Shark finning: a brutal practice
Each year, millions of sharks are hunted down, only to have their fins sliced off and their bodies are thrown back into the ocean often left to die an agonizing death. A shark is caught, pulled onboard a boat, its fins are cut off, and the still-living shark is tossed back overboard to drown or bleed to death. The wasteful, inhumane practice is done to satisfy a demand for shark fins, which are in high demand for a luxury soup in Asia with reputable medicinal properties.
It has been proven that the shark fins have no nutritional value and are basically tasteless, the flavor of the soup is derived from the broth. The fins are simply added for novelty and status.
What is the threat to sharks?
Finning is responsible for the death of about 100 million sharks every year, that is about 2-3 sharks being brutally killed every second! The exact numbers are unknown because in many places and hauls aren’t accurately counted since shark finning is illegal.
Because sharks are at the top of the food chain and have few predators, they reproduce and mature slowly. That means their numbers are slow to replenish when a population is overfished. At the rate humans are going, we’re set to wipe out sharks entirely in as little as a decade or so.
If sharks are completely eliminated we will have serious problems. Sharks are apex predators and as such, they are invaluable for keeping the populations of everything else in the food chain in balance. The oceans depend on sharks to keep the numbers of other fish and mammal species in check by weeding out the sick, injured, and dying so that populations of fish stay strong and healthy. Without sharks, the balance of the ocean’s food chain is in serious jeopardy.
Shark finning is a cruel and dangerous practice, these vital animals are necessary to the ecological balance of our oceans and are about to be wiped out completely.
What can you do?
- Educate yourself and others about how important sharks are
- Help spread the word about finning
- Avoid all shark-related products and boycott businesses that sell and serve shark fins
- Support marine protected areas
- Urge your senator to support and pass the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act of 2019
Sharks deserve to be swim free and are a vital part of the ocean ecosystem. Speak up for those who can’t!
