California Passes Ban on Shark Finning
No doubt that California has its problems but here’s a good news story we can all admire. Why is it that the Golden State always seems to be ahead of the rest of us on environmental initiatives and legislation?
Francesca Koe: Long Live the Sharks: California Passes Ban on Shark Finning
Here’s an excerpt:
More than 1/3 of shark species are threatened with extinction as a result of the international shark fin trade, with some populations declined by 99%. Although 26-73 million sharks are killed every year, just for their fins, many states and nations around the world are taking bold action to stop the wasteful “finning” of sharks: Chile, one of the biggest fin exporters, recently banned shark finning in their waters, joining the Bahamas, Honduras, the Maldives and Palau. In the U.S., Hawaii passed a first-of-its-kind law banning the sale, possession, and distribution of shark fins in the state) last year, and similar measures have passed just this summer in Washington State and Oregon.
This is exciting for many reasons, not least of which is the fact that our oceans’ apex predators play a critical role in the health of the ecosystems that support and feed people across the globe… A shark’s value is squandered when sharks are killed for short-term gain from the sale of their fins. And because California is one of the largest markets for shark fins outside of Asia, by stopping the fin trade here we can help put an end to this type of destruction in international waters.
