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Introduction to shark finning
Introduction to shark finning
Introduction to shark finning
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Shark finning is the practice of slicing off the shark's fins while the shark is still alive and throwing the rest of its body back into the ocean. Sharks thrown in shallow water will fall to the ocean floor die from either bleeding to death or drowning. If the shark is thrown back in deep water they can actually implode due to rapid changes in pressure within the shark’s limp body. They can also die by starving to death, being eaten by other fish. Shark fins are used to make a soup that is considered an Asian "delicacy". The reasons that sharks should be admired and not hunted are almost endless. Despite creating easy income for third world nation’s, shark finnig is a barbaric practice that needs to end Sharks are some of the most ancient species that have ever existed on the Earth, dating back over 400 million years; well before the time of the dinosaurs. There are around 500 distinct varieties of sharks and due to shark finning, some shark populations have decreased by approximately 90% . The diversity in sharks ranges from the breathtaking to the mundane to the downright eerie. Previously thought to be strictly saltwater animals, some species are also known to live in freshwater . Sharks are extra sensory animals and can detect the slightest changes in their environment. They can hear sounds inaudible to humans for over a mile, and can sense the smallest pressure changes around their bodies; both are key in a sharks hunting ability Sharks are the apex predators of the ocean, meaning they regulate the marine food web. The ocean (there is only one, not 7) covers between 70 – 75% of the earth’s surface and houses 80 – 90% of all life on earth, yet sharks role in maintaining the ocean is often overlooked. The main reas...
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...r $100 a bowl, and is a traditional wedding meal that shows the brides family how affluent the grooms family is. A common tradition attached to shark fin soup is that “longer noodles mean a longer life” . High demand for shark fins has driven the price to around $300 per pound!! Once exclusive to China, shark fin soup is now becoming a popular dish around the world. Aside from the moral implications, there is another reason to shy away from shark fin soup; “it may be detrimental to neurologic health” . Tested fins were found to contain the toxin BMAA, that when ingested increases the risk of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gering’s disease), Alzheimer disease, and Parkinson disease . International law for the conservation and management of sharks is fragmented and piecemeal . However conservationists are making progress towards ending this destructive practice.
So why do we need sharks? Well, Sharks help keep the ocean healthy and clean for over 450 million years. They also help remove half of the worlds green house gases and produces oxygen more than all of the rainforest's combined! Sharks are just as important as all the trees in the world because they have one thing in common, provide us with oxygen. Without the sharks help we wouldn't be able to get rid as much of the greenhouse gases as we want to, which means global warming would have a lower rate of happening faster. Most importantly they provide us with food. How? They would usually eat the old, sick or slower fish in the population of the ocean to the right size so the prey species don't cause harm to ecosystem by becoming to populated. They are also at the top of the food web. If all the sharks went extinct the entire food web would collapse causing many other species of fish to disappear. So instead of killing the sharks, we could lure them away to somewhere else. As they have a huge impact to the environment.
As I mentioned earlier, Sharks maintain the balance of the entire marine ecosystem! If the ocean’s ecosystem were to collapse, it would greatly affect life even on the surface. Sharks tend to eat fish who are much slower and sickly therefore they keep the population of fish in a healthier state. We depend on the oceans for the oxygen that we breathe because of certain species in the ocean that produce oxygen such as Phytoplankton, if Sharks were to be extinct, we would lose a great amount of the oxygen on Earth because the balance of living Phytoplankton and other species would not be enough. Furthermore, Sharks have been maintaining the balance of our ecosystem for 400 million years, if these sharks were to be gone, who would balance this heavy task? A number of scientific studies demonstrate that depletion of Sharks results in the loss of important fish and shellfish species from the food chain, including key fisheries such as tuna, which help the health o...
