Saving Seafood

Will banning trade in fins help endangered sharks? Experts are divided

July 21, 2017 — Dave Ebert pulls up an image on his computer screen. The object in the picture is shaped like an oversize arrowhead, thin, yellowish, and fraying at its edges. It’s a dried shark fin, the key ingredient in the Chinese delicacy shark fin soup. Border officials confiscated it from someone entering the U.S.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Office of Law Enforcement in Burlingame, California, sent the image to Ebert to identify exactly what species of shark the fin came from. If Ebert determines that it belonged to a species listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), an agreement to ensure that international trade of certain species doesn’t threaten their survival, the FWS will consider law enforcement action against the fin’s owner.

Ebert knows how hard it is to police this international trade, in hopes that fins that end up in restaurant kitchens have been sustainably fished. Yet he and many other shark conservation experts are skeptical about a bill before Congress, called the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act of 2017. Congressmen Ed Royce (a Republican from California) and Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (an Independent from the Northern Mariana Islands) introduced the bill on March 9.

If the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act passes, it would terminate the possession and trade of shark fins in all 50 U.S. states and 16 territories. Already 11 states, including California, and three territories have bans in place.

Activists and advocacy groups often cheer these bans. However, many experts say that they are not the best way to help overfished shark populations recover or to stop finning-at-sea, a practice where fishers cut off a shark’s fins and throw the rest of its body overboard, often still alive but doomed. Instead, experts argue that better tracking to determine whether fins come from a stable population and whether the sharks were finned or caught whole, followed by trade restrictions on unsustainably caught fins, represent the best steps toward saving threatened shark species. Some go so far as to argue that a U.S. trade ban may do more harm than good, by crushing a domestic industry that exports sustainably caught fins to markets in Asia and allowing less-sustainable fisheries to take up the slack.

In February 2016, the journal Conservation Biology published a study reporting survey responses from 102 shark researchers from the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, and Great Britain. The survey asked whether the researchers supported a range of 11 different international policies, including fishing quotas, bans on finning-at-sea, listing species on CITES, and banning the trade in shark fins. Banning the fin trade, though supported by about 60 percent of the researchers, was the second least-popular option. By contrast, more than 90 percent backed the idea of sustainable fishing using strict catch quotas, the most popular choice.

“Full utilization of sharks taken in sustainable fisheries would logically require that some of the fins get used,” one of the scientists wrote in the survey. Another added: “A nationwide ban on shark fishing is unwarranted. There are populations that are capable of supporting a sustainable fishery.”

U.S. shark fisheries are already heavily regulated to protect species that, as top predators, are vital to the health of marine ecosystems. In 1993, the federal government started limiting the species and number of sharks caught. Since then, regulations have become more stringent. In 2000, officials banned shark finning in U.S. waters due to ethical and environmental concerns. Sharks are typically slow to mature and produce few offspring, making it hard to know whether the regulations have helped. However, recently some coastal shark populations have shown signs of recovery. A study published in the journal Fish and Fisheries in February found that most formerly over-exploited shark species along the U.S. east coast and in the Gulf of Mexico were on the rise, following the implementation of careful management in the 1990s.

Read the full story at Mongabay

Florida wildlife officials won’t support federal shark fin ban

July 10, 2017 — State wildlife officials said Monday they are not supporting federal legislation that would ban the trade of shark fins.

Shark fins are valuable in Asian countries for a soup that is believed to increase sexual potency. Environmental groups support eliminating the trade to prevent shark finning, the illegal practice of cutting off fins and leaving sharks to die. Shark fins can be sold legally along with other shark meat.

In May, more than 100 Florida dive shops sent a letter to the state’s congressional delegation asking it to support a ban on the shark fin trade. H.R. 1456, which has eight Florida co-sponsors, would prohibit the possession or sale of shark fins.

But state officials told the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission meeting in Orlando on Monday they don’t support the bill because of the impact it would have on commercial fisherman and because shark finning is illegal now.

“We don’t believe it will improve the sustainability of the shark fishery,” Brian McManus, the commission’s representative in Washington, said of the federal legislation.

In the recent state legislative session, S.B. 884 would have established a similar ban in state law.

Facing opposition from commercial fishermen, the bill was watered down by the Legislature to only increase fines for illegal shark finning. The bill was signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott on May 23.

Robert Hueter of Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota told the commission to listen to its staff and not support a ban on the trade. He said a ban would not affect the international market in countries that do not promote sustainable shark fishing.

