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- New “Naked Scientists” series investigates our oceans
- Scientists Trace Shark Fins Through DNA
- Call for Protection of 8 Shark Species at CITES
- Bodyboarding For The Environment
- Sharks International
- Palau Shark Week 2010
- SOSF Supports the Shark Spotters
- Shark attack could not have been avoided
- The Ocean is Theirs...The facts on cage diving
- Shark Bite at Fish Hoek Beach
- James Lovelock: Climate Change and the Oceans
- Arabian Whale Shark Symposium
- Wavescapes Surf Film Festival 2009
- SOSF on 100 Heartbeats
- Andrea Queen of Mantas
- European Shark Week 2009
- Shark Spotters
- Lobsters
- New Shark Centre in Gansbaai
- Sylvia Earles TED Talk
- Maldives Protects Manta Rays
- Manta Rays
- Manta Rays (Low Resolution Video Version)
- Rethink
- International White Shark Symposium
- The End Of the Line
- Shark Spotters - Protecting Surfers, Saving Sharks
- The Oceans Speak Out!
- The Riddle of the Ocean's Gentle Giant Solved
- Shark Nets
- Basking Shark Workshop August 2009
- Surfers and Sharks Together
Not On Our Menu
- SOSF to Support Three Key Meetings in 2009
- Wavescapes Surf Film Festival: Surfers for Sharks
- SOSF Chief Photographer Takes Prestigious Double
- One Legged Pirate And His Two Legged Sister Visit Schools
- Aldabra Expedition Blog
- The Floating Point
- Cape Eleuthera Institute, Bahamas
- Bull Shark Project, Fiji
- Manta Ray Project, Maldives
- Whale Shark Project, Seychelles
- SOSF Shark Centre, Cape Town
- VIPs meet GWS
- Discovered: The epic journey of a basking shark
- Running the Gauntlet
- Manta Rays: A new species?
- Champagne Seas: CO2 Emissions Are Acidifying Our Oceans
- Alison Kock on CNN
Not On Our Menu
Sign the petition and learn more about the campaign at the website: notonourmenu.com.
TV Presenter Monty Halls has also added his voice to the campaign in a short video.
What is shark finning?
It is estimated that up to 100 million sharks are killed annually, (the equivalent of 190 sharks killed every minute). Over the past fifty years global shark populations of some species have fallen by up to 90%.
Shark finning is an extremely barbaric act. Once hooked sharks are dragged onto the boat their prized fins are sliced off while they are still alive. To avoid loosing precious cargo space, the valueless bodies are tossed back overboard into the sea. Bleeding profusely and unable to swim, they sink to the seabed and drown.
Shark fins are primarily harvested for use in ‘shark fin’ soup. Once a status symbol of prosperity and wealth reserved for a small minority, the soup’s increasing popularity is linked to the continuing growth of the Chinese and other Asian economies. Though it is considered a delicacy the fins are flavourless and the principle soup stocks are chicken, pork or fish. Processed by separating out the cartilaginous fibres, the fins merely provide the soup with a glutinous consistency.
Shark finning is an extremely wasteful practice. A shark's fins only make up between 2-5% of its mass; meaning 95-98% is simply discarded. Enforcing legislation to protect certain species of shark is extremely difficult, because once severed from the body it is difficult to identify the species. SOSF is supporting the groundbreaking work of Prof. Mahmood Shivji as he continues to determine the genetic population structure for shark species of conservation concern on a global-scale. This information will be used to further develop DNA forensic tools to track both the species and population origin of internationally derived fins. This work will then continue to aid law enforcement efforts in helping to detect landings and the trade of protected species and populations.
Why is shark finning on the rise?
Since the onset of commercial fisheries sharks have been caught as "bycatch", a term used to refer to any species caught accidentally while fishing for other ‘target’ species. Long-line fisheries, which use thousands of baited hooks on miles of fishing lines spread across the ocean, are accountable for a large percentage of shark bycatch. In previous decades, when sharks were taken as bycatch they were thought to be more of a nuisance than a prize and were subsequently often cut loose. Due to the rapid expansion of the Chinese economy over the last two decades and the subsequent growth of a wealthy middle class, the demand for demand for shark fin soup has grown exponentially, and with it the demand for shark fins. Now more people can afford to buy shark fin soup the price of fins has sky rocketed. As a consequence, though shark meat itself still has a relatively low commercial value, shark fins can easily fetch US$700 per kg, with a single whale shark fin reportedly selling for US$15,000.
The fins hold all the monetary value to a fishery and as they are easy to store compared with whole shark carcasses, fisheries have little impetus to land whole sharks back at port, fuelling the process of finning. Technological advances in fishing have also meant that supply has managed to keep up with this rapidly growing demand, and as a result sharks are now seen as lucrative addition to many fisheries.
Is finning legal?
