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| A finned reef shark in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage AreaPhoto by: R. Berkelmans on 17 November 2006 |
While doing research about zombies and zombie sharks
I found this very disturbing photo of a finned
reef shark in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. This carcass was one
of several found illegally dumped at Wreck Beach on Great Keppel Island. I’ll be the first in line to admit I have
a fear of sharks. Like most surfers I hear that “Jaws” movie piano theme music
whenever I’m out surfing and hear that unexplainable splash and my imagination
starts to go wild. However, I must point out that just because I have a fear of
sharks does not mean that I don’t like them (from a safe distance). I do
respect and appreciate their importance to the oceanic food chain. Sharks have unfortunately fallen
victim to the man-hungry stereotype that society has created for them. However,
what the world should really fear is a world without sharks. Sharks
are important in the ocean because they regulate the quantity and health of
other species of fish and invertebrates. I'm still shocked that I have not heard of shark finning before now. I don't understand why this information is not out there in the media, the news, surf magazine, surfline.com and other places that I look to for news about surfing and the ocean biodiversity.
Many people believe sharks to be
dangerous because they are often depicted that way in the media. The media
magnifies the very rare incidents where a shark bites a human as if these are
common and fearsome occurrences. The fact is only 5 people in the entire world will
die from a shark wound in an average year, whereas many millions of people swim in
the oceans where sharks live. Can you think of any way to die that is as rare
than that? Death from bicycle accidents, dog bites, snake bites, or other
accidents are many times more common.
Living Sharks - In the Ecosystem: Here’s the real story of sharks is
how vital they are to the health of the oceans…
Sharks play
a very important role in the oceans in a way that an average fish does not.
Sharks are at the top of the food chain in virtually every part of every ocean.
In that role, they keep populations of other fish healthy and in proper
proportion for their ecosystem. They help remove the weak and the
sick as well as keeping the balance with competitors helping to ensure species
diversity. Think of
them, if you like, as the
garbage trucks of the ocean,
eating abundant species like plankton,
fish, seals and even other
sharks. Some also eat squid, bottom-feeders like mollusks, and even low-flying
sea birds. Or consider the infamously voracious tiger shark, which has been
found with such human discards as license plates, chain, gas cans and tires
in its belly.
As predators, they shift their prey’s spatial habitat, which alters the
feeding strategy and diets of other species. Through the spatial controls and
abundance, sharks indirectly maintain the seagrass
and corals reef habitats. The loss of
sharks has led to the decline in coral reefs, seagrass beds
and the loss of commercial fisheries.
By taking sharks out of the coral reef ecosystem, the larger predatory
fish, such as groupers, increase in abundance and feed on the herbivores. With
less herbivores, macroalgae expands and coral can no longer compete, shifting
the ecosystem to one of algae dominance, affecting the
survival of the reef system. Oceana released a report in July 2008, “Predators
as Prey: Why Healthy Oceans Need Sharks”, illustrating our need to protect
sharks.
Living Sharks - In the Economy: Where sharks are eliminated, the
marine ecosystem loses its balance.
In
the parts of the ocean where sharks have been fished out of existence, we can
see the dangerous result of removing the top predator from an ecosystem. In one
scientific study1 of the mid-Atlantic part of the United States, 11
species of sharks were virtually eliminated. Of the 14 species of marine life that those sharks used to
eat, 12 became more plentiful and caused great damage to the ecosystem. For
example, the cownose ray population was no longer kept limited by sharks and grew out
of control. As a result,
the rays destroyed the population of bay scallops, their favored food. But, people
like to eat bay scallops too! The scallop fishery, which had been thriving for over
100 years, was virtually gone, with scallop catch dropping to only 13% of its
high point2. And, scallops were also no longer there to perform
their function of filtering and cleaning the ocean water. The lesson is
important. Sharks are being killed for their fins for shark fin soup, a food
that has cultural value but is not important for human survival or health.