Read the full story at Politico

Sustainable Shark Alliance, Southeastern Fisheries Association Applaud Florida Law Cracking Down on Illegal Shark Finning

May 25, 2017 — The following was released today by the Sustainable Shark Alliance and the Southeastern Fisheries Association:

The Sustainable Shark Alliance (SSA) and the Southeastern Fisheries Association (SFA) applaud the State of Florida, Governor Rick Scott, and the Florida Legislature for passing a new law strengthening prohibitions against the illegal act of shark finning. The bill was passed unanimously by both chambers of the Florida Legislature and signed into law yesterday by Gov. Scott. It will take effect beginning in October.

The legislation raises existing fines and penalties for shark finning, which has been illegal under federal law for decades, and codifies a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission rule prohibiting this practice. Anyone caught removing shark fins before the shark has been landed at the dock will be subject to escalating punitive measures, such as fines and suspended permits, that culminate in a loss of all Florida fishing license privileges for a third offense.

“The SSA is grateful to Florida’s lawmakers for taking an approach that both protects sharks and allows law-abiding fishing families to continue to earn a living,” said Shaun Gehan, an attorney for the SSA. “This is the right way to eliminate shark finning and promote shark conservation. While some have proposed measures that would totally eliminate the sustainable harvest of sharks, Florida is showing why U.S. shark fisheries continue to be the gold standard around the globe.”

As originally introduced, the bill would have completely eliminated the sale and trade of shark fins in Florida. But after industry and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission presented facts about how Florida’s commercial fishermen responsibly land and harvest sharks, the bill was altered to specifically target those engaged in illegal shark finning. It was introduced in the Florida Senate by Sen. Travis Hutson, where it passed 39-0, and in the Florida House by Reps. Joe Gruters and Alex Miller, where it passed 115-0.

“This bill started out bad but ended up good, because lawmakers listened to their constituents and listened to the science,” said SFA Executive Director Bob Jones. “Our commercial fishermen catch the whole shark in a process that is rigorous and transparent. We despise anyone that would take any kind of animal and cut part of it off and just throw the rest away. That’s immoral and that’s wrong.”

About the Sustainable Shark Alliance

The Sustainable Shark Alliance (SSA) is a coalition of shark fishermen and seafood dealers that advocates for sustainable U.S. shark fisheries and supports healthy shark populations. The SSA stands behind U.S. shark fisheries as global leaders in successful shark management and conservation.

About the Southeastern Fisheries Association

The Southeastern Fisheries Association (SFA) is a Florida-based nonprofit trade association founded by a core group of fish dealers in 1952. The SFA defends, protects, and enhances the commercial fishing industry in the Southeastern United States while maintaining healthy and sustainable stocks of fish.

Shark Fin Soup Could Become Extinct Across the United States

May 23, 2017 — The Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act by U.S. Rep. Ed Royce of Fullerton would extend a similar prohibition to all 50 states. In the upper house, Sen. Cory Booker’s Shark Fin Trade Elimination Act would prohibit the import, export, sale and trade of shark fins. The fishing industry is fighting the legislation, while animal rights advocates say the practice of finning, in which sharks are often maimed and left for dead, needs to stop.

Shark finning is illegal in domestic waters, but sharks are sometimes caught outside the United States and their fins imported. Advocates for the business argue that federal regulations already require all domestic fishing to be ecologically sustainable and that so few sharks fins traded in the United States — the Sustainable Shark Alliance says the country is responsible for about 3 percent of global shark fin trade — that the law is unnecessary.

“We believe in sustainable harvesting [of] every aquatic species and using the whole animal whenever possible,” says Robert Vannase, executive director of Saving Seafood, a public outreach group funded by the commercial fishing industry. “There is demand for shark fins, and we think it makes much more sense for that demand to be fulfilled by well-regulated, sustainable fishing rather than to have the U.S. check out of the market entirely.”

Industry advocates emphasize that when sharks are caught or imported, the whole fish is used. Banning shark fins would contradict this ethos of sustainable fishing, they say. “Why would you throw them in the trash,” says Greg DiDomenico, executive director of New Jersey’s Garden State Seafood Association and a vocal critic of the Shark Fin Trade Elimination Act. He adds that such a ban could put some small-scale fishing concerns out of business. “This is a razor-thin margin business,” DiDomenico says. “It will remove another choice for American working fishermen.”

“It’s punishing people who are playing by the rules,” adds Shaun Gehan, an attorney for the pro-fishing-industry Sustainable Shark Alliance.

