As a young child, my mother gave me the nickname of Súp Vây Cá Mập, which translate to shark fin soup. Why did she give me that nickname? That nickname, shark fin soup, is a traditional, expensive dish in Chinese culture, and growing up with that nickname, I always thought that I was symbolizing wealth. But just recently, I found out that nickname also meant shark extinction. Because of this soup’s main ingredient is shark fin, the process of shark finning came to be, killing tons and tons of sharks. How about not making shark fin soup and saving the shark population? I agree to ban shark finning, but there are pros and cons, the pros of saving the sharks but the cons of taking away jobs from those who have to save their own family from hunger and disrespecting a Chinese tradition. …show more content…
Shark finning is “the process of slicing off a shark’s fin and discarding the rest of the still-living body, often by dumping it back into the ocean”(Fairclough). The reason why fishermen chose to keep the fins and discard the bodies is because the shark’s body have less value compared to their fins. Their fins could sell “as much as $500 per pound ($1,100 per kilogram)”(Fairclough). Even though it is only used in a Chinese dish, there are other countries that had also practiced shark finning. In 2008, based on Oceana table of “Origins of shark fin exports to Hong Kong”, the world’s top exporters were Spain, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, and United Arab Emirates. Even the United States of America was on the list and is one of the top 10 countries that have exported shark fins to Hong Kong. Shark finning also caused the 14 shark species population to decrease dramatically to the point of extinction. Even though the main cause of shark species extinction is from shark finning, another factor would be how they
Every year, there are about 100 million Sharks killed, ultimately for its commercial success. Their fins are used as the main ingredient for a dish so-called Shark soup. However, many are unaware of the actual importance of Sharks' existence on Earth. They do a number of things to control and balance aquatic life down below, which in return affects how we live on the surface. Sharks have existed in our world for over 400 million years, if they were to suddenly disappear for industrial purposes, much problems will be encountered throughout the world. We must preserve the lives of Sharks, for many reasons most importantly that shark hunting is morally wrong, it may provide economic failure in a given time, and it may serve a critical unbalance of a healthy environmental state.
The bull shark may be responsible for many shark attacks in the world but I believe that we have no right to kill them. Sharks are very important to animals food cycles and if the food cycles get messed up it can greatly effect the world. In fact, the bull shark is more vulnerable to human impact due to their ability to live in fresh and salt water but many sharks that are killed are for either shark fin soup or their liver oil. The sharks liver oil has many uses now but it started as a machine lubricant. Another way that sharks die is by recreational fishing. The sharks can get caught up in the fishermen's nets and eventually suffocate and die. As an environmental community, I feel like we need to inform people about shark habits and how to keep sharks safe. The water is their home and we are
Shark fin soup is a very big part of the Chinese and the Chinese think it shouldn’t be interfered with. The reason Madison is trying to ban shark meat is because, she is trying to save and sustain the amount of sharks in the ocean. Unlike maybe chickens which we have plenty of and do not need to save, plus chickens are not dangerous to our health.
Sharks have also been subjected to medical research, games and competitions, jewellery, souvenirs and cosmetics. We need to take into consideration that sharks play a vital role in the natural world that we live in. it is imperative that we look after these majestic creatures and ensure they remain protected. We need to be aware of the dangers of sharks, swim in protected areas where there are shark nets, and do not swim after dark in the sea (especially not alone) as the sea is the sharks home. Humans should also be wearing wet suits as protection in the ocean. The sea is where they live, they swim freely and they eat – they do not particularly target humans but rather prey on food that is available to them in their habitat.
In addition, I understand that this is a tradition for china to do shark fining, but they need to stop. If they do not, the sharks will be extinct. The people in China will also have a shortage in shark meat. After I read Finning Endangers Sharks, Ocean Ecosystem, and watching Should We Save sharks, I realized how horrible people can be. Due to the ethnical attitudes and behaviors of the people, I
Everyday tens of millions of sharks are murdered and hunted primarily for their fins to be used in soup. The definition of shark fining means the removal of shark fins while the rest of the body is thrown back into the ocean to drown, starve or get eaten by another animal all leading up to death. Although shark fining has been around for several decades the practice needs to be stopped. Killing sharks for their fins used in soup is known to cause serious health issues and is also unbeneficial towards the oceans ecosystem.
