Shark finning
Shark finning refers to the practice of capturing sharks, removing their fins, and discarding the rest of the body, often while still alive. This method is highly criticized for being wasteful, as only about 5% of the shark is utilized, and for its cruelty, since the discarded sharks typically die from suffocation, blood loss, or predation. The primary driver of shark finning is the demand for shark fin soup, a traditional dish in Chinese cuisine, known for its texture rather than flavor. The rise in affluence among Chinese populations since the 1980s has led to increased demand for shark fins, prompting fishers to target sharks specifically for their fins rather than catching them as bycatch.
The ecological implications of shark finning are concerning, as it threatens shark populations and marine ecosystems due to the overfishing of these top predators. Reports estimate that around 80 million sharks are killed annually, with significant declines observed in certain species. In response to growing awareness and conservation efforts, various countries and regions have enacted bans or restrictions on shark finning and the sale of shark fin soup. Nevertheless, challenges remain in fully addressing the issue, particularly in regions where demand continues, and in ensuring compliance with protective measures.
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Shark finning
DEFINITION: Practice of cutting off the fins of a captured shark and discarding the shark, dead or alive
Shark finning has been criticized internationally for several reasons. It is considered wasteful, as it utilizes only about 5 percent of a shark’s body, and cruel when the shark is not killed after finning. It also contributes to potential overfishing of a top predator, which could have severe harmful effects on species survival and marine ecosystems.
Historically, sharks have rarely been fished commercially because of the poor quality of their meat. Shark fins, however, are the prized ingredient in shark fin soup, a traditional delicacy of imperial China that is still served around the world, although primarily in China. Shark fin soup is valued as the expensive end product of an elaborate, days-long cooking process. It is built around the special texture of the needle-like collagenous fibers inside the fins, which are tasteless but are given flavor by additional ingredients. In the early 2020s, it was reported that shark fins continued to sell for as much as $1,100 per kilogram (about $500 per pound) on the Hong Kong market.
Beginning in the 1980s, as increasing numbers of Chinese people became able to afford this special dish, demand for shark fins rose consistently through the 1990s and 2000s. Traditionally, commercial fishers caught sharks merely as unwanted bycatch, particularly when they were using long-line or purse-seine fishing gear. When a shark was caught, the fishers would remove the shark’s fins and discard the shark back into the ocean to save storage space on their boats, as the rest of the shark’s body was of so little value.
In the well-documented practice that has arisen since demand for shark fins became high, fishers capture sharks intentionally to take their fins. Typically, a shark’s trademark first dorsal (back) fin is carefully sliced off so that it is not contaminated with unwanted matter at the base of the fin. The same is done to the two pectoral (front) fins and the lower half of the caudal (tail) fin. These four parts are most valuable and are typically sold as a set. Less valuable are the so-called chips, the lower dorsal and three pelvic fins, which are also taken.
Generally, shark finners do not bother to kill a shark after finning it. They simply discard it into the ocean, where, as it can no longer swim, the shark is doomed to a slow death by suffocation, by bleeding, or as prey to other fish. It was especially this latter practice that became the subject of international outrage beginning in the late 1990s, combined with environmentalists’ concerns that increased shark fishing overall could lead to unsustainable overfishing of shark species.
Scientists have found it very difficult to gather precise data on the numbers and species of sharks that are killed, whether for their fins or for other reasons. Because sharks were considered only unwanted bycatch for many years, few fisheries reported on their numbers. A 2019 report estimated that approximately 80 million sharks were being killed annually. Due to the slow growth of most shark species as well as their low reproductive rates, this predatory fishing of sharks puts many species at risk of extinction. For example, an estimated 1.3 to 2.7 million scalloped and smooth hammerhead sharks were killed each year in the shark fin trade during the early 2020s, leading to a 60 to 70 percent decline in their overall population. A 2023 report revealed that over one-third of all shark species were in danger of extinction.
Growing concerns about shark populations and outrage against shark finning have led international agencies such as the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to address the issue. In 2000, the FAO published the International Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks, a document discouraging the practice of shark finning and promoting the full utilization of any caught sharks. When the FAO reviewed the plan in 2005, it found that global implementation of its voluntary guidelines was still seriously lacking. By 2010, however, a number of individual governments, including those of the United States, Canada, Japan, the Republic of China (Taiwan), Costa Rica, and the European Community, had adopted legal guidelines that generally ban the practice of shark finning in their waters or by their fishing fleets. By 2018, the practice of shark finning, usually defined fairly narrowly as removing the shark's fins while at sea, had also been banned in Venezuela, Chile, Taiwan, Brazil, Malta, India, and New Zealand. A smaller number of countries, including the Marshall Islands, Brunei, Fiji, and Kiribati, had banned shark fishing in their waters completely.
In the summer of 2012, China announced that it would gradually impose a ban on serving shark fin soup at official banquets and other events. By early 2013, China's Ministry of Commerce announced a 70 percent drop in sales of shark fin in the Beijing market during the Chinese New Year holiday. The Chinese ban became official in December 2013 as part of a government austerity campaign. The conservation group WildAid reported that public awareness campaigns combined with government bans on serving shark fin soup at official events had helped reduce consumption of shark fins in China by some 80 percent between 2011 and 2016. Hong Kong and Malaysia imposed a similar ban on shark fin soup at government events, in 2013 and 2014, respectively. In 2015, it was reported that imports of shark fins to Hong Kong had fallen by 29 percent since 2011, in part due to the public awareness campaigns. However, there were concerns that the decline of shark finning was driving more demand for meat from the body of the shark, which, unlike the fins, had not been widely banned. Furthermore, concerns remained in other parts of Asia, such as Thailand, where demand for shark fin persisted into the 2020s. Though WildAid reported a decline in shark fin consumption in Thailand of 34 percent between 2017 and 2023, shark fin soup remained popular among Thai citizens at weddings and other gatherings and no ban had been enacted on serving shark fin soup in the country.
Researchers and activists noted the effectiveness of protecting one shark species at a time, according to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) report from 2022. Such protections ban finning of specific species of sharks in an effort to slow the decline in population. However, this approach holds its own difficulties; once separated from the body of the shark, identifying the species of shark from which the fin has been taken is very difficult, leading to inaccurate reporting and enforcement of such measures.
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