I watched as the 3 sharks were offloaded from the roof of a taxi, onto a market street in Stone Town, Zanzibar. The flesh would be sold for local consumption while the valuable fins would be destined for export to the East. As the poverty line in most African countries continues to fall, the Indian Ocean trade with the East in shark fin rises exponentially, along with increasing human contamination by alarmingly high levels of metal mercury found in the fish. More importantly, shark fins from the region are supporting a burgeoning and unsustainable demand in the East for wild animal products. This image captures the hustle and bustle of the shark fin trade in Africa and the pressure man is exerting on the shark populations through over fishing and pollution. The people move around the sharks not realising that although they are now dead they still need to fear for their lives.

Process statement:
All prints are printed with archival pigment inks on 100% cotton rag paper. Each print is part of a numbered limited edition, signed and embossed in the front lower margin. This giclée print is a 100% archival, using both archival paper and inks. These limited edition prints are available in a range of 3 sizes.

Cameras and film used:
Nikon F5 shooting on Ilford Delta 400 film