Read the full story at L.A. Weekly

ENGOs Renew Push for Shark Trade Elimination Act Passage; Industry, Scientists Push Back

May 16, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Like sharks in a feeding frenzy, a group of scientists, students and Oceana are circling, renewing their push to pass the Shark Fin Trade Elimination Act, threatening sustainable U.S shark fisheries. The scientists and ENGOs also say sharks are in decline.

On the other side, the Sustainable Shark Alliance, a U.S. seafood industry trade group, opposes the legislation. It’s unnecessary, they say, won’t make a dent in the global shark trade and ultimately penalize responsible fishermen.

“Oceana presents a false choice between a sustainable domestic shark fishery and other uses, such as tourism,” Shaun Gehan, a lawyer for the Sustainable Shark Alliance, said in a statement. “University and federal studies alike show growing domestic populations.”

The practice of shark finning, using only the fins and releasing the shark, has been banned in the U.S. since 1993. Some states have passed legislation banning trade of some shark parts or some species.

“The Shark Finning Prohibition Act ended the brutal practice of finning, the removal of the sharks’ fins while discarding their bodies at sea, and the Shark Conservation Act eventually closed some of its loopholes ensuring that sharks are landed with their fins naturally attached to their bodies,” the scientists wrote in their May 9 letter to Congress. “However, the United States continues to allow the buying and selling of fins. Five of the 11 countries that export shark fins to the U.S. do not prohibit shark finning. Therefore, while the U.S. bans shark finning in its own waters, it indirectly promotes this practice elsewhere and perpetuates the global trade in shark fins.”

Alliance members and other scientists counter that the Shark Trade Elimination Act will, by removing sustainably sourced shark parts, result in the increase of illegal trade of shark fins.

“Oceana and their partners are grossly misinformed and are misinforming the public,” said Bob Jones, Executive Director of the Southeastern Fisheries Association. “The U.S. shark fishery is the most sustainably run shark fishery in the world. Oceana should be promoting the responsible practices of the fishery instead of working to dismantle it.”

Dr. David Shiffman, a renowned shark conservation biologist, also is against the proposed legislation and wrote about it on the marine science and conservation blog Southern Fried Science.

“Shark fin trade bans do not allow for a sustainable supply of shark fins to enter the marketplace, punishing American fishermen who are doing it right,” Shiffman wrote. “Sustainable trade is incompatible with a total ban on trade, at least in the same place and time. The United States has some of the most sustainable managed shark fisheries on Earth. When these fisheries provide fins to the marketplace, it shows that fins can absolutely come from a well-managed shark fishery.”

Moreover, using the sustainably managed U.S. shark fisheries as examples would be better in the long run when the U.S. is negotiating with other countries, Shiffman said.

“This can be an important example for international fisheries negotiations and associated advocacy (e.g., ‘the United States manages their shark fisheries well, and so can you, here’s how.’),” Shiffman wrote. “According to Dr. Robert Hueter of Mote Marine Laboratory, a nationwide ban on the shark fin trade ‘will cause the demise of a legal domestic industry that is showing the rest of the world how to utilize sharks in a responsible, sustainable way.’ (And yes, sustainable shark fisheries absolutely can exist and do exist, although there are certainly many more examples of unsustainable shark fisheries.)”

While not affecting illegal international shark populations, the bill will hurt U.S. shark fishermen who play by the rules. It will force fishermen to dispose of shark fins on every shark they catch, which currently account for 50 percent of a shark’s value. Proper management can only occur when U.S. shark fisheries are allowed to collect the full value of their catch – without this revenue, shark fisheries will not be able to afford fuel costs and will cease to exist, the Alliance said in the statement.

“Our members are struck by the intolerance of the proponents of this campaign. It is clear that they are indifferent to the potential loss of income. I guess the livelihoods of fishing families are insignificant to the folks who support Oceana’s agenda,” said Greg DiDomenico, Executive Director of the Garden State Seafood Association.

Other respected shark scientists have come out in opposition to the legislation as well, including Dr. Robert E. Hueter. Hueter is the Director of the Center for Shark Research at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota Florida, and has more than 40 years of experience in shark research.

“This bill will do nothing to effectively combat the practice of finning on the high seas and in other countries, where the real problem lies, and it will not significantly reduce mortality of the sharks killed in global fisheries every year,” Hueter wrote in a letter to Congress.

This story originally appeared on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission. 

