Shark Finning Dayeong Yoon

Shark Finning DaYeong Yoon

Abstract Shark Finning Shark Fin Soup, Is it healthy? How is cutting a fin of a shark done? When sharks are caught, their fins are cut off alive, and the released sharks are drowned or bled to death if not Shark fin soup is the soup made with shark fin and the chicken The shark population is threatened by the human overexploitation, such as attacked by another predator. The fin products are shipped and auctioned mainly in Honkong, China, and many other eastern Asian countries (Spiegel, 2000). broth. The flavor of the soup comes out of the chicken, and the fins just add shark finning. The driving force of the practice is the trade of the shark fins, The values of the fins vary depending on the species, size, weight, the density of the needles in the fin, and the method of cutting. There are primarily targeted the texture to the soup. Each soup can cost up to 100 U.S. dollars (Fig.4) which are mainly consumed by the expensive Chinese cuisine, the shark fin fins such as the first dorsal, pectoral, and the lower caudal lobe, but essentially all fins are under the demands, in order to supply the main ingredient of the (stopsharkfinning.net, 05/15/17). soup. Not only the shark finning impacted the number of the shark Chinese cuisine, Shark fin soup (Fowler & Séret, 2010) (Fig.2). populations to decline which has a cascade effect on the ecosystem, the shark fin soup consumption can also be bad for the human health because of Figure 2. The Targeted Shark Fins (Fowler & Séret, the accumulation of mercury in the shark bodies through the marine food 2010). The black fins are the primary target, and the grey chain. fins are the secondary target. However, essentially all the fins are cut off from a shark.

Sharks, in Danger Figure 4. Shark Fin Soup (Boddiger, 2015). Sharks are the one of the top predators of the marine organisms. Shark Decline and the Cascade Effect on the Ecosystem In order to help stop the high demand of the illegal shark fin trade, Their group is diversified into more than 500 species, while most of them it is important to understand the cultural background of the shark fin soup. Shark population declines by the shark finning, and the adverse cascade effect continues to the larger extent, the ecosystem. Staying at the top level of the live in the ocean. This group is probably the most “scary animal” of the In the old Chinese history, the shark fin soup had been offered to the marine food web, sharks play an important role in trophic ecology in the ocean. Any change of a member of the food web can induce the changes in the ocean as well as the killer whales, while the effort of studying this animal is emperors, while its effort to hunt the vicious animal of the ocean was highly adjacent members, causing the trophic cascade effect. For example, if a predator population on the top declines, the density of the prey group in the middle still under the process of the scientists around the world. However, one regarded. Sharks are the symbols of the strength and the wealth; therefore, may arise and the lowest group on the bottom, which is consumed by the middle groups, could be severely affected by the over-increased population of the thing very clear about this animal is that they may become extinct in the eating the shark fin soup is believed to return the health of the consumer middle groups (“Trophic Cascade”, 2015). near future. Camhi et al., the International Union for Conservation of Nature (Dell’Apa, Smith & Kaneshiro-Pineiro, 2014). However, the truth is the Myers et al., (2007) reported in their article, “Cascading Effects of the Loss of Apex Predatory Sharks from a Coastal Ocean”, the decline of the (IUCN) Shark Specialists (2009) stated more than 53% of the known opposite of what they believe. Conducting the research on the mercury and population of the 11 great sharks in the eastern U.S. coast, greatly increased the population of the mesopredatory species, such as the rays, skates, and the Chondrichthyes fall into their red category (Fig.1). There are many threats methylmercury level of the shark fin soup from the 5 major cities of the small sharks. This proliferated mesopredators preyed upon the bay scallop, whose number declined significantly and ended up closing the scallop fishery in of the shark extinction imposed by human impacts, but the finning of the China in the article, “Shark fin, a symbol of wealth and good fortune may North Carolina in 2003 (Fig.3). shark is the most brutal way of killing the animal by profiting the global pose health risks: the case of mercury”, Man, Wu and Wong (2014) found black market. out 16.8% of the soups from HongKong, 8.3% from Shanghai, 33.3% from Haikou, and 16.8% from Wenzhou contain the high level of the mercury which should not be consumed by the humans. The human mercury intake Figure 3. The Population Trends is mainly done by seafood consumption, and the top predators in the marine of the Great Sharks, the food chain such as sharks have the most concentrated mercury level in their Mesopredators, and the Bivalves bodies accumulated from the very bottom of the food web (Man, Wu & (bay scallops) in North Carolina Wong, 2014). from the 1970s to mid 2000 Literature Cited (Myers et el., 2007). As the shark Boddiger, D., 2015, Shark Fin Scandal in Costa Rica Has Solís Administration on the Defensive, The Tico Times News, http://www.ticotimes.net/l/shark-fin-scandal-in-costa-rica-has-solis-administration-on-the- population decreased, the defensive Camhi, M.D. et al., 2009, The Conservation Status of Pelagic Sharks and Rays, Report of the IUCN Shark populations of the mesopredatory Specialist Group Pelagic Shark Red List Workshop, IUCN Publication, 78. Dell’Apa, A., Smith, M. C., Kaneshiro-Pineiro, M. Y., 2014, The Influence of Culture on the International species increased, and the bivalves Management of Shark Finning, Environmental Management, 54, 151 – 161 Fowler, S., Séret, B., 2010, Shark Fins in Europe: Implications for Reforming the EU Finning Ban, IUCN declined in number. Publication, 50 Figure 1. The distribution of Chondrichthyes species by IUCN red list Man, Y. B., Wu, S. C., Wong, M. H., 2014, Shark Fin, a Symbol of Wealth and Good Fortune May Pose from the 2009 data (IUCN, 2009). Health Risks: the Case of Mercury, Envioronmental Geochemistry and Health, 36, 1015 – 1027. Myers, R. A., et al., 2007, Cascading Effects of the Loss of Apex Predatory Sharks from a Coastal Ocean, CR = Critically Endangered Science, 315, 1846 – 1850 EN = Endangered Spiegel, J., 2000, Even Jaws Deserves to Keep His Fins: Outlawing Shark Finning Throughout Global Waters, Boston College International and Comparative Law Review, 24, 409 – 438 VU = Vulnerable Stopsharkfinning.net, http://www.stopsharkfinning.net/shark-fin-soup-whats-the-scoop/, accessed NT = Near Threatened 05/15/17 Trophic Cascade, 2015, Access Science, https://www-accessscience- LC = Least Concern com.libraryaccess.sdmesa.edu/content/trophic-cascade/BR0428152 DD = Data Deficient