So if shark finning is such a horrible practice, then why does it still continue? The reason is quite simple: money. It 's mind boggling to see what people will do for a simple piece of paper, and shark finning is no exception. It is estimated that the fins of a shark can sell for up to $500 per pound! With these kind of profit margins, it 's no wonder that restaurants in China still sell shark fin soup.
Back in the dynasty the Emperors would serve the dish to honor the guest, because they believed it had healing benefits from the concurring of a shark (Fairclough, Caty). Fin soup still occurs today even when not on special (Fairclough, Caty). In addition the shark fins for can sell for a pretty penny anywhere from $500 a pound or even $1,000 a kilogram (Fairclough, Caty). As a matter of fact, fishermen in Melbour, Segal would export $1300 pounds worth of shark fins a week. It was recorded that a single adult fin sells for $80 and a two-meter monster can sell for $300. Additionally, 1 out of every 100 sharks reported killed between 2000-2008 comes from these fisherman(Hinshaw, Drew). (commentary) about Its question that fisherman practice “unsustainable finning” because it does pay nice , but the amount of money gained by finning isn’t comparable to how much sharks are worth to our economy. The global value of shark finning is around $630 million but is declining, while shark tourism is worth $312 million and promises to be worth $780 million in 20 years ( source 8). Human activity of finning isn’t the only reason to the decline of Great White sharks, human protection is another
Information (sub-point): The solution to the problem of shark finning is to sign petitions and force the government to pass legislature that will ban shark finning, as well as ban the import of shark fins. In 2000, Bill Clinton signed the Shark Finning Prohibition Act of 2000 (SFPA), which “banned finning on any fishing vessel within United States territorial waters, and on all U.S.-flagged fishing vessels in international waters” (Speigel, 2011). Currently, it is also illegal to hunt sharks in many parts around the world due to various restrictions set by other government, but it is not illegal to import and sell shark fins. Finding shark fins in the US can be as easy as walking into an Asian restaurant and ordering shark fin soup. If we truly want to make a difference, and see a rise in the shark populations around the world, we need to ban the sell and trade of shark fins
Sharks appear to be very vicious creatures that will eat or kill anything in its path. People think that all sharks are harmful and deadly to humans. However, research shows that this statement is not true. Sharks can be trained and tamed. They are just like big, aquatic dogs. Only about 2 dozen types of sharks are potentially harmful to humans. Shark attacks are also much more uncommon than one may think. Despite their fearsome appearances, sharks are not as vicious as they look.
Sharkwater is a documentary. Just like many documentaries it puts forth a strong message by using relevant facts and captivating footage. Sharkwater explores the nature of sharks, how misconception and ill treatment is driving them to the edge of extinction, and how some people are taking a step towards protecting them. The creator of this document did an excellent job went it came to using primary sources and proper facts. In some places of the world shark finning is a full-blown industry that is being protected by the government and was killing thousands of sharks everyday just for the sake of money. In that point of the film you could say a bias opinion was presented. But when the streets of Puerto Rico began to flood with angry protesters
One of the governments main reasons for culling the sharks is because they are coming in too close to the shores and becoming a potential threat to swimmers. But why is this happening? This is due to a change in shark feeding habits, but because they are eating more human of course not! Rather because us humans are over fishing and eliminating the fish/food sources of which sharks normally feed on. This is forcing sharks to come in closer to find food. Us as humans have forced sharks to come in closer and are now killing sharks because of our a...
Thesis: Sharks should be conserved because they are an important part of the ocean, attacks are often incidental, and human behavior influences the behavior of sharks.
February 8th 2013, a US Coast Guard patrol ship ran into an illegal, five-mile long gillnet filled with dead sharks, stretching as far as about 17 miles north between the United States and Mexico border. A total headcount of 255 blacktip, 2 bullsharks and 109 bonethead sharks were trapped and killed inside the gillnet. ON ONLY MARKED PAGE
Introduction One particularly interesting sea creature is the whale shark, formally known as Rhincondon typus; it was first discovered in 1828 by Andrew Smith (Rowat 2012). This large fish is found globally in warm tropical oceans and prefers to stay within 200 meters of the ocean’s surface in waters ranging from 4.2 to 28.7 degrees Celsius (Stevens 2006). This creature can be found all across the globe in warm tropical seas. Aggregations of whale sharks have been seen off the coast of Australia at times, although it is primarily a creature of solitude. Whale sharks are filter feeders that consume plankton as well as small fish and are harmless to humans.