Shark exploitation and finning not only negatively affects the sharks but also the animals living in the same area of the sharks and the researchers of the sharks. The problem with shark exploitation is that …show more content…
many sharks are being killed because of the popular demand for their body parts.
Between twenty six and seventy six million sharks are being killed annually for their fins. Commercial fishing is one of the biggest threats to sharks because they are often bycought in other fisheries. When this happens most fishermen will cut off the fins and throw the shark back into the waters to bleed to death. The fish and other animals that live in the ocean are also affected by the exploitation of sharks.
Finning or exploiting sharks can produce many issues to arise such as shark extinction, fish not getting the nutrients and safety they need to survive, and scientists to be delayed in there research. Scientists believe that sharks, which are placed at the top of the food chain, are keystone species. This means that if the shark is removed from the food chain the entire chain will collapse. If sharks are being killed off they won’t be able to produce offspring so eventually sharks could go extinct. Because sharks produce such few numbers each time when giving birth it makes it especially hard to prolong shark continuation. Sharks are needed for other fish to continue to exist as well. Many fish depend on sharks to swim near for protection from larger fish. Sharks prevent the
spread of disease by feeding off of the weak and sick and often search the ocean floor for dead carcasses. Sharks also scare other animals into moving around the ecosystem instead of just staying in one area. When creatures stay in one area they feed off that area and strip the nutrients from the particular location. Sharks are “apex’ predators which means that they are ecological stabilizers, which would create problems within the environment if they were to disappear. One example of this was when US east coast, where large sharks like the black tip and tiger sharks have virtually disappeared, the number of shellfish had dramatically dropped as well. The shellfish filter the sea water, the decline in shellfish numbers had directly affected the water quality. Populations of small sharks, rays and skates have increased rapidly, consuming shellfish at an unsustainable rate. Researchers and scientists that conduct research on specific sharks can find the shark again by identifying the particular shark’s fins. If a shark is thrown back into the ocean and can continue to survive without fins it becomes difficult to be found again by scientists conducting research on the shark. This can cause their research to be postponed or tampered with.
The catching of sharks is done all around the world, some of the main countries would include: Indonesia, India, Spain, Taiwan, Argentina, Mexico, Pakistan, United States, Japan, Malaysia, and Canada. In Canada very little species of sharks are the focus of commercial fishing. The Spiny Dogfish, which is found on both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of Canada, is the subject of many fisheries. The large pelagic sharks have also been exploited in the Atlantic Canada. The porbeagle shark is currently an actively caught shark in the Atlantic Canada. The blue shark fishery is permitted to be caught in Atlantic Canada; however it has a very low market value so it is not currently active. In recent years, nearly all landings of blue shark consisted of bycatch from the commercial fishery. In European countries the meat of the dogfishes, smooth hounds, cat sharks, skates and rays are well sought after as part of commercial fishing. In the US and Canada the blue shark is most wanted as a sport fish while the porbeagle, mako and spiny dogfish are commercial fishing.
Sharks fins are traded all over the world but the major places that these fins are handled are Canada, Asia, and Europe. Europe is one of the major exporters of shark fins. Norway supplies 39 metric tons to other countries. Spain is by far the largest supplier, providing between 2,000 and 5,000 metric tons a year. Shark fins are in very high demand in Asian countries to make shark fin soup. This soup is a delicacy in some Asian countries and is served at weddings and special occasions. Some of the major traders in Asia are Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, and United Arab Emirates. Hong Kong, being a major importer of shark fins in Asia, handles around fifty to eighty percent of the world’s shark fins. Shark fins are so sought after that traders can actually make a lot of money in this business.
To solve this problem of shark finning we would need to ban shark finning from all countries, create more shark sanctuaries, and develop more laws against harming sharks. Many countries already have banned shark finning from their oceans but have not banned the trading of shark fins into their country. Canada, being one of the countries that have banned the actions of shark finning, still allows for shark fins into their country. The US has completely banned shark finning and shark fins coming into the nation. To ensure the safety of the sharks another solution could be to put more sharks into sanctuaries. Shark sanctuaries are areas that hold marine life that are fully protected by laws and enforcement. These sanctuaries would only be possible with the support and cooperation of local communities. Sanctuaries can dramatically produce real economic benefits to local populations. These populations provide sustainable financed enforcement by focusing on marine tourism. Shark sanctuaries have been found in Raja Ampat, Indonesia, the Marshall Islands, the Bahamas and Palau. None of these solutions can make everyone happy because many people in some countries depend on the shark’s fins to make a living. In my opinion the best way to solve this issue is to ban shark finning everywhere because there is other ways to make money that does not involve killing sharks. To oppose these ideas and thoughts one could say that the finning of sharks is a good thing because it helps the economy where the shark’s fins are being traded at. The average trader makes US two hundred thousand dollars each year through tourism. Many poachers can sell a pair of fins to a restaurant for US one hundred and fifty dollars to two hundred dollars at black market prices. In Maldives, sharks have a particularly valuable role in the tourism industry, which generates thirty percent of the country’s GDP. The annual value of shark tourism in the Maldives is estimated at US thirty eight point six million per year. A shark that is thrown back into the water to slowly die after being finned could potentially help other organisms stay alive. The death of one shark in an ecosystem could be food for many other animals in the same ecosystem. If the shark population decreases our ocean life would change immensely. Sharks need to stay alive because without them the entire ocean ecosystem would collapse.