By Rebecca Regnery
Sharks, it's safe to say, instill more fear in humans than any other animal in the ocean. Hollywood's partially to blame, of course, but so is the endless parade of DVDs and books that tickle our seemingly inexhaustible need to vicariously scare ourselves with "killer shark" tales. Even the word "shark" itself implies a threat.
While it's true that sharks are one of the ocean's major predators, the larger truth is that sharks have far more to fear from humans than people do from these legendary fish. The United Nations estimates that more than 100 million sharks are killed each year—whether as a target of commercial shark fisheries or as bycatch from other fisheries—and studies show that shark populations have declined by 90% around the world in the last 50 years.
The international community has begun to acknowledge this grave threat to sharks. In the last five years, international bodies have either asked nations to develop shark conservation plans or have actually passed greater protections for the fish.
"These actions are positive signs that the international community is taking shark finning and other forms of shark hunting seriously," says Nicola Beynon, wildlife and habitat protection campaign manager for Humane Society International's Australian office. "Yet none of them will solve the problem. The problem won't be solved until all countries adopt outright shark-finning bans and develop conservation plans."
The Threats to Sharks
Most shark populations are extremely vulnerable to threats such as over-exploitation and threatened habitats because, in general, they are long-lived and slow to mature and reproduce. A number of shark species do not reach sexual maturity until their teens and some give birth to only one or two young each year.
Some species (such as Mako and dogfish) are targeted by commercial fisheries, which sell shark meat for use in fish and chips, among other products. What's more, sharks are killed as bycatch by fisheries that target other species such as tuna and swordfish.
Sharks are also regularly killed for their fins to make the Asian delicacy known as shark fin soup. In a gruesome and wasteful practice known as shark finning, a shark is captured, his fin sliced off often while he's still alive, and the remainder of the animal tossed back into the sea, dead or dying. The rest of the body is not worth nearly as much as the fin, and having to take the whole shark to shore uses up a lot of space on the boat, especially with larger sharks.
Many countries including Australia (as a direct result of lobbying by HSI's Australian office), the United States, Brazil, Canada, and the European Union have banned the inhumane practice of shark finning. They require that anyone bringing a shark fin to shore must also have the rest of the carcass.
The International Response
The depletion of shark populations has led to a number of international agreements that increase protection for the famous fish. In 1999, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) adopted an International Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks. The FAO has asked shark-fishing nations to develop plans of action for shark conservation, but to date, few have done so. In 2004, the UN General Assembly called on nations to ban shark-finning fisheries.
In November 2002, delegates to the 12th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) decided to list whale sharks and basking sharks on Appendix II, requiring export permits for any international trade in these species. CITES protection for sharks was first considered in 1994, but it was not until 2002 that shark-protection proposals, this time from the United Kingdom and the Philippines, gained enough pro-conservation votes to override the stiff opposition by pro-use countries such as Japan, Norway, and China.
In October 2004, CITES delegates took another important step toward protecting sharks by approving a proposal from Australia and Madagascar to add the great white shark to Appendix II, which will require monitoring the sustainability of the trade in great white jaws, teeth, and fins. Again, pro-conservation votes outweighed the votes of countries such as Japan, Norway, and Iceland. Furthermore, the CITES Animals Committee resolved to examine other shark species that may benefit from CITES protection.
The following month, November 2004, the World Conservation Union, comprised of more than 1,000 governmental and non-governmental organizations from more than 140 countries, adopted a recommendation urging all states to ban shark finning and require shark fins to be brought to shore attached to their bodies.
That same month, the 63 member countries of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) adopted, by consensus, the first international ban on shark finning. The proposal was led by the United States and co-sponsored by the European Community, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Panama, South Africa, Trinidad & Tobago, and Venezuela.
In June 2005, the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) followed ICCAT's lead and adopted, by consensus, similar language banning shark finning by tuna fisheries managed by the IATTC in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. The resolution, which also aims to improve information about sharks in IATTC fisheries, was co-sponsored by the United States, the European Union, Japan, and Nicaragua.
HSI is working to convince member countries of other international agreements such as the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT), the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) and the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC)to follow ICCAT and IATTC’s examples.
"The time for delays is long over," Beynon notes. "The sharks are dying by the millions, while countries continue to shuffle their feet. The international community shouldn't accept these tactics any longer. I know HSI isn't."
What You Can Do
- Never consume shark fin soup.
- Avoid all shark meat, including fish and chips and Mako.
- Avoid products made with ingredients that come from sharks. Shark liver oil is used in hemorrhoid ointments, and shark cartilage is sometimes sold in health food stores as a disease preventative.
- Avoid consuming fish such as tuna and swordfish, which are caught using methods that have high bycatch of sharks and other species.
- Urge your government to adopt domestic and international measures to protect sharks. If you live in the United States, ask the National Marine Fisheries Service to continue to advocate for stronger international protection for shark species, including a CITES listing for the spiny dogfish, which is usually exported as the common fish used in fish and chips. In other countries, contact the environmental and fishery ministries to urge them to protect sharks.