Shark finning is banned by a limited number of countries, but the ban only applies to their own territorial waters and to vessels registered with that particular country. There is no internationally recognised legislation banning finning, and some nations impose limits on the fin to body weight ratio of a fishing vessel's catch when it returns to port. This measure helps to ensure that there is no extra finning of carcasses beyond the catch of landed sharks while the vessels were at sea.
The Shark Specialist Group (SSG), a panel of experts who advise the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on its conservation policy, continues to recommended a complete ban on finning, and encourages the practice of landing sharks with their fins still attached. However, at a minimum while shark finning continues and weight ratios are employed, the SSG recommends that the ratio of fins to carcass landed at port should not exceed 5%.
The closest thing to international legislation is the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation's (FAO) International Plan for the Conservation and Management of Sharks (IPOA-Sharks). The SSG has stated that any and all shark finning contradicts the plan, but the IPOA-Sharks is only voluntary and has been ignored by many fisheries and government agencies.
Why is shark finning so damaging?
The problem is that sharks grow very slowly. Some species can take more than 20 years to reach sexual maturity. Unlike the millions of eggs that bony fishes release each year, sharks have very few offspring, incubate their young internally, and only give birth to between 1 and 50 pups depending on the species. These traits make sharks particularly vulnerable to any loss in number. Populations are extremely slow to recover and in fact no commercial shark fishery is sustainable.
Sharks are keystone species, and as such play an important role at all levels of the ocean ecosystem – from scavengers to apex predators. The balance of the ecosystem is extremely important and all the organisms within it depend on each other to maintain the balance. Scavengers prey upon dead or dying animals, super predators help to control populations and maintain prey species diversity by concentrating on the most available species. Sharks eat the weak, sick and dead fish, enabling the fittest to survive. If the large sharks are missing from this food chain the large predator (bony) fish population would grow, thus causing a depletion of the smaller prey fish. The dramatic reduction in shark numbers have already been linked to the demise of coral reefs. Any change in their abundance, or the removal of them completely from their ecological niche is predicted to have significantly negative consequences.
Some species of sharks have relatively high population numbers with global distributions, but 126 species of sharks and rays are now listed as threatened by the IUCN's Red List.
Shark finning is also an incredibly wasteful practice as a shark's fins only make up between 2-5% of its mass, meaning up to 98% is simply discarded. Identifying the type of shark caught from just its fin is also incredibly difficult. This makes enforcing legislation to protect certain species of shark extremely problematic, and is one of the reasons that SOSF is supporting the research of Mahmood Shivji, who's working on rapid DNA identification techniques to help law enforcement officials.
10 Shark Finning Facts
Hong-Kong is the world's shark fin hub with an estimated 50-80% of all fins traded here.
The EU is estimated to supply 27% of fins into Hong Kong.
Shark fin trade estimated to be growing by at least 5% per year.
Shark fins can easily trade for US$700/kg. A whale shark's pectoral fin was reportedly sold for US$15000.
A shark's fins only make up between 2-5% of its overall body weight.
Over the last year global shark populations of some shark species have fallen by up to 90%.
190 sharks are killed every minute.
22 shark species are critically endangered.
29 are listed as endangered.
75 are listed as vulnerable.
126 species of Chondrichthyes (sharks and rays) are listed as threatened by the IUCN's Red List.
Please spread the word about the Not On Our Menu campaign by telling people to go to notonourmenu.com
SOSF Teams Up With The Underwater Channel Against Shark Finning
The Save Our Seas Foundation has teamed up with the Underwater Channel to launch an online campaign and petition against shark finning. On average in recent years sharks have accounted for less than ten human deaths annually in all the world's oceans while the growing demand for shark fins, has seen mankind killing up to 100 million sharks each year. Please support the campaign by adding your name to the online petition and spreading the message to others.Sign the petition and learn more about the campaign at the website: notonourmenu.com.
TV Presenter Monty Halls has also added his voice to the campaign in a short video.
What is shark finning?
It is estimated that up to 100 million sharks are killed annually, (the equivalent of 190 sharks killed every minute). Over the past fifty years global shark populations of some species have fallen by up to 90%.
Shark finning is an extremely barbaric act. Once hooked sharks are dragged onto the boat their prized fins are sliced off while they are still alive. To avoid loosing precious cargo space, the valueless bodies are tossed back overboard into the sea. Bleeding profusely and unable to swim, they sink to the seabed and drown.
Shark fins are primarily harvested for use in ‘shark fin’ soup. Once a status symbol of prosperity and wealth reserved for a small minority, the soup’s increasing popularity is linked to the continuing growth of the Chinese and other Asian economies. Though it is considered a delicacy the fins are flavourless and the principle soup stocks are chicken, pork or fish. Processed by separating out the cartilaginous fibres, the fins merely provide the soup with a glutinous consistency.
