A Few More Sharks Get to Keep Their Fins

Some good news for sharks: The US has banned the odious shark-fin trade, a move conservationists hope will help protect millions of sharks butchered every year. The Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act, introduced in 2021, is now law, making it illegal to possess, buy, sell, or transport shark fins or any product containing shark fins. Violators (who are truly vile) face up to $100,000 in fines.

The practice of shark finning – in which caught sharks have their fins sliced off, their carcasses dumped back into the ocean – has been prohibited in US waters for decades, but the country has remained a major hub for buying and selling fins, which end up in very expensive soup. Globally an estimated  73 million sharks are butchered every year. The people of China from the emperor on down have been slurping the gop for centuries.  

“It’s a great day for sharks,” applauded Beth Lowell of the conservation group Oceana, which has lobbied hard for years for the ban. “This bill will also help to fight illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing by giving the US more tools to take action against countries that fail to address these devastating and destructive practices in their fleets.”

That last bit is key. The US now must act forcefully to get other countries on board, similar to the way the ivory trade has been thoroughly demonized in this country and abroad. 

The International Union for Conservation of Nature estimates that more than a third of the world’s 500-plus shark species are threatened with extinction. Overfishing, including finning, is largely behind the 71% decline in shark species over the past fifty years. Maybe it’s not too late to save the dwindling number of survivors.

Photo credit: Shark Stewards