Shark fins-An Alternative View
By Cheah Hooi Giam

Reading the last couple of issues of the MNS newsletter, I would like to highlight some points which forms the basis of the sharks fin campaign.

There are over 300 species of sharks in the world. The UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wildlife Fauna & Flora(CITES) puts only
3 species of sharks in Appendix 2. These are the Great White shark, the Whale Shark & the Basking shark. The trade and harvesting of these 3 species are subject to controls.
The other roughly 300 species of sharks can be freely traded. The top 20 shark harvesting nations are responsible for 80% of the global catch with the UK, Spain and several European Community(EC) States being among these countries. Indeed shark meat is commonly consumed in the EC and North America with the former harvesting sharks on a huge scale. So targeting sharks fin consumption as a lead cause of the decimation of the shark population is a gross distortion.

Sharks population is declining. But, this is by no means a phenomenon specific only to the shark species. With the rapid rise in human population, over fishing and pollution, most of the world's marine resources have declined .A cursory glance at The Star newspaper brings out at least 2 articles in as many months, reporting a 70% drop in the harvest of some Malaysian fish species in the last 10 years. Further afield, WWF (24th March, 2006 report) says that 90% of the oceans large fish have been 'fished out'. Further, several important commercial fish population has declined(due to over-fishing) to the extent whereby the species survival is seriously threatened. One example is the Cod fish in Newfoundland where, by 1992, the population of this species have totally collapsed.

The sharks fin campaign implies that 'live finning' ( i.e. the fins are removed and the live shark is then thrown back) is the norm in harvesting of the valuable fins. In fact, this method of harvesting is an exception rather than the rule. Most shark fins are harvested from dead animals. Showing 'live finning' of sharks is to 'shock and awe' the public (to paraphrase the infamous term used in the Iraq war of 2003).
However, even if it were so that 'live finning' is used, one cannot used cruelty as a reason for not consuming sharks fins. Unless one is a vegetarian, it is laughable if not hypocritical simply to suggest so. Which animal that humankind slaughters that is not bled to death?

I would like to persuade MNS members to trawl through the many articles on the internet to understand the issue of sharks fin harvesting better. A good site to start would be Wikipedia's article on 'sharks fin soup'.

Whether one likes it or not, sharks are a marine resource that has been caught and consumed in virtually all parts of our planet, both by the so-called 'developed nations' and the 'developing ones'. Perhaps, a more appropriate management of thisspecies is to see how it can be used in a more sustainable way.