MORITURI TE SALUTANT | STOP Shark Finning!

[globe-trotter]

MORITURI TE SALUTANT

Shark fin soup is seen as delicacy in many places, although it is only a tasteless broth from boiled soft cartilage with some vegetables and chicken broth. The "gourmets" in the fancy restaurants don’t be discouraged and pay 100 USD and more for one plate of soup.

Obviously, for new riche and people who consider themselves as such, it is a status symbol for richness to take part of the extinction of sharks in that macabre way.
In order to satisfy only this perverse desire, experts estimated around 100 million sharks per year slaughtered cruelly for her fins.

The fishermen cut off the fins of alive animals and throw the sharks back into the sea, where they sink to the seabed and die painfully after hours.

Humans are really bad!


Shark massacre

In addition to all of that, by "heroic" sport fishermen thousands of sharks are killed daily. They throw the dead sharks back into the sea after only one picture for souvenir.
Because more than 70 percent of the fish population is already overfished, more and more fishing fleets are specialized to hunt the sharks.
They tow 100 km long lines through the sea, each of them with thousands of hooks.

Nowadays shark finning is prohibited in the European Union. Since it is precisely welcome, that the demand for the previously spurned shark meat increased. So they take the whole sharks and cut the fins in the harbour. Now this is legal and they export the fins like before.

And obviously, the European fleets even try to forge ahead in hunting the sharks. And because the profit isn’t sufficient anymore this will even be supported by subsidies from the European Union. Simply unbelievable!

It is foreseeable that most of the 400 species of sharks will become extinct in near future. Many of them already have no chance anymore!

It is estimated that worldwide totally about 200 million sharks are killed by human being. That’s more than 500,000 sharks per day, six animals per second.

Everyone can help!
We have to act NOW!

Best regards, Globe-trotter

 

[kuhnuk]

[h=1]Shark fin linked to degenerative brain diseases: Study [/h]
QMI Agency
First posted: Thursday, February 23, 2012 01:12 PM EST | Updated: Thursday, February 23, 2012 01:23 PM EST



While many are concerned about shrinking numbers of sharks being killed for shark fin soup, researchers at the University of Miami say people should avoid the Asian delicacy for health reasons.
A new study has found high concentrations of BMAA in shark fins -- a neurotoxin linked to neurodegenerative diseases in humans including Alzheimer's and Lou Gehrig disease (ALS).
The researchers said eating shark fin soup and cartilage pills can pose a significant risk of developing degenerative brain diseases.
Seven species of shark found in waters throughout South Florida were tested for this study: Blacknose, blacktip, bonnethead, bull, great hammerhead, lemon, and nurse sharks.
Co-author Deborah Mash did a study in 2009 looking at BMAA levels in the brains of patients dying of Alzheimer's and ALS. She found the patients had unusually high levels, up to 256 nanograms per milligram (ng/mg).
Looking at the shark fins, they researchers found between 144 ng/mg and 1836 ng/mg of BMAA.
"Estimates suggest that fins from as many as 70 million sharks end up in soup. As a result, many shark species are on the road to extinction. Because sharks play important roles in maintaining balance in the oceans, not only is shark fin soup injurious to the marine environment, but our study suggests that it is likely harmful to the people who are consuming them," the study's co-author Dr. Neil Hammerschlag said in a release Thursday.
The study appears in the latest edition of the journal Marine Drugs.
Several Ontario municipalities have enacted shark fin bans, including Toronto, Pickering, Oakville, Mississauga, Brantford, and London.