However, removing the sharks can result in the loss of important foods that we
do depend upon for survival.
Overfishing the great
sharks on the U.S. east coast has had major ecosystem consequences: abundances
of their skate, ray, and small shark prey species have increased tremendously,
and the explosion in cownose ray abundance has devastated a century-long bay
scallop fishery. (Credit: Joe Brown, NOAA)
"With fewer sharks
around, the species they prey upon -- like cownose rays -- have increased in
numbers, and in turn, hordes of cownose rays dining on bay scallops, have wiped
the scallops out," says co-author Julia Baum of Dalhousie.
"This
ecological event is having a large impact on local communities that depend so
much on healthy fisheries," says Charles Peterson, a professor of marine
sciences biology and ecology at the Institute of Marine Sciences, University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill and co-leader of the study. The research builds
upon an earlier study by Myers and Baum, published in Science in 2003, which
used data from commercial fisheries to show rapid declines in the great sharks of the
northwest Atlantic since the mid-1980s. Now, by examining a dozen different research
surveys from 1970-2005 along the eastern U.S. coast, the research team has
found that their original study underestimated the extent of the declines:
scalloped hammerhead and tiger sharks may have declined by more than 97
percent; bull, dusky, and smooth hammerhead sharks by more than 99 percent.
"Large sharks have
been functionally eliminated from the east coast of the U.S., meaning that they can
no longer perform their ecosystem role as top predators," says Baum.
"The extent of the declines shouldn't be a surprise considering how
heavily large sharks have been fished in recent decades to meet the growing
worldwide demand for shark fins and meat." Sharks are targeted in numerous
fisheries, and they also are snagged as bycatch in fisheries targeting tunas
and swordfish in both U.S. and high seas fisheries.
Sharks are also influencing the economy through
ecotourism. In the Bahamas, a single live reef shark is
worth $250,000 as a result of dive tourism versus a one time value of $50 when
caught by a fisherman. One whale shark in Belize can
bring in $2 million over its lifetime. Whale sharks were legally hunted in the Philippines until
protection was introduced in 1998. Whale shark ecotourism soon developed in
Donsol, Sorsogon with great success and was subsequently listed as ‘Asia’s Best
Animal Encounter’ by Time Asia (Perry 2004).
The whale sharks’ appearance in Donsol has
continued to be a benefit to the local economy. Early records show 800 visitors
to Donsol in 1998 with a total income of US$10500 (HK$81,800), generated from
registration fees and boat rentals. The number of visitors increased to
approximately 7200 in 2005, generating an estimated income of US$208,000 (HK
$1.62 million). Arevalo (2006) notes that revenues derived from tourism efforts
(related to whale sharks) resulted in Donsol being elevated from a fifth class
municipality (annual income of US$162000 (HK$ 1.26 million) to a fourth class
US$301,000-486,000 (HK$ 2.35 million to HK$ 3.79 million)). This resulted in a
shift from Rank 76 in the poverty line amongst the poorest municipalities of
the region to a rank of 17 (Arevalo 2006). "Eco-tourism has changed everyone's life in Donsol. Alan tells us how he used to have to take
on odd jobs -- driving a tricycle taxi, construction work, playing guitar at
bars -- to make ends meet. Now he makes six times what he used to, enough money to put his two children through school, even
university."
Sharks
have survived for 450 million years, but may be gone within 10 years- (Shark
fins used to make Shark Fin Soup)
Life within
the oceans has enjoyed a relationship with sharks for about 450 million years.
The growing demand for shark fin soup has increased the slaughter of sharks to
such a great extent that many shark species are already nearing extinction. They may be all gone within only 10 or
20 years. There is a well-documented history of shark stocks that have
undergone a brief period of fisheries exploitation followed by a sudden
collapse in yield. Examples of collapsed shark fisheries include the porbeagle
(Lamna nasus) fishery in the North Atlantic, the soupfin shark (Galeorhinus
galeus) fishery of California, various basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus)
fisheries, and the spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) fisheries, both in the
North Sea and off British Columbia. All unregulated targeted shark fisheries
have been boom and bust endeavors. This is marked by a relatively short period
of booming business, which is followed by a rapid decline in catches and a long
period of either slow recovery, or no recovery at all.
