Shark fin soup: A recipe for extinction is my latest article for The Scavenger.
This was one of my favourite articles to write - the words flowed quite effortlessly, which does not always happen with my writing! I hope you enjoy it.
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Shark fin soup: A recipe for extinction
17 July 2011
Sharks are
disappearing from the world’s oceans at an alarming rate. The demand for shark
fin soup has driven many shark species to the brink of extinction, and
threatens to destabilise the entire marine ecosystem. While some progressive
shark conservation steps have recently been made, tough international measures
are urgently needed to protect sharks, writes Susannah Waters.
“And does anyone know what species
THIS shark is?!”, the museum tour guide asks the crowd of children in a
high-pitched, excited tone. A chorus of voices shrieks back an array of guesses,
with the guide praising the correct answer.
“Indeed – a
tiger shark!”.
He then leads the boisterous group to
another display further along, repeating his question.
Rounding the next corner, the guide becomes
slightly agitated and glances nervously to the left. He turns and bypasses that
display, moving on briskly to continue his guessing game at the next exhibit.
What the guide is so eager to avoid is
a video, on continual loop, about the gruesome practice of shark finning. The graphic
images of sharks being butchered alive was likely deemed too disturbing for the
visiting children.
But the video, highlighting shark
finning’s devastating effect on global shark populations, was undoubtedly the
most important aspect of the Planet Shark
- Predator or Prey
exhibition at the Australian National Maritime Museum earlier this year.
The
price of fins
Shark finning – the process of cutting
off a shark’s fins for commercial use - is driven by a multi-billion dollar a
year industry servicing the shark fin soup market.
The principal market for shark fins is
Hong Kong, which imported 10 million kilograms (10,000 tonnes) of shark fin in 2008,
and encompasses up to 80% of the entire trade. The majority of fins transited through Hong Kong wind
up on the Chinese mainland, where shark fin soup is afforded a high status.
Demand for the soup has escalated in
recent years, and has accordingly spearheaded a steep drop in shark
populations.
Tooni Mahto of the Australian
Marine Conservation Society
has a special interest in shark conservation. The Marine Campaigns Officer affirms
that shark finning’s repercussions on shark species are enormous.
“Shark finning
and the targeted fishing of sharks around the world pose
the greatest threat to the continued existence of sharks in our global oceans”,
Mahto tells The Scavenger.
Research indicates that worldwide
shark numbers have plummeted by as much as 90% in
recent decades, largely attributable to shark finning. It is estimated that an
astonishing 100 million sharks are killed specifically for their fins
each year.
Mahto pinpoints the “immense” financial
incentives to obtain shark fins as central to the problem.
A single bowl of shark fin soup can
fetch as much as US$400. Animals
Asia claims that a large whale shark pectoral fin
can sell for US$15,000 in China.
This relentless quest for profit has
placed sharks in unprecedented danger. In fact, their dwindling numbers are
providing further enticement for the industry to continue its trade. Animals
Asia explains: “As sharks become scarce, the value
of their fins increases, as does the incentive for fishermen to search out
remaining populations”. Sharks are therefore entrapped in a vicious cycle of overexploitation.
Presently, around 30% of all shark species are threatened with extinction.
According to Claudette Rechtorik, Research & Education Manager at the Sydney Aquarium Conservation Fund, many species are being fished at a
rate faster than their reproductive capacities can replenish numbers.
“Given the finite number of sharks in
the system and the number of mortalities occurring annually, based on simple
maths, shark populations will continue to decline”, Rechtorik tells The
Scavenger.
The scalloped hammerhead is just one
species classified as endangered in recent years, due to the demand
for shark fin soup. A decrease in numbers of 98% in some regions has placed
this species at great risk of extinction.
Butchered
alive and abandoned at sea
A two-metre shark is hauled on board a
wooden boat. She lashes about in fear as two sets of human hands attempt to
steady her. A third pair of hands, wielding a knife, moves in toward the
panicking shark.
As the long blade severs the dorsal
fin from her writhing body, pure terror inhabits her dark eyes. Within seconds,
the same menacing hands dismember her tail and pectoral fins. The group then
rolls the terrified and bleeding shark back into the ocean, where she sinks to
an unknown fate.
This grisly technique of removing a
shark’s fins places prime value on retention of the fins, while the remainder of
the shark is generally dismissed as surplus. Shark meat doesn’t generate returns
in the same realm as fins, so after enduring the violent removal of their fins,
the disabled sharks are typically tossed back into the sea to suffer an
excruciating death.
Sea Shepherd reveals that many sharks ultimately bleed to
death, or are attacked by other sharks or fish. Others drown, as their inability to swim results
in a lack of oxygen circulating through their gills.
Every day, hundreds of fishing vessels
roll into dock, strewn with the souvenirs of shark slaughter on deck - evidence
of a vicious war being waged against sharks, away from public view and in the
name of profit.
Legally
lame
Shark protection is undermined by an absence of laws preventing fishing in the open seas. Furthermore,
it is the responsibility of individual nations to enact legislation governing
their own territorial waters, and many countries do not have such regulations
in place.
Nevertheless, national regulations and
laws are often not decisive enough to protect sharks adequately. The existence
of legal loopholes can often enable fishing vessels to simply bypass shark
finning restrictions.
