Closing the Loopholes on Shark Finning

Like many animals before them, sharks have become prey to human indulgence. Today, sharks are among the ocean’s most threatened species.

Similar to killing elephants for their valuable tusks, sharks are now often hunted for a very specific part of their bodies – their fins.

Fetching up to 500 Euros a kilogramm when dried, shark fins are rich pickings for fishermen. Most shark fins end up in Asia where shark fin soup is a traditional delicacy and status symbol.

With shark fins fetching such a high price, and with the rest of the shark being so much less valuable, many fishermen have taken to ‘finning’ the sharks they catch to save room on their boats for the bodies of more commercially important fish.