Shark Finning Is Wrong, Help Stop It

The fins are then sold for up to $600 per pound, while the rest of the shark meat has little to no value, meaning 95% of the shark is wasted. The fins are used for shark fin soup, a dish long associated with prestige and privilege. Outside of Asia, California is the largest shark fin market.

The NRDC blog estimates that between 26-73 million sharks are killed each year, just for their fins.

Current federal laws ban shark finning in U.S. waters but unfortunately, don’t address the shark fin trade. The California Assembly is considering a bill called AB 376 that would address that exact issue. According to the NRDC website, where you can also sign a petition in support of the bill if you are a California resident, the bill

“would ban the possession, sale, trade and distribution of shark fins in the state. The bill, AB 376, would help protect sharks and preserve the health of California’s and the world’s ocean ecosystems and biodiversity. Hawaii and the Northern Mariana Islands recently enacted shark finning bans, and similar legislation is now under review in Oregon, Washington and Guam.”

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has been an international nonprofit environmental organization since 1970, and currently has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Livingston, Montana and Beijing.

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