TAIWAN — A recent investigation allowed Pew Environmental Group to gather shocking images of the Chinese shark fin industry in action. The photos reveal the process of the shark fin market from the boat to the processing plant with all showing a grueling display of cruelty to sharks. Taiwan Fisheries Agency signed a ban on shark finning beginning next year. However, the irony of the ban allows sharks to still be hunted, yet fishermen are required to return to land with sharks’ fins intact. Too small a step toward ending this inhumane act? You decide.
Released October 19, the images show fins and body parts of vulnerable shark species—including the scalloped hammerhead and oceanic whitetip—being prepared for sale.
Up to 73 million sharks are caught each year for the global fin trade, which fuels a demand for shark-fin soup, according to Pew. Fishers usually slice the animals’ fins off and throw their still-living bodies overboard.
Scalloped hammerheads are especially vulnerable to overfishing. That’s because the sharks are slow-growing—they can take up to 17 years to reach maturity—and females have a long gestation period. A long pregnancy limits the ability of hammerhead populations to recover once depleted.
Overall, “sharks play a critical role in the ocean environment,” Pew’s Jill Hepp said in a statement. “Where shark populations are healthy, marine life thrives; but where they have been overfished, ecosystems fall out of balance,” Hepp said.
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