The increase in demand for shark fins in the Asian markets has
further increased the exploitation of sharks around the world. Shark fin soup
is a delicacy in Asian restaurants where it is reported that a bowl of shark fin
soup can cost as much as $250 per bowl, depending on the amount and type of
shark fin used in the soup. Many
times the sharks are finned, a practice whereby the fins are removed from the
shark, while it is still alive, and the body is thrown back into the sea. The
fins are the most valuable part of the shark and thus the fishermen would
rather fill their boats with fins rather than the less valuable shark meat.
Shark fin soup is a delicacy in Asia,
with shark fins getting $300 per pound in some Asian markets and a single bowl
of soup netting its vendor as much as $100.
The first international ban on shark finning occurred in
November of 2004, when the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic
Tunas (ICCAT) met. The agreement to end finning, supported and sponsored by the
United States, the European community, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Panama, South
Africa, Trinidad (Tobago) and Venezuela - and supported by Brazil, Namibia and
Uruguay - agreed that finning had to cease if shark species were to survive. In
spite of that, only the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Namibia, South Africa and the
European Union (EU) have actual laws in place, and the EU's law protects only
basking, great white, dogfish and porbeagle sharks, while only the United
Kingdom and Sweden have comprehensive laws protecting all sharks.
Thirty percent of all shark
species are currently either threatened or near-threatened with extinction.
A Review of
Action and Inaction:
Fisheries
worldwide provided the data for the UN report. Using this information, the UN
report identified the top 20 shark-catching countries: Indonesia, India, Spain,
Taiwan, Argentina, Mexico, Pakistan, United States, Japan, and Malaysia. The
report determined whether these countries followed through on management and
conservation goals set in 2001. Only 13 of the top 20 “shark-catching” counties
actually developed national plans of action to protect sharks.
These top ten
countries are responsible for catching each year 640,000 tones of sharks, accounting for almost 80 percent of
the total reported, global shark catch. It should be noted that many shark catches
are not reported. The
UN report only provides data that fisheries worldwide have reported, but much
of the shark finning practice is done illegally in other countries, such as
Ecuador and Costa Rica.
Nearly a third of all shark species are
facing extinction due to unregulated fishing, mainly for their fins. It has been estimated that up to 73 million
sharks are being killed each year for their fins. Fin imports to Hong Kong and
Taiwan rose 214 percent from 1985 to 1999, due in part to their large, growing
populations and the explosion of wealth across the entire Asia Pacific.
Setbacks in the Fight to
Protect Sharks:
 |
| Shark Fins |
The Costa
Rica’s Ministry of Agriculture (MAG) and the Costa Rican Fisheries Institute
agreed that the private docks in Puntarenas, Costa Rica, would be closed to
foreign vessels starting December 1, 2010. This agreement tried to stop the
illegal practice of unloading shark fins at private docks, by requiring foreign
vessels to dock at public ports instead. Unpopular to local fishermen, this
measure seemed to be victory for opponents of the shark finning practice.
Costa Rican
custom law actually requires the use of public infrastructure to import
products. Despite the custom law, many foreign fleets used private docks where
law enforcement does not have access. Without law enforcement access, imported
goods can enter the country unchecked and, in this case, the result is
decreased shark populations.
According to
Randall Arauz, President of the Marine Turtle Restoration Program, some foreign vessels cut
off shark fins and throw the body of the shark overboard, leaving the shark to
bleed to death. Costa
Rican law states that sharks must be docked with their fins intact, but this
law is often not followed due to the inability of officials to inspect foreign
ships at private docks. Therefore, requiring foreign ships to dock at public
docks would reduce illegal shark finning.
