Why shark finning is good

Shark Finning Vanessa Mignon. Home Our Work Shark Finning. Almost 60 Percent of sharks threatened by overexploitation.

The Issue Chris Dascher Sharks have many more reasons to fear us than we do them. Shark finning facts: Sharks thrown back into the oceans after being finned die in agony from suffocation, blood loss or predation. Sharks are apex predators and play a vital role in maintaining marine ecosystems. Without them, marine animals and habitats would suffer. Shark finning is unsustainable. Not only do humans decimate shark populations, but sharks have low reproductive rates, making repopulation difficult.

Many types of sharks are exploited for their fins, including endangered species such as the Scalloped Hammerhead and Great Hammerhead. Shark products can contain dangerous levels of mercury, presenting a public health risk. Sharks are hunted for other products such as meat, leather and health supplements in addition to their fins.

Globally, we slaughter tens of millions of sharks each year. And for the most part, we do it for the fins, which can fetch hundreds of dollars a pound.

This is insanity. We need sharks in our oceans. Without sharks and other top-level carnivores to keep populations of sub-predators in check, we run the risk of losing productive and well-balanced marine ecosystems to trophic collapse.

Thankfully, some communities are finally saying no to shark finning. Hawaii banned the possession and sale of shark fins in Washington State signed a similar prohibition into law on May 12 of this year, and in California, a ban on trafficking in shark fins is working its way through the legislature. It's difficult to overestimate the importance of such a law passing in California. More shark fins are sold and consumed in the Golden State than in any of the other If we can manage to protect these unique animals under California state law, we may not be far from a nationwide moratorium on this staggeringly unsustainable practice.

Here are several common arguments being used to defend this practice, followed by my thoughts on why they're unsound. Some cultures have a history of consuming shark fin. I am not in any place to pass judgment on these cultures, and I don't want to. All I want to say is that culture is not the unchanging monolith that some make it out to be. Culture is a dynamic representation of both the history and the current state of a particular group, be it based around attitudes, ideals, goals, shared experiences, or other connective forces.

A culture is not a static thing -- it changes with the times. Over the centuries, many cultural practices have ended in favor of the evolving wisdom and consciousness of the human race. For example, while I may not be part of a culture that has historically practiced shark finning, I am a member of a culture that has historically practiced slavery.

I am a Caucasian American and a direct descendant of slave-owning ancestors who believed in the inferiority of human beings with a darker skin color than their own.

I even have relatives who died while shooting at the Union army to protect this cultural practice among other things, of course. Slavery was a common practice in North America for centuries. It was part of our culture. It was also wrong.

And, thankfully, it ended. Human beings evolve. Our cultures evolve. As we learn more about our planet and ourselves, we gain the opportunity to learn from our mistakes. We now know far too much about humanity's dependence on Earth's environment to keep slaughtering sharks for their fins. Many people believe this is the only way to secure an enforceable ban on shark finning, while enabling the collection of species-specific management data.

The EU approved similar legislation in , and other countries are following suit. It is critical to reduce demand, by changing attitudes. There are encouraging signs that shark-fin soup consumption is declining and several dozen airlines and hotel chains have stopped serving it. In , the Chinese Government banned it at official functions, though the motive was more for austerity than conservation.

Despite progress, shark-fin soup is still a long way from being relegated to history. A new approach is clearly needed. Home Animal Facts Fish What is shark finning and why is it a problem?