Categories: Lifestyle

Shark Week! Dangerous Truth of Shark Finning

Shark enthusiasts are rejoicing this week as Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week” returns to the small screen. Personally, I started off watching the highly-anticipated predatory series Sunday evening with some fine (organic boxed) wine, delicious cheese and a  good friend.

Although the media portrays sharks as a threat, there’s only an average of 5-10 human fatalities per year due to shark attacks… You’re more likely to be killed hornets, wasps, bees or dogs.

Yet an estimated 73 million sharks are killed yearly – from habitat loss, pollution, overfishing, and most of all, shark finning.  This gross hunting encourages fishermen to hunt the sharks, cut off their fins, and toss them back into the ocean where they can no longer swim… leaving them to die on the ocean floor. Painfully and slowly. This billion dollar industry is disturbing – it would be pretty much be equivalent to if we were chopping off a deer’s 4 legs and leaving them in the woods.

Shark Fin Soup is a Chinese Delicacy – and with prices that average over $100, it’s a status symbol for weddings and business meetings. Yet the shark fins have no nutritional or medicinal value. Ironically, the shark fins don’t even have flavor and are purely in there for the… status.

Because of shark’s slow reproductive process, we could wipe out the populations in 10-20 years if shark finning continues at the current rate!  What would happen if sharks die?  As top of the food chains/apex predators, sharks keep every other species in the food chain in balance, weeding out the sick, injured and dying so that populations of fish stay strong and healthy. Otherwise, the entire balance of the ocean’s food chain is in danger.

For example, Shark Savers previewed this during a scientific study in the mid-Atlantic US when 11 species of sharks were nearly eliminated. 12 of the 14 species those sharks once fed on became so plentiful that they damaged the ecosystem, including wiping out the species farther down the food chain on which they preyed. The negative effects trickle down.

Luckily legislation and bans are increasing – there’s a bill in California to ban the sale and possession of shark fins. Celebs including Leonardo DiCaprio, Scarlett Johansson, basketball player Yao Ming & pop star Ke$ha are all supporting the CA law.  Hawaii has already passed the ban with fines up to $50,000 + a year in prison to offenders.  Outside the US, Chile and other countries have started passing Shark Finning bans.

So what can you do to help to stop shark finning?

Happy Shark Week!

Posted by Julie

Julie Hancher

Julie Hancher is Editor-in-Chief of Green Philly, sharing her expertise of all things sustainable in the city of brotherly love. She enjoys long walks in the park with local beer and greening her travels, cooking & cat, Sir Floofus Drake.

Recent Posts

Climate action updates, EPA deregulation, new gardens, & more

Check out the latest sustainability news: Office of Sustainability releases 2025 Climate Action Update. OSS…

4 days ago

A bird-a-thon without birdwatching? For blind birders, it’s all about sound

From Malvern to Massachusetts, the first blind birding event showed accessibility in action. Chester County…

5 days ago

How Fishtown neighbors organized for a pedestrian safety win

More than 500 residents advocated for change, leading to 40% longer crosswalk times on Girard…

6 days ago

Protecting community gardens, PA’s green energy package & more

Check out the latest sustainability news: City Council votes to protect one of the city’s…

2 weeks ago

Mayor Parker’s $2 Billion H.O.M.E. plan to tackle housing & climate change

Here’s how the city plans to retrofit the aging housing stock and support existing repair…

2 weeks ago

Plant-based as resistance: Veggie Mijas reconnects BIPOC communities to the land

From storytelling workshops to seed swaps, they’re cultivating more than just vegetables in Philly and…

2 weeks ago