SHIF ISLAND (IRAN)- Another proof of the horror that comes with the fin trade. This week Iranian officials found hundreds of dead sharks with their fins sawed off on Shif Islan, in the Persian Gulf. Butchered and dropped finless but alive back into the sea.

dead sharks without finsAccording to Hossein Delshab, an environmental official at the southern port city of Bushehr  poaching of sharks for their prized fins has put them at risk of extinction in the Persian Gulf.

Iran banned shark fishing in 2014, and violators can be fined up to $7,000.

Shark fins remain popular in the local market, however, where they are sought out as a treatment for sexual disorders.