Environmental
groups, which were fundamental in pressuring the Costa Rican Fisheries
Institute into adopting the public dock rule, were outraged by this injunction.
The February 4th timing of the injunction fell on the same day that the Costa
Rican Foreign Ministry issued a press release praising the country’s efforts at
ending shark finning.
Shark
Populations Declining Worldwide:
In recent
decades, shark populations around the world have been decreasing at an alarming
rate. In the United States’ east coast, scalloped hammerheads and dusky shark
populations have decreased by 80 percent since the 1970s.6 In Europe’s Atlantic
coast, spiny dogfish populations have decreased to ten percent of their
original population size. In the Mediterranean Sea, smooth hammerheads,
shortfin mako, porbeagle, and thresher shark populations have decreased by more
than 97 percent.
In Kesennuma,
Japan, blue sharks, which comprise 80 percent of the shark catch, have been
listed as near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of
Nature. According to Japan’s fisheries agency, over 40 years ago, Japan caught
about 65,000 tons of sharks, but, by 2009, that number had almost halved to
35,000 tons, due to the recent dramatic decline in shark populations.
According to conservation
groups, a growing demand for shark fins along with modern fishing methods have
cause a rapid global decline in shark populations. Many top,
shark-catching nations violate international regulations and under-report their
catches. Fortunately,
the anti shark fin soup movement is gathering momentum. Celebrity chefs, such
as Gordon Ramsay, have publicly denounced the cruelty involved in finning.
Several Chinese restaurants in England and the United States have completely
removed the soup from their menus. The International Union for Conservation of
Nature’s red list shows that 30 percent of all shark species are either
threatened or near threatened with extinction.
Plans to Save Sharks:
There is no
doubt that many spark species are in danger of extinction due to unsustainable
fishing practices. As top marine predators, these large animals help maintain
balance in the marine environments. There are more than 400 species of sharks,
all which play fundamental roles in the functioning of local ecosystems and
economies.
Slowly,
nations around the world are beginning to realize the importance of protecting
sharks. The year 2010 proved to be an important year for ocean conservation,
having both ups and downs. In March 2010, the international community rejected
the protection of an array of marine species at the meeting of the Conference
of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered species.
On the up
side, around the same time, Maldives created a sanctuary for sharks in its waters. This sanctuary covers 35,000 square
miles of the Indian Ocean. In November 2010, protective measures for eight
shark species were adopted in a meeting of the International Commission for the
Conservation of Atlantic Tunas. Furthermore, in late 2010, the presidents of
Honduras and Palau challenged other world leaders at the United Nations to join
them in their efforts to ensure healthy global shark populations by establishing
additional sanctuaries and ending the finning practice.
Finally, at
the end of 2010, the United States Congress passed the Shark Conservation Act, which
was signed in January of 2011 by President Barack Obama. This act promotes efforts to conserve
sharks and to stop the practice of finning. Efforts to
conserve sharks are also being made at the local level. In February 2011,
California proposed a ban on selling and using shark fins. The Monterey Bay Aquarium, along with
environmental groups, supports this bill, which is opposed by many in the local
Asian communities.
A similar ban
was passed in Hawaii, which is a big step since the federal prohibition on
killing sharks for their fins is not well enforced. State Senator Leland Yee,
who’s running for mayor of San Francisco, calls the proposed bill an attack on
Asian culture. The measure will soon wind its way through the city legislature.
Fisherman’s Fools
Gold in The West African Seas
SAINT LOUIS,
Senegal:
Sada Fall, 62,
walks along the beach in this fishing village in the north of Senegal, his
blue-grey boubou flapping in the dry, dusty wind, a bright red flowered
umbrella shielding him from the scorching sun. “This is the great shark cemetery,” he says waving his hand dramatically
across the beach where dried hunks of shark meat are piled up, filling the air
with a musty, acrid odor as suffocating as the heat. Saint Louis is one of the
biggest shark landing sites in Senegal and one of scores along the west African
coast where the predator is quickly disappearing. “The fins don’t stay here,
they are worth a lot of money,” says Fall. He explains that when a boat lands,
amidst the chaos of bartering and buying shark meat to be dried, smoked and
sold in the region, the fins are swept away by intermediaries to Dakar, and
treated very carefully.