Earlier this year the U.S. government
ratified the Shark Conservation Act, effectively closing a loophole which had facilitated the purchase of
shark fins on the open sea by U.S. vessels for years. The fins were on-sold at
an inflated price on U.S. markets.
Shark finning has been illegal in U.S.
waters since 2000. However, as it is stipulated that fins can be transported back
to port provided they are accompanied by their associated carcass, fins are
still entering the market.
Australia also has a somewhat ambiguous
position on the issue of shark finning. While the finning and disposal of sharks
at sea is illegal - owing in part to a campaign by the Australian
Marine Conservation Society - it is still permitted to utilise a shark’s fins,
provided the entire shark is retained by the fishing vessel.
Hundreds of thousands of sharks are fished legally in
Australian waters every year. The lucrative fins are frequently the primary
target, and the carcass is generally appropriated for less profitable flake
products.
Disappointingly, this means that Australia
is still feeding the supply chain of the trade, and is doing very little to
discourage the slaughter of sharks for their fins. Mahto reveals that in
2007, the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service recorded the export of
165 tonnes (165,000 kg) of shark fin from Australia.
Furthermore, Australia imports
approximately 10,000 kilograms of dried shark fin per year, which is
tantamount to 26,000 sharks. Mahto says that Australia is sadly lagging behind precedents
being set by other nations, and that the best hope for sharks in the region is
for the trade of all shark products to be outlawed.
Globally, illegal fishing is rampant,
and the preservation of marine protected areas can be flouted with full knowledge
of the authorities.
This was highlighted in the 2006
documentary Sharkwater. It uncovered clandestine shark
finning operations functioning with government collusion in Costa Rican marine
reserves, where sharks are ostensibly protected.
An International
Plan of Action
for sharks was established by the United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organisation in 1999. However, as adhering to the Plan is voluntary, the UN has
no authority over non-compliance. Moreover, the Plan’s recommendations do not
explicitly state that shark fins should not be acquired – only that sharks not
be fished purely for their fins.
Global
initiatives
Positively, Mahto believes that a
“groundswell of international support” for sharks is beginning to gain
traction. She applauds what she deems “incredibly
positive international shark conservation steps” taken by some countries in
recent months.
She cites the recent announcement
of a permanent shark sanctuary in Honduras, which will uphold a moratorium on the commercial fishing of sharks established
there last year.
Other
international steps indicate that shark protection is creeping onto the global
agenda.
Last year, the Maldives extended a
national embargo on shark hunting, banning shark fishing in all its waters plus
all shark product exports. In a joint report, TRAFFIC and the Pew Environment Group claim the decision was based on “evidence
that sharks are more valuable as a tourist attraction than as exported meat and
fins”.
The Malaysian state of Sabah, which has seen drastic reductions
in shark species, is currently preparing legislation for a ban on shark
finning.
A bill adopted by Hawaii which bans
all trade and the possession of shark fins will come into effect this
July. Similar bills have recently passed, or are pending, in several U.S.
states.
But are these efforts enough? Are
they too little, too late?
Rechtorik says that while many organisations and some
governments are working hard on shark protection, “when working with cultural
norms it can take time. Unfortunately we don’t have that time”. She believes that the need for action
by the international community is “urgent”.
Mahto agrees that “global protection” for sharks from fishing and finning is desperately needed.
Thus, while individual legislation within countries is commendable, it is clear that piecemeal measures are
grossly insufficient to rectify a problem of this scale. In the absence of any
legally binding and enforceable international agreements protecting sharks, they
remain vulnerable and largely left at the mercy of a ruthless industry with a
lot to gain.
International cooperation, in the form
of a mandatory agreement, is possibly the last hope for the continued survival
of sharks.
The
future
IPSO claims the multi-country panel produced “a grave assessment of current threats - and a stark
conclusion about future risks to marine and human life if the current
trajectory of damage continues: that the world's ocean is at
high risk of entering a phase of extinction of marine species unprecedented in
human history”.
Scientists have long warned that if sharks
disappeared from our oceans, there would be a snowball effect on other marine species
and the entire ocean environment. And while there appears to be consensus that the
impact on marine ecosystems would be catastrophic, we are yet to fully grasp
the magnitude of the crisis.
According to Rechtorik, the over-exploitation of
sharks is causing “untold ecological damage”. She says that there is already
evidence of what occurs when “top predators” such as sharks disappear from the
environment.
One significant outcome is that “prey species proliferate and ecosystem function becomes unbalanced”. Rechtorik also asserts that damage to habitat is a natural consequence of this.
The Australian Marine Conservation Society contends that marine ecosystems risk total collapse without sharks. Mahto remarks that this is because sharks bring an “element of stability” due to their “incredibly important role” in the marine environment. Consequently, she believes that a worldwide recognition of the value of sharks is crucial to the health of the ocean.
“If sharks species are to go extinct in our lifetime, this will not only have a catastrophic effect on marine health, but will also be a tragic testament to the way in which we interact with our wild blue planet”, Mahto says.
Sharks are an ancient species which has survived for at least 400 million years through several global mass extinctions – a demonstration of their resilience. With 100 million sharks being brutally killed for soup each year, Mahto’s words are particularly pertinent. Will we allow them to disappear on our watch?
The Sydney Aquarium Conservation Fund has mentioned my article "Shark fin soup: A recipe for extinction" on their website under the heading "Shark finning - how can we stop it?", along with a link to my article.
