VERY INTERESTING: SHARK FIN SOUP

 Hello ladies and gents this is the Viking telling you that today we are talking about

SHARK FIN SOUP

Shark finning kills an estimated 100 million or more sharks globally per year. Tens of millions more sharks and rays are killed each year, primarily through illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing (IUU). 181 shark species are Red listed as vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). 

Shark-finning is a practice where sharks are caught and their fins are cut off, then the body of the shark is discarded. Shark fins are particularly sought after for traditional Chinese medicine and shark fin soup which is considered a delicacy in Asia. Catalyzed by the shark fin trade, large shark populations are declining globally, and many species are imminently threatened with extinction.

What is Shark Finning ?

Shark finning is the practice of removing the fins from a captured shark, and discarding the animal at sea, still living or dead.  This reprehensible and wasteful act is largely driven by the high value placed ion the fin, and the low value off shark meat, Sharks captured as bycatch- (an untargeted animal)- in the tuna and swordfish industry were once released, but are increasingly killed for the fins. 

The high value and increased market for shark fins is creating huge incentive for fishermen to take the fins and discard the animal, leaving room in the ship’s hold for the more valuable meat of the tuna or swordfish. Shark finning is wasteful, inhumane and unsustainable.

Is Shark Finning Illegal?

Since 2000 several countries including the United States have adopted laws within their waters to ban this practice. A few, such as the United States and Australia, have successfully enforced these new laws, yet fins are still legally sold of from landed sharks, and loopholes can lead to a misrepresentation of species captured, smuggling of fins, and more sharks killed than actually reported. 

The ICCAT and the West PAC: member commissions of Atlantic and Pacific pelagic fisheries have banned shark finning in their tuna and swordfish longline fleets.  This is a good start but difficult to enforce against smugglers or poachers.  Although over 100 species are listed by the IUCN as endangered or threatened, only a few species are protected from illegal trade by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES). 

However, small boats and nations who do not recognize CITES or other treaties are actively shark finning and trading with impunity.  The best solution to save sharks will rely on national and international efforts to regulate fisheries, and local efforts to limit consumption of shark fin and stopping the fin trade.

and as always have a chilled day from the Viking