Shark finning why

Even,fins from these protected sharks have been identified in the shark fin trade through DNA analysis. These laws regulate the trade and transport of listed species across country lines by countries that recognize the treaty. Nearly twice as many nations had teams in the World Cup. In investigators performed DNA testing on wholesale shark fin distributors, discovering the fins of the few protected species in Hong Kong, Singapore and here in the US.

In Shark Stewards, working with at the California Academy of Sciences sequenced 17 species of sharks from shark fins bought in San Francisco Chinatown, including threatened species like thresher sharks, and endangered hammerhead sharks.

Once the fin is dried and treated, the species is nearly unidentifiable. The protections in place are not strong enough, or broad enough to protect sharks. Shark fins are used to make shark fin soup, a delicacy once prepared exclusively for the Chinese emperors and nobility. The cartilage from the fin is carefully dried and prepared, and used as an ingredient in a soup flavored with seafood or chicken broth and herbs.

The serving of the dish is considered very prestigious and even propitious. Dried shark fin is the most expensive seafood product by weight, and is creating huge incentive for fishermen to hunt sharks, solely for their fins. Although Chinese and people of Chinese descent primarily consume the dish, the consumption is increasing in western societies with affluent consumers, Asian and non-Asian.

However, shark fin is still a major trade and is consumed widely in the USA, putting shark populations at risk. This is an attack on an unsustainable fishing practice and trade.

The cultural associations are modern, associated with prestige. The problem is simple economics: increasing affluence creates increased demand. This demand is exceeding the supply, which is creating a positive feedback loop, making the shark fins more difficult to obtain, and increasing the price, making the dish more expensive, increasing the prestige.

This in turn motivates fishermen to obtain shark fins from a steadily diminishing source of sharks. Many countries have had practices associated with their cultures that were recognized as harmful or unethical and were stopped to protect wildlife. Shark fin soup has been associated with a variety of benefits from increased virility to longer life. However, the fin is purely cartilage, the same compound in human, cow and other vertebrates. Cartilage has no nutritional value.

Any benefit would come from the broth and other ingredients added. A study of fins from seven species of shark found a neurotoxin known as BMAA in 80 percent of 29 samples. A follow-up study in discovered BMAA in 87 percent of 55 fin and meat samples spanning 10 different species.

The highest concentration of BMAA was detected in the fins. Shark fins are also high in mercury, a known reproductive, developmental toxin and one that can cause permanent nerve and brain damage. The process of treating and drying shark fins can actually concentrate mercury and make the levels higher. 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. Our work in action. Act Now. More you can do. Advocate for regulations or laws banning the sale of shark fins. As apex predators in many ecosystems, the disappearance of sharks is causing dangerous imbalances in marine communities worldwide.

Without sharks, the health and productivity of our oceans—and dependent livelihoods and economies—are at risk. Many shark populations have faced steep declines due to years of exploitation for their fins, cartilage, meat, and liver oil. There is a robust global market for shark fins in particular to meet the demand for shark fin soup. Shark fin soup is a popular and pricey dish in East Asian societies, prized as a symbol of prosperity.

It is traditionally served at banquets and on special occasions such as weddings. Continued demand for shark fin soup, dumplings, and other shark fin dishes served in restaurants around the world perpetuates the practice of finning, resulting in an estimated 73 million sharks being killed each year for their fins alone.

Because of the high commercial value of shark fins and the relatively low value of shark meat, fishermen often take only the fins and leave the rest of the body behind—an extremely cruel and wasteful practice. Typically, sharks are finned alive—brought aboard fishing vessels to have their fins sliced off, then thrown back into the sea, where they suffocate, bleed to death, or are eaten by other animals.