Yes.
It's not just the practice of fishing for sharks that are slow to reproduce - with many species dangerously close to extinction - but it's how the practices are being conducted.
Here is a quick outline from the Shark Trust:
Finning is the process of cutting off shark fins (often while the shark is still alive) and discarding the body at sea. This is a hugely wasteful practice - wet fins typically represent <5% of a sharks body weight. Finning occurs worldwide, in commercial and artisanal fisheries, with finned sharks including both those caught as bycatch and those directly targeted. Demand for shark fins comes primarily from the market for shark fin soup, a prestigious commodity in many Far Eastern cultures.
Shark fin soup © arthur hungry
Most sharks grow slowly, mature late and give birth to a few large pups. Consequently, shark populations decline rapidly when targeted by fisheries and recover slowly, if at all. There are now 110 species of chondrichthyan fish listed in a threat category on the IUCNs Red List, with a further 95 species listed as Near Threatened. Over the last 15 years some Atlantic shark populations have declined by up to 80%. The environmental impact of removing large numbers of sharks from ocean ecosystems is hugely complex and unpredictable.
Few States have yet developed effective shark fisheries management legislation, and it is currently not illegal to sell shark fin soup or other shark products, unless the product is made from a protected species.
It's not just the practice of fishing for sharks that are slow to reproduce - with many species dangerously close to extinction - but it's how the practices are being conducted.
Here is a quick outline from the Shark Trust:
Finning is the process of cutting off shark fins (often while the shark is still alive) and discarding the body at sea. This is a hugely wasteful practice - wet fins typically represent <5% of a sharks body weight. Finning occurs worldwide, in commercial and artisanal fisheries, with finned sharks including both those caught as bycatch and those directly targeted. Demand for shark fins comes primarily from the market for shark fin soup, a prestigious commodity in many Far Eastern cultures.
Shark fin soup © arthur hungry
Most sharks grow slowly, mature late and give birth to a few large pups. Consequently, shark populations decline rapidly when targeted by fisheries and recover slowly, if at all. There are now 110 species of chondrichthyan fish listed in a threat category on the IUCNs Red List, with a further 95 species listed as Near Threatened. Over the last 15 years some Atlantic shark populations have declined by up to 80%. The environmental impact of removing large numbers of sharks from ocean ecosystems is hugely complex and unpredictable.
Few States have yet developed effective shark fisheries management legislation, and it is currently not illegal to sell shark fin soup or other shark products, unless the product is made from a protected species.
