Finning is the process of cutting off shark fins (often while the shark is still alive) and discarding the body at sea. This is a hugely wasteful practice - wet fins typically represent <5% of a shark’s body weight. Finning occurs worldwide, in commercial and artisanal fisheries, with finned sharks including both those caught as bycatch and those directly targeted. Demand for shark fins comes primarily from the market for shark fin soup, a prestigious commodity in many Far Eastern cultures.
Most sharks grow slowly, mature late and give birth to a few large pups. Consequently, shark populations decline rapidly when targeted by fisheries and recover slowly, if at all. There are now 110 species of chondrichthyan fish listed in a threat category on the IUCN’s Red List, with a further 95 species listed as Near Threatened. Over the last 15 years some Atlantic shark populations have declined by up to 80%. The environmental impact of removing large numbers of sharks from ocean ecosystems is hugely complex and unpredictable.
Few States have yet developed effective shark fisheries management legislation, and it is currently not illegal to sell shark fin soup or other shark products, unless the product is made from a protected species. Help us to stop Shark finning, Clubsub's petition is aimed at the Chinese Government, if we can stop the use of Shark fins at source the business of Shark finning will cease. Sign our petition and once we have 20,000 names we'll arrange to take the petition to the Chinese Consulate in London.
family and colleagues to sign it. |