Finning

Today I am going to take a little break from movies music and Madonna and talk about something that I wasn’t overly aware of, but since being made aware feel very strongly.

Did you know that shark fin soup is one of the most popular soups in Chinese cuisine? Well you probably did, but what you may not know is that over 100,000,000 sharks are slaughtered each year in this trade. Some of the sharks are caught, their fins are chopped off while they are alive (finning) and then they are chucked back over board where, unable to move, either die from suffocation or are consumed by other sharks or animals.

Why are they chucked back over board and not used for meat you may ask? The answer is profit. Shark meat in not worth as much as the shark fins, so they are thrown to their death to make more room for just the fins.

This is a pretty disgusting considering there has been a drop in the shark population of over 80% in the last 50 years. The reason not a lot of people hear about this is because of the stigma. Sharks are considered people eaters, and therefore do not gain a lot of sympathy (‘Jaws’ has a lot to answer for) from the media who, lets be honest, hardly ever report on conservation and environmental issues.

There have been new laws passed to prevent finning, but international waters are unregulated, although there are steps being made. The U.S. recently issued a ban of finning, but it is only applicable to U.S. registered sea vessels, even in U.S. territorial waters. However shark fins cannot be imported into the U.S. without the entire carcass.

If you want to learn more and see what you can do please visit Sea Shephards. who do wonderful work trying to protect our valuable oceans.

Alternatively you can go to Stop Shark Finning to find out what you can do to help. Or Sharkwater. Also please check out the wonderful “documentary as well. I have yet to wath it, but am assured by many many people that it is beautiful, educational, gripping and heart breaking.



If you want to do something really simple to help, go down to your nearest LUSH shop and buy yourself and your friends a bar of Shark Fin Soap. Would be a great Christmas Gift

For those of you unconvinced and who think, ike that ignorant man in the trailer, that sharks are the scourge of the ocean check out this site of the worlds most dangerous animals and see where sharks land. Lower than Disney ballerinas and ‘Dumbo’.