Saudi Gazette report

DAMMAM — Two Bangladeshi nationals were arrested for selling 47 endangered blacktip reef shark in the Jubail governorate in the Eastern Province. They violated the Environmental Law and its executive regulations for the sustainable management of the marine and coastal environment. The blacktip reef shark has a short, wide, rounded snout and moderately large and oval eyes.

The arrests were made by the officials of the Saudi Special Forces for Environmental Security (SFES), in cooperation with the officials of the National Center for Wildlife. The SFES said that the violators were referred to the Public Prosecution to complete the legal procedures against them. It is also coordinating with the National Center for Wildlife Development to hand over the species that is in its jurisdiction.

The Special Forces noted that the penalty for hunting a shark with blacktip is a fine amounting to SR40,000 for each species. It urged to report any cases involving attack on the environment or wildlife through calling the number 911 in the regions of Makkah, Riyadh and the Eastern Province and calling the numbers of 999 and 996 in the rest of the Kingdom’s regions.