“The IUCN Shark Specialist Group considers that shark finning threatens many shark stocks, the stability of marine ecosystems, sustainable traditional fisheries, food security and socio-economically important recreational fisheries”. SSG Finning Position Statement, May 2003
Most of you by now have heard of "shark finning."
Shark finning is where one slices the fins off of any shark while still alive to then throw the rest of the body back into the water alive. This leaves the shark unable to swim. Some sharks will starve to death, others may be eaten by other fish, and then others drown because without movement water will not be able to go through their gills. The process of dying can take days and is painful. Videos are posted throughout Facebook to send a message but the message is quite gruesome and many may not view the videos due to the gore. Which leaves the video pointless if it doesn't impact the viewer. Shark fins are a delicacy all over Asia and are used for their shark fin soup. This soup is favored all around and can even cost up to $100 or more depending on the area you are in. As the rise in popularity grows the demand for shark fins grow.
The practice of shark finning is inhumane and on top of that, the drastic decline in sharks affects the ecosystem. The chance of sharks species going extinct is high. Many species have declined by over 90 percent and the number is still rising. Since 1972 dusty sharks and smooth hammerheads have declined by 99 percent, tiger sharks and bull sharks by 97 percent, and blacktip sharks by 93 percent. With the way things are going our total ecosystem will be in danger. Sharks are apex predators meaning they are ecological stabilizers. On the US East Coast with the decline of blacktip and tiger sharks, there has been an increase in rays and small sharks which consume shellfish. Now there has been a decline in the numbers of shellfish. Because of the decline of shellfish there has been a reduction in water quality because shellfish filter the sea water. The moral of this story is that once you remove apex predators from an ecosystem it's the same as taking away the foundation from a building.
Today there has been a movement to ban shark finning. Some areas have started to ban shark finning and/or forcing fisheries to have the whole shark in order to sell the fins. But that only helps the inhumane way these sharks are killed. Even with some laws being passed, we still struggle with sharks swimming down the road to extinction. Something needs to be done and it needs to be done now. We cannot expect things to fix itself. Shark finning needs to be controlled and possibly ended for a few years in order for the populations to rebuild itself back up to large numbers. This may take some time but it will never happen if we don't make a stand for this. Little has been done here and there, and sadly still hasn't fully restored the populations greatly affected.
The more we know about shark finning the easier it will be to help the species. Shark sanctuaries have been created in order to breed species but still are very limited in the amount of sharks they have and the type of sharks they keep. It is time to stand for what is right and stand up for our oceans. Without these apex predators our oceans wouldn't be the way they are today and it is now our job to undo what has been done.
