Let's Keep Sharks Out of Soup

Last week, the California Senate passed a bill that made a big statement: Sharks should be swimming in the wild, not in shark fin soup.

The bill bans the trade of shark fins in the state, and if signed into law by the Governor, will mean a complete West Coast ban on the trade of shark fins -- a monumental victory for sharks in the Pacific. Oceana, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the Humane Society of the United States and WildAid all played a big part in supporting this legislation.

Each year, tens of millions of sharks are killed for their fins, mostly to make shark fin soup. Shark finning is a horrific practice in which a shark's fins are sliced off at sea and the shark is thrown back in the water to bleed to death. Thankfully, shark finning is illegal in U.S. waters, but that doesn't stop the shark fin trade.

Shark populations around the world are crashing, which has cascading consequences on the marine food web. Sharks keep marine ecosystems in balance; we need sharks to maintain healthy oceans. This bill protects the at-risk shark species that are being targeted in unsustainable and unregulated fisheries worldwide.

Oceana has been working to protect sharks around the globe for years, and this legislation builds on our momentum to increase shark protections, including the U.S.'s shark finning ban passed last year, and a national ban on finning in Chile passed this July. The California bill adds to similar legislation passed this year in Washington and Oregon, and last year in Hawaii.

These majestic predators have been swimming the world's oceans for more than 400 million years, and we should keep them where they belong -- in the wild, with their fins firmly attached.

If you're a California resident, you can help. Ask Governor Brown to pass this bill, AB 376, by Oct. 9 in order to become law. You can reach the Governor's office at 916-445-2841.

 

Comments

[trailerguy]

09:17 PM on 10/02/2011

the last time there was a shark in my soup, i damn near lost a finger. Keep them out of pools and hotle lobbies as well

[tamashi]

09:30 PM on 09/18/2011

Instead of banning why not look for ways to create a sustainable fin harvesting method like shark farms (like factory farming to raise our livestock for meat) oh wait thats right we are broke!

[sam green 31605]

04:43 PM on 09/18/2011

it might be illegal but its still going on here in the gulf i have seen it... terrible thing to just slice off the fin and let the shark go..i

[carpelibertatem]

01:44 PM on 09/18/2011

Yea, it's horrible to cut the fins of a shark and dump it back into the ocean but most of those protesting it have no problem sucking a seven month fetus out of a woman in the interest of reproductive rights. Just seems a little philosophically inconsistent.

[Kosh 2012]

06:19 PM on 09/18/2011

Yes, because not wanting to go through pregnancy is easily comparable with wanting to eat shark fin soup.

[Carmen Slade]

12:16 PM on 09/18/2011

What amazes me are the politicians of Chinese descent demanding the right to continue this harvest because of "cultural traditions."

Let's just ignore the fact that you are taking a healthy wild animal, savagely hacking off its limbs and releasing it to die.

As Daffy Duck would say, "Dethpicable!"

[Mochilero]

03:03 AM on 09/18/2011

I probably meant not my concept

[Mochilero]

02:55 AM on 09/18/2011

All predators must kill in order to eat. Sadly for all the rest of the species on Planet Earth, human beings are far too good at it. That is certainly my concept of being created in God's image.

[Lane Campbell]

01:23 AM on 09/18/2011

Let's see ... according to this article, we're supposed to have respect for this "magnificant predator" that's sure to have the greatest of respect for any of us it happens to encounter when it's hungry. Actually, I'd think that eating something that, given the opportunity, would eat us, is ... poetic justice.

[cwebster]

02:50 AM on 09/18/2011

You could think rationally about the impact on the food chain, and the gruesome death they suffer. Most sharks would never harm a human.

[Kosh 2012]

06:17 PM on 09/18/2011

So by that logic, being killed or eaten by any animal who humans would eat is poetic justice too?

Do you think environmental and animal welfare policy should be based on petty childish feelings of revenge?

[chivaago vaago]

11:36 AM on 09/14/2011

Our oceans are being systematically destroyed and we have 36 hours to raise the alarm. The seafood industry uses long chains of heavy metal disks to drag nets across the sea floor in search of fish, crushing everything in their path. This bottom-trawling is like clear-cutting a forest to catch a parrot -- and only our outcry can stop it.

In two days, UN policy-makers are meeting to review the impacts of this deadly practice. Pacific island nations are fighting to save the oceans and have appealed to Avaaz members to stand with them. This is our chance to win -- if enough of us speak out now, it will strengthen their hand against big fishing countries, and will embolden serious players like the US and Australia, who have already banned bottom-trawling in their waters, to push for protection everywhere.

Let's build an urgent call to stop the senseless destruction of our oceans -- and delegates will deliver our voices directly to the UN meeting. Sign now and help us reach half a million voices in the next 36 hours:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_ocean_clear_cutting/?vl

[kolleenking]

07:14 PM on 09/13/2011

Can you imagine that they may be eating a shark that probably ate another human being???

[chivaago vaago]

11:38 AM on 09/14/2011

Have you ever eaten anything from the Chicago packing plants?

[mansterEZ]

05:53 PM on 09/13/2011

Our oceans are definitely being over-fished at an alarming rate. Since "Jaws" the attack on sharks of all kinds has increased exponentially. At this rate we will be reverting back to a jurassic time where super species ruled. I'm very afraid for our future when the ultimate goal of humankind is unrestrained greed, accumulation of wealth, and pursuit of the exotic.

[TomDi]

06:00 PM on 09/13/2011

To have gazillionaires wring their lying hypocritical hands over the plight of Mother Earth from air conditioned mansions as they ply their trade in an entertainment industry that guzzles more energy than Halliburton and Walmart combined, epitomizes a lack of self-awareness so pathetic it should qualify you as being mentally ill.

[mansterEZ]

07:02 PM on 09/13/2011

BOO!!! T-Rex commin' through and Megashark too.

[jnncan8]

04:17 PM on 09/13/2011

A big congratulations to the California Senate who passed this bill. I have high hopes that the Governor will sign it into law. This will be a big step in the right direction.

[ftkl1234]

03:31 PM on 09/13/2011

I'm awed by the beauty and prowess of these creatures but here in Hawaii, with our trying to protect the appetizing green turtles sharks feed on, we're having to deliberate if shark attacks will become more likely what with more turtles around?

[Chad Wheeler]

07:09 PM on 09/13/2011

On the flip side, some have theorized that shark attacks are due to the fact that over fishing and other declines in sharks natural prey have made them more prone to bite/attack people so perhaps if sharks have an abundance of their natural food, attacks will actually be less likely.

[Master-T]

03:30 PM on 09/13/2011

Great post. I am a Cali resident and will call the governor.

[lorik807]

03:19 PM on 09/13/2011

Thank you for stepping up for sharks. We also need to start actively petitioning for banning all Chinese herbal remedies until they stop using Tiger and Rhino parts. These remedies do not work and they are killing these majestic creatures for no reason. Soon Tigers and Rhinos will be extinct because some man thought that taking the chinese remedy would help his erection. Take some Viagra, not Tiger parts.