by frog
Metiria released these photos today showing that shark finning which is illegal in Europe, Australia, the US and Canada is still happening in New Zealand waters. Shark finning is the practice of cutting off a shark’s fin for sale as restaurant delicacy. The rest of the shark is often thrown overboard or turned into cheap fish and chips.
Sharks are slow growing, and produce few young. They are under huge pressure from over fishing, and have virtually no protection. Only 11 shark species are managed under the Quota Management System…
The Minister of Fisheries is currently considering a recommendation to allow finning to continue, even though the vast majority of people submitting on a draft shark management plan earlier in the year called for an end to this inhumane and wasteful practice.
The Island Bay Marine Education Centre says that more than 50,000 sharks are killed in New Zealand each year for their fins, and notes:
- Sharks that are caught and their fins cut off are not always dead when their bodies are thrown back into the sea. Without its fins the shark simply sinks to the bottom of the ocean where it drowns.
- Shark fins, once they are harvested, are then dried to be sold in global markets to individuals and restaurants to be made into shark fin soup!
- Shark fins add little nutritional value or taste to “Shark fin soup?, with chicken, mushrooms and pork added for flavour!
- High levels of toxic mercury have been found in shark fins. At the top of the food chain, sharks consume many smaller mercury carrying species, having the effect of accumulating mercury every time they eat. Source: USA’s Food and Drug Administration
Published in Environment & Resource Management by frog on Fri, June 6th, 2008
Tags: fishing, Metiria Turei, Quota Management System, Shark fin soup, Shark finning, Sharks
on the trolls and those who are unable to keep on topic
Using all the shark is fine (finning and fish and chips)
Using just the fin if the creature is still alive isn’t acceptable, in my view.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)
Who’s doing this? NZ companies?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)
Fewer sharks = fewer dead swimmers. Haven’t any of you heard of all the people who have died or been seriously maimed as the result of shark attacks?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)
Four?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)
The number of humans killed by sharks in the last 50 years in New Zealand could be counted on the fingers of one hand. On the other hand, the number of sharks killed by humans would number in the thousands. Just who is killing who?
I am sure more swimmers and divers have been drowned through being tangled in fishing line, so if you are rellay as concerned about dangers of swimming as you sound, then this is yet another reason to ban fishing.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)
*All* fishing? What’re the other reasons?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)
Unsustainability of fish stocks, in just about every fishery monitored would be one reason. The inherent cruelty of dragging a sentient animal on a hook would be another.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)
Don’t you mean nets?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)
Oh gosh, those sharks weren’t alive when the finning happened, right? It makes me really, really, really sad to see those dead sharks, but I guess I’d be even more really, really, really sad to see a shark kill someone. There’s an article that sort of talks about losing your life in a shark attack – I wonder if there are any statistics of sharks dying from finning =(
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)
pretty fair chance they drown pretty quickly…
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)
I don’t think anyone is really getting the point. See: http://www.sharkwater.com
Educate yourself beyond the JAWS mentality.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)
I think that is wrong and crucial – the fisherman just take the fins because they are too lazy to get the rest of the meat off of the shark. Without sharks in the water our oceans ecosystem would be screwed. If I am to use a shark for food I clean the whole thing, and they are very difficult to clean as there skin is like body armor.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0 (0)