A Chinatown restaurant is the first business in Illinois to be cited under a new state law that bans the sale, trade or distribution of shark fins.
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources Conservation Police issued the $120 fine to Minghin Cuisine on Tuesday after receiving a tip that the restaurant had shark fin soup listed for sale on its online menu.
Officers discovered a shark fin on display inside the restaurant, which was later authenticated by staff at Chicago's Field Museum, according to an IDNR news release.
Illinois became the first non-Pacific state to enact a law banning shark fins when the legislation went into effect at the beginning of the year.
The killing of sharks for their fins is considered inhumane because the sharks are often thrown back into the ocean alive, where they either drown or bleed to death.
Officials at Minghin Cuisine had no comment on the situation when reached via phone.
