Jaws: Who are the Real Monsters.

 

On average, around 12 people are killed each year by sharks. In contrast, humans kill 11,417 sharks per hour, 274,008 sharks per day, 1,918,056 sharks per week and 100,012,920 sharks per year. A report published in the journal Marine Policy revealed that the number of sharks killed each year could even be as high as 263,000,000. 

 

Millions of sharks are de-finned each year, for the Asian delicacy of shark fin soup. Shark fin soup has become popular, even obligatory at banquets, weddings and business dinners. The most prized shark fins can cost hundreds of dollars, with the average being around $450 per pound. Shark meat in contrast, is worth less than most fish.

The process of shark finning, is unimaginably cruel and barbaric. Like elephants hunted for their tusks and left to bleed out, finned sharks are often thrown back into the sea, often still alive, to bleed to death, die of starvation or to be eaten by predators.

Even the largest fish in the ocean, the Whale Shark, does not escape persecution.

 

 

The mass slaughter of sharks has contributed to some shark populations declining by 98% in the last 15 years, and nearly one third of all shark species are now on the internationally recognised red list of threatened species. Sharks have survived for over 450 million, yet we are on course for killing them off within decades.

 

The loss of any shark species is monumental, as they play a crucial ecological role in our world's oceans. As apex predators they are at the top of the food pyramid and "without sharks to hunt second level predators, it is thought that the whole ecosystem would become imbalanced, leading to the decline of fish stocks and even of coral reefs".

There is some promising news. Thanks in part to publicity campaigns condemning the shark soup delicacy, the demand for shark fin has decreased in some areas of the world. Imports of shark fins into Hong Kong have dropped by more than 29 per cent since 2011 (according to new research published in the journal Biological conservation). According to Wild Aid, the demand for shark fin in China has also dropped by 50% to 70%.

 

However, there is much more work to be done. Shark finning needs to stop in its entirety; we need to protect and respect these remarkable creatures because without them, our worlds oceans are in danger of plummeting into an abyss.

 An article by Harry Wright

For more information on the brutal shark finning process please watch the below video.
Viewers discretion is advised:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaZjmT8mHbU


References:
http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2015/03/07/peace-boat-passengers-consider-the-true-cost-of-shark-fin-soup/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21629173

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/whale-shark/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/27/sharks-killed-per-hour-infographic_n_2965775.html


http://www.stopsharkfinning.net/