DAVID SHIFFMAN: The Case Against Shark Fin Trade Bans

May 15, 2017 — The following is an excerpt from a story published in Southern Fried Science on May 13:

The United States Congress is considering a nationwide ban on buying, selling, or trading shark fins. While several of my posts and tweets have briefly discussed my stance on such policies, I’ve never laid out my full argument in one post. Here is why I, as a shark conservation biologist, oppose banning the shark fin trade within the United States.  The short answer is that the US represents a tiny percentage of overall consumers of shark fin, but provide some of the most sustainably caught sharks on Earth, as well as important examples of successful management, to the world. This means that banning the US shark fin trade won’t reduce total shark mortality by very much, but will remove an important example of fins coming from a well-managed fishery while also hurting American fishermen who follow the rules. Also, a focus on these policies promotes the incorrect belief that shark fin soup is the only significant threat to sharks, and that addressing the tiny part of that problem locally represents the end of all threats. For the longer answer, read on. And for the case for shark fin bans, please see this guest post from Oceana scientist Mariah Pfleger.

Shark fin trade bans do not allow for a sustainable supply of shark fins to enter the marketplace, punishing American fishermen who are doing it right. Sustainable trade is incompatible with a total ban on trade, at least in the same place and time. The United States has some of the most sustainable managed shark fisheries on Earth. When these fisheries provide fins to the marketplace, it shows that fins can absolutely come from a well-managed shark fishery. This can be an important example for international fisheries negotiations and associated advocacy (e.g., “the United States manages their shark fisheries well, and so can you, here’s how.”) According to Dr. Robert Hueter of Mote Marine Laboratory, a nationwide ban on the shark fin trade “will cause the demise of a legal domestic industry that is showing the rest of the world how to utilize sharks in a responsible, sustainable way.” (And yes, sustainable shark fisheries absolutely can exist and do exist, although there are certainly many more examples of unsustainable shark fisheries.) Several experts in international fisheries negotiations have privately told me that the US has more negotiating power when we can say “manage your fishery sustainably like we do” instead of “you should manage your fishery sustainably, but we decided to stop participating in this market entirely”/ “we won’t buy your product regardless of how sustainable you make it.”

Most shark scientists, including me, prefer sustainable trade to banning all trade in general. As part of my Ph.D. research, I surveyed the members of the world’s largest professional societies focusing on sharks. 90% of respondents believe that when possible, sustainable fisheries exploitation is preferable to banning all exploitation or trade. (Shark fin bans themselves received the second-lowest support, and second-highest opposition, of any policy tool I asked about.)

Read the full story at Southern Fried Science

Sustainable Shark Alliance Applauds Recent Seizure of Illegal Shark Fins by Florida Wildlife Officials

April 4, 2017 – The Sustainable Shark Alliance (SSA), representing shark fishermen and dealers on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, calls for an investigation into the recent illegal shark finning incident reported last week near Key West.

The SSA vehemently opposes the reprehensible and illegal act of shark finning. U.S. domestic shark fishermen adhere to the legal and sustainable shark fishing quotas set by the National Marine Fisheries Service. The following was released by the SSA:

The Sustainable Shark Alliance, a coalition of shark fishermen and dealers along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, applauds Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission efforts to combat unlawful shark finning in a reported enforcement action involving a Key West shrimp boat. Such alleged unlawful activities, where a shark’s fins are removed and its carcass is discarded, harm the legal and federally permitted shark trade by U.S. fishermen laboring under conservative catch quotas and strict anti-finning laws.

Shark finning has long been illegal, and shark finning in the United States is extremely rare. Given the frequency of at-sea and dockside enforcement inspections, this violation is clearly an outlier.

The SSA strongly urges state and federal law enforcement agencies to remain vigilant in their efforts to eliminate illegal activities, including identifying the would-be buyers and ultimate customers for the fins. The legal shark fishery is closely monitored: harvesters must report catches of individual sharks and total amounts landed, and buyers must have federal permits and report all sharks purchased to the federal government. Exports are also reported, though the SSA supports enhancing the system for tracking shark fins after they leave the dock.

“This reprehensible activity harms law-abiding U.S. fishermen,” said Shaun Gehan, attorney for the SSA. “While some groups will use this unfortunate incident to push an agenda of banning fin sales, the fact is such laws will not dissuade criminals as would meaningful penalties such as those now before the Florida Legislature.” Nearly all fins harvested in the United States are exported to China.

