VIVA W O R L D L Y F E A T U R E
Shark finning is one of the most brutal and inhumane trades to plague the fishing world and yet it continues today. We talk to environmentalist group The Shark Trust about the full extent of the problem and what’s being done to prevent it. Words: Simon Bland
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hen you think of sharks, what’s the first thought to enter your mind? Blind terror, sharp teeth, that foreboding ‘Jaws’ theme? Actually, the reality surrounding these apex ocean predators couldn’t be further from all the movie misconceptions. The under-publicised truth is: it’s us who do most of the butchering. Funnily enough, there’s no Hollywood movie about that. Each year, around 70 million sharks are dragged onto fishing vessels, stripped of their fins and thrown back into the ocean, in most cases still alive. This excessive and inhumane treatment is all in the name of food – shark fin soup - a delicacy once reserved for Oriental royalty and now considered a luxury dish at Chinese restaurants, weddings and New Years celebrations. Finning is oblivious to age, size and shark species and for the most part is largely un-policed. Not only is it wasteful (fins constitute only around 14% of a shark’s body, the remaining 86% goes unused) but it’s also a food source that won’t really do you much good. Like dolphin meat, which is harvested in a similarly brutal fashion, it contains dangerously high levels of mercury that if consumed in excess can affect the immune system and lead to birth defects.
It’s a grizzly tradition that continues for one reason and one reason only: money. On average, one pound of dried shark fin can retail for £200, with a dish of the highly coveted shark fin soup going for around £90 a pop - it’s a million dollar business and one that’s shrouded in controversy. It’s also a hot topic for conservation groups worldwide and rightly so - the trade could have a disastrous impact on marine life. Fins are farmed in such high numbers that the shark population has dropped dramatically in recent years and is unable to replenish fast enough. Over-fishing has driven many shark species’ numbers down by 95% - a concerning statistic, and one that impacts on other marine life too. After all, if you take out the top ocean predator you’ll find it’ll have a ripple effect on the whole aquatic food chain. ‘It’s an industrial process - there’s nothing partisan or romantic about fishing anymore,’ explains Shark Trust conservation officer John Richardson. ‘These ships are just huge and some of the long lines can be nearly 100 kilometres long with thousands of hooks. They put those out and the number of sharks they may catch is pretty mind-boggling. ‘At the moment it’s really just a minority of countries that have banned shark finning,
but enforcing the actual regulations is really difficult because you can’t police the whole ocean,’ Richardson continues. ‘The UK government is one of the most progressive and has a really positive, sustainable attitude to shark management. If any UK vessel wants to land sharks it has to make sure that all the dorsal fins on said sharks are naturally attached. In other words, they can’t be pinned on (which has happened in the past), they can’t be glued on (which, again, has happened in the past), and they can’t be tied on (which, unbelievably, people have also tried doing). ‘That means they are restricted to catching far fewer sharks per trip - you can imagine how many carcasses you can fit compared to how many fins - so that does make a difference, plus the fish enforcement guys can get a good idea of the exact species that’s being landed, so they know if they’ve landed a great white which is completely illegal and is protected around the world.’ The issue of finning was the focus of Gordon Ramsay’s Shark Bait, an hour-long special recently aired as part of Channel 4’s The Big Fish Fight, where the network’s top celeb-chefs champion sustainable seafood. Ramsay’s documentary pulled no punches, delving deep in >