Due to the biological and ecological characteristics of sharks, they present an array of issues and challenges for fishery management and conservation. Many shark species are characterized by relatively late maturity, have slow growth and low reproductive rates (as they are Apex Predators), which can make them extremely vulnerable to overexploitation. Concern has grown over the past few years regarding the status of shark stocks and the sustainability of their numbers in the world of fisheries. As the demand for shark products such as shark fin soup increases, the number of shark’s species begin to decline as a result of the current trend.
Figure 1. The decline in endangered species of sharks over the past decades as a result of unsustainable fishery and bad management.
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2006 Survey carried out across China in 2006 by WildAid, and the Chinese Wildlife Conservation found that 35% of the participants have consumed shark fin soup in the past year.
2006 Movement against shark fin soup began in 2006 When WildAid enlisted the world the renowned Chinese basketball superstar Yao Ming as a front person for a public relations campaign against the dish.
2007 The UN General Assembly recommended that all countries strengthen shark finning bans and consider the requirement of sharks be landed with fins attached. As they believe that this is one of the-the most effective method of ending the cruel and inhumane practice of shark finning (which also helps to reduce the amount of sharks killed by commercial fisheries).
2010 An EU Written Declaration had received the highest amounts of signatures and agreements out of any Written Declarations in 2010. Though, only followed by those in Europe.
ISSUES INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH TASK | SHARK FINNING
2011 Washington State bans the sale and trade of shark fins, and the preparation of shark fins for
The article “Saving The Great White Monster” describes the alarming concerns about the cause and effect relationship about the rapid killing of the shark population. Shark fins are in more demand and there has been an increase in shark killings. The shark population is rapidly decreasing. More awareness is now being brought to this heartbreaking issue.
Donohue, Patrick and Log, Destin. “Sharks 101.” State and Regional Newspaper, 7 September. 2006. LexisNexis Academic. Web. 28 May. 2016.
Secondly, I will discuss about the famous shark fin soup. Lastly, I will discuss the possibilities that can happen if sharks are extinct
Arising over 350 million years ago, the shark species has been labeled as a human devourer. Now, with the increase in human population, the demand for shark meat, fins, and cartilage are at an all time high; therefore, the existence of the shark is becoming a concern (Budker 1971). Individuals are conditioned to think of sharks as a negative aspect to the environment, which is prolonging the effort to save shark species from becoming extinct. With that in mind, some private as well as national organizations have accepted the challenge of educating and informing people about the existence of the shark specie and its importance to the sea.
One reason for culling sharks is that when there are sharks in populated areas, people’s lives are in danger therefore if
Many countries already have laws protecting sharks, some are partial bans—where the entire carcasses have to be on board. Others are full bans on shark fishing—where there can’t be any type of shark body parts on board. Several places still don’t have a legislation that prohibit the fishing and commercialization of sharks. In countries like the United States the act of shark finning is considered illegal in American waters. Supported by the Shark Conservation Act (P.L. 11-348), passed by the house of representatives in April 2009 and signed by President Obama in January 2011. The Shark Conservation Act strengthens the U.S. ban on shark finning—already passed by President Clinton in 2000, that prohibited the possession of shark fins in U.S. waters without its corresponding carcass. As a result of some loopholes in the former Act, proper enforcement and inspectorate was almost impossible. Facilitating fisher’s legal access to sharks. However, the trade and commerce is still legalized and shark fins continued to be bought and sold throughout American soil. A solution within American territorial when it comes to shark finning would be to set a nationwide ban on the trade of the fins, better the enforcement of the ongoing laws and bolster the amount of oversight in boats and ports. By doing that, there will be a reduction on the international fin trade as well. In many places such as the Atlantic, Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico fisherman are required to have all the sharks on board still with their fins naturally attached, enables the officials to identify which species of shark were caught, since once the fins are off, that is hardly
Whenever you go to the Fish and Chips shop, have you heard about “Flake”? Flakes are a type of shark. They have been killed just for us to eat. The price of them are also increasing. At least 100 million sharks are killed every year. In Eastern parts of Asia, Sharks were being culled for shark fin soup. Dragging out the sharks out of the ocean and cutting off their fins and throwing their dead body back into the ocean is unacceptable. How would you feel if we were dragged out of our home by a random person, got our arm cut off and got put back into our home again? I’m sure that we would all be horrified and terrified by this. It is said that Shark Fin Soup costs around $100 per bowl of soup. There are also some countries that have completely banned shark culling. They are Israel, Ecuador, Mexico, Egypt, Indonesia, Fiji and so on. It is very unfortunate that Australia isn’t a part of this. Sharks also help with ecosystems.