“The fins are gold, sometimes we keep them in our own
living room – with the air conditioning on,” he laughs. Often the
intermediaries will meet with Asian businessmen in a Dakar hotel to hand over
the booty. “You bring the bags, go into the hotel, hand over the bag, they hand
over the money.” Mika Diop, a biologist and coordinator of the Sharks
sub-regional Action Plan (SRPOA-Sharks) says that depending on the size and
species of the fin involved, they sell for up to 100,000 CFA (150 euros) per
kilogram (2.2 pounds).
But it is the
men further up the chain who benefit the most, as many fishermen don’t realise
exactly how valuable their product is. Some restaurants charge more than $100 to $250
for a bowl of sharp fin soup.
“We catch them, but I couldn’t afford a small bowl of soup,”
says Fall. ‘Mercenary mindset’- many fins are also exported fraudulently
through normal channels classified as dried fish, says Diop.
In West
Africa, shark fishing began in the 1970’s, booming in the nineties due to
rising demand from Asia for shark fins, according to a report entitled “30
Years of Shark Fishing in West Africa” co-authored by Diop in 2011. Since 2003,
shark catches have plummeted. This is not good news but a sign that there are
less to catch. These days fishermen can spend up to 20 days at sea, heading as
far west as Cape Verde or south to Sierra Leone in search of their gold, with
what Diop bemoans as an often “mercenary mindset”. Diop explains that sharks
are particularly vulnerable because it can take more than 10 years for Sharks
to reach sexual maturity
and their fertility rate is very low, making recovery from overfishing all year
round near impossible.
“On average
the weight of the fin represents only two percent of the total weight of the
animal, so you can see the massacre needed to keep up with the demand for shark
fins,” he tells AFP. A fisherman for more than 30 years, he has seen first hand
the worrying drop in shark numbers. “We are obliged to catch small sharks. We know its not good but if one
person doesn’t, the next will… “It brings in a lot of money, so we don’t see the importance of the
shark.”
We earn and we will keep on
earning until the sharks disappear,” he says sadly. The shark fishing report talks of days when
hammerhead sharks up to six metres long (20 feet) and one-tonne sawfish were
caught in these waters. The sawfish-printed on the back of Senegalese bank
notes-hasn’t been seen since the early 1990s in coastal waters from Mauritania
to Sierra Leone, except for Guinea-Bissau.
Shark Harvests:
The destructive nature
of the shark
fishing industry has been receiving due attention in global discussions. Actions aimed
towards preserving the remaining meager shark populations are gaining momentum.
Conservation-minded people are educating consumers of shark products, and are
requesting those in power to stop turning a blind eye to the harvest and trade
of these products. In best cases, governing bodies respond to these calls and
implement fishing restrictions, close loopholes in existing legislation, and
create marine sanctuaries.
Nation’s
Contribution to Global Shark Catch:
1. Indonesia (13%)
2. India (9%?)
3. Spain (7.3%)
4. Taiwan (6%)
Since the 1970s,
Indonesia has held the first place for having the largest annual shark
harvests. Before the rise of the large-scale, international boodlust in the shark
fin trade that exists today, sharks were not a significant catch in Indonesian
fisheries. Only
with the increasing financial potential in shark finning did Indonesian fleets
start targeting sharks. Today, an array of both licensed and illegal, Indonesian
and foreign industrial fleets trawl the originally biodiverse waters.
Contrasting with the
massive, industrial Taiwanese trawlers in Indonesian waters, 90% of the
Indonesian fishing fleet mostly consists of fishermen in small wooden boats.
Since these
boats often have little space for storage and no refrigeration, the fishermen
on the boats have a strong incentive to fin the shark at sea and throw the body
back overboard.
