SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China prosecuted more than 15,000 people for wildlife-related crimes in the first nine months of the year, up 66% from 2019, state prosecutors said, as authorities moved to enforce a trafficking ban imposed after the COVID-19 outbreak. The Supreme People’s Procuratorate said in a statement published on its website on Monday that nearly 7,000 of the total arrests involved the violation of fishing restrictions. Around 4,000 people were prosecuted for illegal hunting and 3,000 for illegally purchasing, transporting and selling endangered wild animal products.