MIAMI — Wildlife officials say they have seized 1,400 pounds of shark fins at a Miami port.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Monday that the shipment of dried fins was believed to have originated in South America and was likely bound for Asia.
It arrived in Miami in 18 boxes.
Officials estimate its commercial value to be between $700,000 and $1 million. Conservation groups say tens of millions of sharks are killed each year by smugglers who cut the fins from live animals.
They are often turned into shark fin soup, considered a Chinese delicacy.
Shark finning -- the practice of catching a live shark, cutting off its fin and tail and tossing it back into the water to drown -- is illegal in the U.S. but still is practiced in countries worldwide.
Florida lawmakers are considering legislation that would discourage the controversial and inhumane practice.
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