Despite the evidence
of frighteningly swift shark depletion, the Indonesian government shows no signs of
attempts to curb levels of shark fishing. In the 2010 Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species, Indonesia (along with China, Singapore, and Japan)
voted against the protectionist proposal to tighten trade restrictions on the
scalloped hammerhead, oceanic whitetip, porbeagle and spiny dogfish – four
shark species that are in decline.
Four Largest
National Shark Harvests: India
It is coincidental
that the nation with the second largest human population in the world also
ranks second in annual shark harvests. Around 9% of the annual reported global shark
catch happens in Indian waters. The Indian government officially estimates the annual shark
landing at 70,000 tons. Even while the reported estimate is boggling (as one ton is the
equivalent of approximately 650 sharks) the actual catch may be even higher as the
Indian government is notorious for underestimating their data.
The shark fishing
industry in India is run by merchants who rent, on average, fifteen to twenty
boats each. These merchants hire fishermen (and fisherwomen) who travel with
the merchant from port to port. The merchant arranges for fishing permits from
the port authorities, supplies diesel, and provides food for the crew. In
return, the fisher folk harvest sharks en masse.
Once these fins are
landed, they are commonly sold to agents who export a significant portion to
Hong Kong. Shark fins are purchased based on weight; the larger the fin, the
loftier the price. The agent can sell a shark fin to an international
restaurant for Rs 250, or US $5, who in turn can sell the fin to a customer
for Rs 6,000, or around US $120. Despite being the initial supplier in this
procession, the average Indian fisherman makes a minuscule Rs 1.25, or US $0.03 per fin. This usually amounts
to an income of US $0.50 per day.
Much of this export
process is thought to be carried out under wraps. Although India is placed
second in global ranks of shark fishing it does not feature prominently in the
lists of shark exporting countries, nor is shark fin soup notably popular in
India. Samir Sinha from TRAFFIC suspects that these fins are illegally
exported. “Given that we catch over 70,000 tons of shark annually, we logically
ought to have several thousand tons of fins too. But the fins are not
showing up in the export data and there is no local consumption of fins,” he says. “So where
are all the fins going?”
As a result of the
rampant shark harvest and unregulated fin exports, the state of Tamil
Nadu has seen a drastic 70% decline in shark catch. Although targeted fishing
plays a role in this depopulation, other influential factors are the methods by
which sharks are caught as bycatch in longlines, gill nets, and trawl nets. The
percentage of sharks caught as bycatch from nets and lines targeting other
oceanic species is astounding. Bycatch from trawl nets account for 60% of
India’s shark catch, and gill nets cause a significant 38%. Another way these
unsustainable fishing methods decrease shark populations is by forcing
small-scale fishermen into shark fishing. Because industrial fishing methods
kill off large quantities of oceanic life, fishermen cannot support themselves
with the scarcity of fish available to them and are forced to find a more
profitable source of income: shark fishing.
India has little
financial incentive in investing in dive ecotourism, as it doesn’t have
the abundant coral reef that Indonesia has to offer. Additionally, India
doesn’t seem to pander to the requests of international bodies that push for a
change in India’s destructive shark fishing habits. Further discouraging
is the apparent unwillingness in part of the Indian government to regulate the
shark fishing industry. Since the government does not ask for records of catches, there is an
irresponsible lack of information regarding fisheries. With minimal data on
shark populations in Indian waters, the government will find it difficult to
replenish shark stocks in the case that it might care to do so. Not that the
Indian government seems concerned with this cause; despite the lack of studies
on shark stocks, the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute suggested that
India could harvest even larger quantities of the resources in its waters than
it currently is.
In response to the
international community’s call for a moratorium on shark finning in 2001,
India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests passed the Wildlife Protection Act,
which banned the harvest of 60 different marine species, including sharks,
skates, and rays. However, protests from Tamil Nadu fishermen led the Ministry
to reduce this ban to just nine species, all which are not used in shark fin
soup. While there is notable effort to protect the Indian tiger, the government
does comparatively little to pass, enforce, and maintain conservation measures
for sharks.
