just a handful of violators were caught last year.
Wildlife officers and experts in the field say the results underscore the difficulty of trying to police laws resulting from the public's growing enthusiasm for protecting critters of all types.
Read the full story at the Wall Street Journal