The ability to sell fins is essential to the economic survival of SSA members. On average, fins account for fifty percent of the value of the landed catch. Given restrictive harvest limits and the costs associated with operating fishing vessels, loss of fin income would make it unprofitable for the fishery to continue. This would harm U.S. fishermen and their communities, while boosting profits for foreign fishermen not subject to the same strict conservation laws and oversight.

Sharks are managed by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) under a very restrictive quota system that has been in place since the mid-1990s. As a result, populations of large and small sharks have been sharply increasing.  In its last survey, NMFS found the most sharks in the survey’s 29-year history, 65 percent more than the one prior.  Given the success of domestic shark management, efforts to ban fin sales have been opposed by fishery managers and leading scientists specializing in sharks.

FLORIDA: Senate Bill Targets Shark Fin Trade

Editor’s note: “Shark finning,” or the practice of removing a shark fin at sea and discarding the rest of the shark, is illegal in the United States. All domestic shark fisheries are required to land the entire shark at the dock, and are managed according to sustainable fishery management plans.

February 15, 2017 — A bill filed in the state Senate would crack down on the sale and possession of shark fins and shark tails which are considered a delicacy in parts of Asia.

The measure, filed by Sen. Travis Hutson, would make it a first-degree misdemeanor in Florida to trade or offer for sale shark fins or shark tails. Commercial and recreational fishers found in violation would face a suspension or loss of their licenses or permits.

Read the full story at CBS Miami

Lobbyists circle shark-finning bill

October 12th, 2016 — Shark-fishing houses are banding together to fight a bipartisan bill that would ban the trade of shark fins.

The ad-hoc Sustainable Shark Alliance last week registered to lobby with the sole goal of defeating the Shark Fin Trade Elimination Act.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. -Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Del. Gregorio Sablan (D-Northern Mariana Islands), seeks to expand on Congress’s ban on shark finning, in which fishermen cut off the fish’s fin and return it to the ocean, usually to die.

Supporters say finning is cruel and has decimated populations of shark species, including endangered ones. The bill has dozens of co-sponsors, including House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.) and Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). It was introduced at a news conference with actor Morgan Freeman.

But the shark industry, which supports the ban on finning, says the bill would shut down much of the industry.

Domestic fisherman use more than just the fin, but the fin — usually exported to China for use in soup and other culinary purposes — represents about half the monetary value of the fish, said Shaun Gehan, the lobbyist for the ad-hoc coalition.

Read the full story at The Hill 

ALEX RILEY: The Shark Fin Ban That Should Be Banned

September 23, 2016 — Every year, fishers haul up to 73 million sharks onto boats across the world’s oceans and trim their fins. In many cases, the rest of the body is thrown overboard to swim without propulsion. And without propulsion, no life-giving water flows over the sharks’ gills. They drown.

This is shark finning, a cruel practice that feeds the demand for the Chinese delicacy of shark fin or fish wing soup. From boat to bowl, it is tasteless.

To curb the death toll [of sharks], the US Congress plans to introduce the Shark Fin Trade Elimination Act of 2016. The bill was originally outlined to Congress by the advocacy organization Oceana* as part of a growing movement to outlaw all shark fins across the US. If passed, to sell or possess shark fins would be a punishable offense. It’s the ultimate protection from being made into soup.

Strange, then, that people who dedicate their lives to protecting sharks are vehemently opposed to the bill.

In a letter to Senator Bill Nelson, Bob Hueter, director of the Center for Shark Research at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida, outlines his objections. At best, it’s unnecessary, he says. At worst, it harms rather than helps shark populations.

For one, shark finning is already illegal in the United States (as well as in Canada, Australia, and Europe). Returning to shore with fins that have no corresponding body is like docking straight into a court hearing. According to Lindsay Davidson, a PhD candidate from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, this fins-attached policy “is the gold standard for ensuring finning is not occurring.”

But fishing for sharks within a set quota is completely legal, at least for now. This allows commercial fishers to sell the meat just like any other fish, as well as the skin, liver oil, and, yes, the fins. It’s not finning, it’s heavily managed fishing; a practice that is sustainable and makes use of the entire shark rather than just its most coveted cuts.

The proposed ban would change that. The meat could still be eaten or sold, but any fins would have to be tossed overboard, thrown into the trash, or used for display or research purposes by a museum, college, or university, to avoid breaking the law. “It’s going in the opposite direction from the goal of any fishery,” says Hueter. That is, to “utilize as much as you can, and throw away as little as you have to.”

Read the full opinion piece at Hakai Magazine