Persuasive Essay On Shark Finning

Sharks are widely viewed as frightening, vicious predators that feast without hesitation on all fish in the ocean and occasionally even an unlucky human. When humans picture sharks, they see giant monsters that terrorize the ocean and its inhabitants. In reality, it's the other way around. An estimated 100 million sharks are killed by humans every year through illegal fishing, environmental issues, and shark finning. Sharks, however, average only 19 attacks on humans in the U.S. per year and only one fatality every two years. The damage humans do to sharks is significantly more than the damage sharks due to humans.

It’s estimated that a total of 100 million sharks are hunted each year for the delicacy known as shark fin soup. A bipartisan bill was recently introduced in the House and Senate that would make it illegal to possess, buy, sell or transport shark fins in the United States. The total ban on possession of shark fins is debated by some

However, in 2013, the State banned the possession and selling of shark fins. Last year, a challenge to the law was rejected by the Supreme Court. The Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act by U.S. Rep. Ed Royce of Fullerton was a similar law put in place to prohibit shark finning in all 50 states. The Sustainable Shark Alliance says the United States are responsible for 3% of global shark fin trade (Romero,#1). All of these laws must be passed because the making of shark fin soup is one of the most pressing issues as to why sharks are on the verge of being endangered. It's a very barbaric process of a fishermen catching a shark and cutting the fin off. The fisherman throw the shark back into the water because the fin is the only useful part. However, the shark is still alive, causing it to have a very slow and painful death of either suffocation or bleeding to death. Shark fins are tempting to fishermen because shark fins can sell for as much as $500 a