As I explained in my op-ed for the Christian Science Monitor, Jordan and I first became concerned about this issue when I came across brutal reports of thousands of lifeless, finless sharks found on the ocean floor off the Colombian coast. What, we wondered, could we in Texas do about this problem?

As families around the world prepare festive plans for holiday feasting, thankfully a certain soup is swimming off the menu this year -- shark fin soup. As a result, many of the important and majestic sharks that maintain balance in our marine ecosystems will roam free, fins intact.

The connection between declining shark populations and finning is tragically clear. Each year, up to 73 million sharks are stripped of their fins and thrown back to the ocean to die a painful and prolonged death.

It's Shark Week again. In California, the excitement is accompanied by the global tidal wave of action to protect these fascinating creatures. Hollywood movies aside, the truth is that humans are a far greater threat to sharks than they are to us.