Shark finning is the process of cutting off the fins of a shark and discarding the body at sea (“Stop Shark Finning”, 2009). People catch sharks for its fins, meat, oil, skin and so on. Sharks fins are most commonly used in Asian cooking which is shark fin soup. According to Maddalena, Sommeran and Leander (2007), people have been demanding for shark fins dramatically recently, it is unclear how many sharks are caught annually but some of the conservationists estimate the number to be upwards of 100 million. Besides, shark conservationists are aware about the consequences of the high demand of shark fins, they advocate people to stop killing sharks and eating shark fins. Practice of shark finning is causing imbalance marine ecosystems and it
Sharks are important to our ecosystem and humans needs to protect sharks. The number of sharks have declined by 80% and the main reason is humans. Secondly sharks are important to our ecosystem to keep things balanced. Another reason sharks should be protected is because sharks can be used at a drug to treat human viruses. In conclusion this is why humans should stop the killing and start
Marine Biology funding increased and studies lead to the improvement of many oceanic devices, such as cages, shark repellant research, and unmanned camera platforms. The International Shark Attack File in Florida now records all "unprovoked" and "provoked" incidents. A chain of laws with the intention to protect sharks also emerged. Some laws include the banning of Great White hunting and the Shark Finning Prohibition Act of 2000.
Shark finning is popular in asia. They cut the fin off of the shark, and then throw the shark back in the water. Since sharks are being killed for just the fin, there are bans against finning. People also started just killing them after the movie Jaws came out(8). It pictured a Great White shark attacking people viciously. It upset people because it was based on a true story, but in the actual occurrence it was a bull shark that attacked the people not the Great White(8). There are many shark sanctuaries set up in the ocean to protect them. They can go there and live without having to worry if they will get caught in a net or get their fins cut off. In many countries there are bans on Great White Shark products. There are many projects in effect for protecting Great White Sharks(Institution, Smithsonian). Great white sharks are illegal to hunt because they are endangered. They also have a short life span of about sixty years, but very few make it to even thirty. There are many signs that say the great white population is increasing slowly but steadily(Institution,
Every Jaws fan knows the shark gets it in the end. What they do not know is that too many sharks have gotten it; and that has caused a rapid decline in the shark population over the past thirty years. Since the 1970's, sharks of the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico shores have declined eighty-five percent. Sharks are vital animal to our world's ecosystem, and if the decline is not controlled; we could be facing devastating problems in years to come. Information has been obtained from two books: The Shark Almanac by Thomas B. Allen and Sharks, An Introduction for the Amateur Naturalist by Sanford A. Moss. Sources also include a number of online references, among them BBC News, ENS News, The New York Times, and two online scientific
Summarize: As you can see, shark finning is not a simple act of fishing that should continue to go unregulated.
One of the major problems is shark finning. Shark finning is the practice of removing the shark’s fins after it has been caught. They keep the fins and the body is usually thrown back into the sea, and usually the shark is still alive when this happens. When this is done sharks are not able to swim, and eventually the shark dies from suffocation, blood loss or being eaten another predator. The reason why the fins are kept are because shark fins are one of the most expensive food items in the world and can be worth more than over $400 per kilogram. One of the problems with finning and the selling shark fins is that it has caused a lot of declines in shark populations. Shark finning is unmonitored and unreported so the actual amount of finning is unknown. Finning is done at random and unbiased, they go after any species, sex or size of shark. Research has been done on some of the fins brought in by fisheries and it shows that even fins from great white sharks are appearing in shark fin
More and more people have been introduced to a very dangerous practice called shark-finning. Even the people who are aware of the harmful effects they bring still continue on doing it. People are afraid of sharks due to their fierce appearance and the bad publicity they get such as the movies wherein sharks attack humans. Only about 5 people are killed by sharks every year. In fact, vending machines has a higher death rate of 13, while ants can kill about 30 people annually. Sharks are very beneficial to us, why do people keep on harming them? Why is shark-finning so important? Shark-finning gives both advantages and disadvantages economically, politically, cultural, societal, and environmental. It is important to recognize the