Four Largest
National Shark Harvests: Spain
Spain has been the
leading player in European fisheries for the past decade, and has third largest
shark harvest in the world – 7.3% of reported global shark catch to be exact.
With fleets working full time in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, as
well as in strategic parts of the African coast, Spain plays a significant
impact on shark populations in multiple continents.
Prior to 2011, the EU
allowed countries to issue special permits to vessels, which allowed fishermen
to remove fins from shark bodies on board. Spain not only issued more special permits
than any other EU country, but also enough of these permits to allow its whole
long-distance longline fleet to fin sharks at sea. The term “special fishing
permit” was misleading as this permit was the norm, not the exception, in
Spanish fisheries. However, since the closure in November 2011 of problematic
loopholes in existing anti-shark finning legislation, all vessels fishing
in EU waters, as well as EU vessels fishing anywhere in the world, will have to
land sharks with the fins still attached. The new amendments to the legislation
also made it illegal to land fins at different ports from the shark carcasses,
which helps with enforcement.
Spain is taking
incremental but positive steps towards a more sustainable oceanic future. Spain
was the first EU country to enact a ban on shark finning in 2002. It further
specified this ban in October 2009, banning the catch of 11 species of
hammerhead and thresher sharks – two sharks that are commonly caught as bycatch
in longlines. Both these measures are promising steps, but must be enforced
efficiently. An indication of this enforcement would be Spain’s fall in the
ranks of global shark exports and harvests.
Taking into
consideration that Spain has, for a long time, been at the top of the list in
the international trade of shark products, Spain has a significant position in
impacting shark populations and a considerable influence in legislation made
about shark conservation. With a relatively large number of votes in the EU
Fisheries Council, Spain is in an ideal position to enforce anti-finning
efforts and act in a responsible manner towards the preservation of shark species.
Four Largest
National Shark Harvests: Taiwan
Taiwan is one of the
countries currently in the spotlight for international shark conservation
groups, as its ban on removing the fins from sharks at sea theoretically comes
into effect this year. Taiwan is the first country in Asia to introduce a
finning ban.
It seems the
metamorphosis to complete enforcement of a ban takes time. Despite Taiwan’s
attempts to implement this new regulation at several ports, it still ranks
third on the list of global shark fisheries harvests, with an average annual
catch of 48,000 tons. Many biologically vulnerable shark species, including the
scalloped hammerhead and oceanic white tip, are caught on Taiwanese fleets. In
late 2011, a Greenpeace helicopter spotted a Taiwanese vessel fishing illegally
in the shark sanctuary waters of Palau. In February this year, Palau fined the Taiwanese
vessel US$65,000 as compensation for the loss of its sharks.
Though finning is
banned in theory, Taiwan’s fisheries are largely unregulated, so this
fins-attached policy is hard to enforce, especially outside of Taiwanese
waters. It has been reported that shark fins are unloaded at foreign ports,
then airlifted into Taiwan. Even though fishermen discontinue finning sharks at
sea, there is no protection for sharks at port; once at port, fishermen can
legally fin the carcasses there. The advantage to this law is that the weight
that the carcasses add to the total load could reduce the number of sharks
brought in and finned ashore.
These recent years
have been a transformative time in the initial baby steps needed to set up
legislative safe havens covering all shark species. By addressing the shark fin
industry from multiple angles – supply, trade, and demand – we can create a
world in which sharks are given the dignity they deserve as creatures integral
to the continuance of our oceanic systems.
If you actually made it all the way down here to the bottom then I must say that I'm surprised. I know most of the information that I've gather here and the pictures that I posted are disturbing to say the least. I hope that you have learned something about the worlds oceans and the horrible events like shark finning that are taking place, I know I learned a lot from this experience.
