Shark Finning

William Houff
NR 1234
Dean Stauffer
November 9, 2015

Shark Finning
Our world is filled with many amazing, interesting and beautiful creatures, some of which have
not yet been discovered. Unfortunately, many species of animals in this world have become endangered
and even have gone extinct in recent years due to issues such as loss of habitat and overhunting. Many
shark species in the world are in this danger due to shark finning. Shark finning is the act of catching
sharks, cutting off their fins, and dumping the
still live shark back into the water without the
ability to swim, which causes the shark to
suffocate because they cannot run water over
their gills. Shark finning has become such a
problem because of the popularity of shark fin
soup, which is most popular in many Asian
countries. To prevent the further loss of sharks and the extinction of some of their species we must find an
approach to heavily regulate and even ban the finning of sharks.
The biggest drive for the shark fin trade comes from shark fin soup, which is a very popular dish
in many western countries. The soup consists mostly of water, ground shrimp, mushrooms, dried bamboo,
chicken broth and the shark fins (Cookbook:Shark fin soup 2015). Shark fin soup originated in China as a
delicacy linked to prosperity, honor and good fortune. The soup is also served at big occasions like
weddings and New Years celebrations (Shark 2015). The soup is also important to many Chinese cultures,
which makes it difficult to ban. Shark fins in fact add absolutely nothing to the soup. The fins are tasteless
and have no nutritional value. The fins actually add an element of danger to humans. The biggest danger
to humans by consuming shark fin soup is that the fins can contain high levels of methyl-mercury, which
is poisonous and can cause headaches, depression, memory loss, muscle and joint pain, tunnel vision and
heart rate disturbances (Signs 2015). By removing shark fin soup from menus around the world the
worlds population would no longer risk being poisoned by this soup making the global population
healthier.

The areas in the world with the biggest shark finning problems are those including Indonesia,
India, Spain, Taiwan, and Argentina. Indonesia and India alone account for over twenty percent of the
global shark catches between
2002 and
2011(Sharkstewards.org 2013).
While many people globally
agree that shark finning is an
issue that needs to be dealt with
there are currently no
international restrictions on the
shark finning trade. Countries
that have banned or regulated the act include Canada, Australia, France, the UK and the United States.
While not instituted throughout all of the United States, Hawaiis Shark Fin Prohibition Act began on July
1, 2010. The provisions in the act included
i) Unless you have a permit to possess shark fins for scientific or other
research purposes as awarded by Hawaiis Department of Land and Natural Resources, it is unlawful for any person to possess, sell, offer for
sale, trade, or distribute sharkfins, being the raw or dried fin or tale of a
shark;
ii) It is unlawful for restaurants to make shark fin soup after July 1, 2011
and any soup made between July 1, 2010 and July 1, 2011 must be made
using fins that the restaurant already possessed;
iii) This legislation creates incremental fines for violations. A first violation results in a fine of US$5,00015,000, a second violation
US$15,00035,000 and the confiscation of property used in the violation
(this could be fishing gear or a fishing vessel), and for a third violation a

fine of US$35,00050,000 and/or prison for a maximum of one year,

and confiscation of property (Jefferies 2011).
By imposing such harsh restrictions on the trade Hawaii shut themselves off from the shark finning world.
Before this legislation Hawaii was a large tourist spot for shark fin soup and by banning it have begun to
pave the way for other areas of the world to also ban the trade. While other countries have restrictions on
the trade, there are loopholes to get through these regulations such as fin to body ratios. Countries such as
the United States and the United Kingdom with stronger legislation require the fishermen to keep the fins
attached to the shark carcass until docked, preventing fishermen from catching as many sharks as would
be possible by just cutting off the fins and dumping the carcass (Sharkstewards.org 2013). Even though
many countries have no bans on the shark fin trade many companies, hotels, airlines and shipping
companies have banned it. Many of these companies include American Airlines, United, Korean Airlines,
Air Asia, Ritz Carlton-Hong Kong, Hong Kong Disneyland and many more (Sharkstewards.org 2013). I
believe that if a country is not willing to ban or regulate the shark fin trade the next best option is to get
into contact with the biggest companies that support the trade and attempt to convince them to stop
assisting in the trade by showing them the true horrors that the trade not only causes the shark population,
but what it could do to the world as a whole should many species of shark go extinct. By getting large
companies that support shark finning to no longer support and even ban the trade within their company
the shark fin trade would suffer large losses and force the fishermen to cut down on how many sharks
they catch and kill because they no longer have the resources to transport or sell the fins.
Because of how popular shark fin soup and the shark fin trade have been in past years many
shark species are declining by large amounts, becoming endangered and if we are not careful will become
extinct. One large sign that the shark fin trade has had an effect on the shark populations is by looking at
the body sizes of sharks in the water. From the 1950s to the 1990s shark sizes have decreased
dramatically, some species declining in size over 50%. In a study done on pacific oceanic sharks a
significant declining size trend was found in eleven out of thirty-six combinations including oceanic
whitetip sharks, blue sharks and silky sharks. While the blue and silky sharks only showed a decrease in