Shark finning is an extremely wasteful practice. A shark's fins only make up between 2-5% of its mass; meaning 95-98% is simply discarded. Enforcing legislation to protect certain species of shark is extremely difficult, because once severed from the body it is difficult to identify the species. SOSF is supporting the groundbreaking work of Prof. Mahmood Shivji as he continues to determine the genetic population structure for shark species of conservation concern on a global-scale. This information will be used to further develop DNA forensic tools to track both the species and population origin of internationally derived fins. This work will then continue to aid law enforcement efforts in helping to detect landings and the trade of protected species and populations.
Why is shark finning on the rise?
Since the onset of commercial fisheries sharks have been caught as "bycatch", a term used to refer to any species caught accidentally while fishing for other ‘target’ species. Long-line fisheries, which use thousands of baited hooks on miles of fishing lines spread across the ocean, are accountable for a large percentage of shark bycatch. In previous decades, when sharks were taken as bycatch they were thought to be more of a nuisance than a prize and were subsequently often cut loose. Due to the rapid expansion of the Chinese economy over the last two decades and the subsequent growth of a wealthy middle class, the demand for demand for shark fin soup has grown exponentially, and with it the demand for shark fins. Now more people can afford to buy shark fin soup the price of fins has sky rocketed. As a consequence, though shark meat itself still has a relatively low commercial value, shark fins can easily fetch US$700 per kg, with a single whale shark fin reportedly selling for US$15,000.
The fins hold all the monetary value to a fishery and as they are easy to store compared with whole shark carcasses, fisheries have little impetus to land whole sharks back at port, fuelling the process of finning. Technological advances in fishing have also meant that supply has managed to keep up with this rapidly growing demand, and as a result sharks are now seen as lucrative addition to many fisheries.
Is finning legal?
Shark finning is banned by a limited number of countries, but the ban only applies to their own territorial waters and to vessels registered with that particular country. There is no internationally recognised legislation banning finning, and some nations impose limits on the fin to body weight ratio of a fishing vessel's catch when it returns to port. This measure helps to ensure that there is no extra finning of carcasses beyond the catch of landed sharks while the vessels were at sea.
The Shark Specialist Group (SSG), a panel of experts who advise the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on its conservation policy, continues to recommended a complete ban on finning, and encourages the practice of landing sharks with their fins still attached. However, at a minimum while shark finning continues and weight ratios are employed, the SSG recommends that the ratio of fins to carcass landed at port should not exceed 5%.
The closest thing to international legislation is the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation's (FAO) International Plan for the Conservation and Management of Sharks (IPOA-Sharks). The SSG has stated that any and all shark finning contradicts the plan, but the IPOA-Sharks is only voluntary and has been ignored by many fisheries and government agencies.
Why is shark finning so damaging?
The problem is that sharks grow very slowly. Some species can take more than 20 years to reach sexual maturity. Unlike the millions of eggs that bony fishes release each year, sharks have very few offspring, incubate their young internally, and only give birth to between 1 and 50 pups depending on the species. These traits make sharks particularly vulnerable to any loss in number. Populations are extremely slow to recover and in fact no commercial shark fishery is sustainable.
Sharks are keystone species, and as such play an important role at all levels of the ocean ecosystem – from scavengers to apex predators. The balance of the ecosystem is extremely important and all the organisms within it depend on each other to maintain the balance. Scavengers prey upon dead or dying animals, super predators help to control populations and maintain prey species diversity by concentrating on the most available species. Sharks eat the weak, sick and dead fish, enabling the fittest to survive. If the large sharks are missing from this food chain the large predator (bony) fish population would grow, thus causing a depletion of the smaller prey fish. The dramatic reduction in shark numbers have already been linked to the demise of coral reefs. Any change in their abundance, or the removal of them completely from their ecological niche is predicted to have significantly negative consequences.
Some species of sharks have relatively high population numbers with global distributions, but 126 species of sharks and rays are now listed as threatened by the IUCN's Red List.
Shark finning is also an incredibly wasteful practice as a shark's fins only make up between 2-5% of its mass, meaning up to 98% is simply discarded. Identifying the type of shark caught from just its fin is also incredibly difficult. This makes enforcing legislation to protect certain species of shark extremely problematic, and is one of the reasons that SOSF is supporting the research of Mahmood Shivji, who's working on rapid DNA identification techniques to help law enforcement officials.
10 Shark Finning Facts
Hong-Kong is the world's shark fin hub with an estimated 50-80% of all fins traded here.
The EU is estimated to supply 27% of fins into Hong Kong.
Shark fin trade estimated to be growing by at least 5% per year.
Shark fins can easily trade for US$700/kg. A whale shark's pectoral fin was reportedly sold for US$15000.
A shark's fins only make up between 2-5% of its overall body weight.
Over the last year global shark populations of some shark species have fallen by up to 90%.
190 sharks are killed every minute.
22 shark species are critically endangered.
29 are listed as endangered.
75 are listed as vulnerable.
126 species of Chondrichthyes (sharks and rays) are listed as threatened by the IUCN's Red List.
Please spread the word about the Not On Our Menu campaign by telling people to go to notonourmenu.com
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