size in some areas, all of the oceanic whitetip sharks sampled were immature (Clarke 2012). This
decrease in size tells researchers that there is a lack of mature adult males in the populations of sharks
worldwide (Sharksavers.org 2015). There are a total of one hundred and forty-one shark species that are
either threatened or near threatened. The top sharks in danger of becoming extinct are Pelagic Thresher
Sharks, Bigeye Thresher Sharks, Sandbar Sharks, Shortfin Mako Sharks and the Oceanic Whitetip Shark.
All of these sharks are labeled as Vulnerable, High Risk of Extinction (Sharksavers.org 2015). These
sharks are not the only ones in danger of becoming extinct. Many others such as the bull shark, silky,
hammerhead and blue shark are also in danger (Sharksavers.org 2015). These creatures are not only
beautiful and majestic, but very important to the ecosystem of the oceans. Sharks control other
populations of fish and other marine populations and help with the cleanup of other dead marine life such
as whales, dolphins, or other fish and even other sharks. Without sharks fish and marine populations
would skyrocket causing a shortage of food, which would in turn cause many fish populations to die off
and become extinct in areas because of too much competition in one area, or even throughout the world
causing the species to die off completely. If sharks, fish and other marine life die off humans will no
longer be able to use our oceans as a source of food or resources causing us to use our resources on land
at an even faster rate than we already are.
If sharks were to go extinct as a result of shark finning the shark tourism trade would be lost as
well causing a major global economic loss. Currently the shark tourism trade supports 314 million USD a
year and 10,000 jobs. While the shark fin trade currently makes 630 million USD a year, the tourism trade
is projected to go up to 780 million USD in the next 20 years (Cisneros-Montemayor 2013). If shark
finning is not stopped not only would the global economy lose the money made from shark finning, but
also from the tourism aspect. By banning shark finning and implementing shark sanctuaries and
regulations on fishing we would not only save a beautiful creature, but also allow the worlds economy to
benefit from the tourism created from the beautiful creatures.
In order to prevent the further loss of the beautiful apex predators that control our oceans we must
ban or regulate the shark finning trade. The biggest obstacle in banning the shark fin trade is shark fin

soup because of its cultural ties. Shark fin soup can cause serious illness because of the methyl-mercury
present in shark fins. Many countries, companies, and areas have begun to ban and regulate shark finning,
but more must be done if we are going to save sharks worldwide. Many species of shark are suffering
body mass loss because of a lack of mature males and many species are also already endangered and
close to becoming extinct. With sharks going extinct the global economy would suffer a loss of millions
of dollars in revenue. By banning shark finning this money will also be preserved and allow people to see
these magnificent creatures in the wild. By banning shark finning the world will not only preserve a
beautiful animal, but also prevent the loss of countless other species and possibly even the oceans
themselves.

Appendix 1

References

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Clarke, Shelley. 30 October 2012. Population Trends in Pacific Oceanic Sharks and the

Utility of Regulations on Shark Finning. Conservation Biology, Volume 27 Issue 1.

5. Jefferies, Cameron. Aug 2011. Legislative Note: An Emerging Pacific Initiative to Ban Shark
Finning and Limit the Consumption of Shark Fin Soup-the Case for Canadian
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