But occasionally the younger sharks are preyed on by bigger sharks that do not necessarily have to be Bull sharks they can be become prey to any larger species of shark and occasionally a crocodile. However there are parasites like Pandarus sinuatus, and Periscopus dentatus that use the surface of the shark’s skin and use it to survive (Curtis). Though that does not in anyway decrease or increase the economic uses for the bull shark, its effects on the environment, or level of danger to humans. In certain places around the world the amount of bull sharks is decreasing slightly, because sharks can be harvested to make fish food, for their meat, for oils, and their fins for shark fin soup, or in asia their skin can be used to make “good leather” (“Bullshark”; Curtis). Even though their numbers are thought to be decreasing according to the International Shark Attack Files, otherwise known as the ISAF, has reported that there have been at least 70 reported unprovoked attacks on humans of which 17 were fatal, but that is only the known number of the reported attacks by bull sharks there most likely have been many more attacks that went unreported (“Bullshark”; Curtis). They are known for being one of “the most dangerous sharks in the world” because they along side the tiger shark,and great white they are the most common sharks to attack a human
The bull shark may be responsible for many shark attacks in the world but I believe that we have no right to kill them. Sharks are very important to animals food cycles and if the food cycles get messed up it can greatly effect the world. In fact, the bull shark is more vulnerable to human impact due to their ability to live in fresh and salt water but many sharks that are killed are for either shark fin soup or their liver oil. The sharks liver oil has many uses now but it started as a machine lubricant. Another way that sharks die is by recreational fishing. The sharks can get caught up in the fishermen's nets and eventually suffocate and die. As an environmental community, I feel like we need to inform people about shark habits and how to keep sharks safe. The water is their home and we are
Sharks have also been subjected to medical research, games and competitions, jewellery, souvenirs and cosmetics. We need to take into consideration that sharks play a vital role in the natural world that we live in. it is imperative that we look after these majestic creatures and ensure they remain protected. We need to be aware of the dangers of sharks, swim in protected areas where there are shark nets, and do not swim after dark in the sea (especially not alone) as the sea is the sharks home. Humans should also be wearing wet suits as protection in the ocean. The sea is where they live, they swim freely and they eat – they do not particularly target humans but rather prey on food that is available to them in their habitat.
Shark slaughter is a cruel and violent act, to say the least. Granted that there is economical profit to be had from shark finning, the massive loss incomparably outweighs the profit. Most, if not, all humans would not enjoy having their limbs cut off and being left to die. It is simply inhumane and brutal. However sharks are experiencing this very thing, and the fact that they cannot express or protect themselves, is leading to the death of hundreds of millions of innocent sharks annually. Odds are that as you are reading this, a shark was killed. While sharks may not be the most adorable animals on the planet, they certainly are living creatures, and they feel pain just like us.
Back in the dynasty the Emperors would serve the dish to honor the guest, because they believed it had healing benefits from the concurring of a shark (Fairclough, Caty). Fin soup still occurs today even when not on special (Fairclough, Caty). In addition the shark fins for can sell for a pretty penny anywhere from $500 a pound or even $1,000 a kilogram (Fairclough, Caty). As a matter of fact, fishermen in Melbour, Segal would export $1300 pounds worth of shark fins a week. It was recorded that a single adult fin sells for $80 and a two-meter monster can sell for $300. Additionally, 1 out of every 100 sharks reported killed between 2000-2008 comes from these fisherman(Hinshaw, Drew). (commentary) about Its question that fisherman practice “unsustainable finning” because it does pay nice , but the amount of money gained by finning isn’t comparable to how much sharks are worth to our economy. The global value of shark finning is around $630 million but is declining, while shark tourism is worth $312 million and promises to be worth $780 million in 20 years ( source 8). Human activity of finning isn’t the only reason to the decline of Great White sharks, human protection is another
Information (sub-point): Shark finning affects the shark most clearly on an individualistic scale. The removal of the shark’s fins makes it nearly impossible for the shark to swim once it is dumped back into the ocean. According to author William J Bennetta, many species of sharks, known as “obligate ram ventilators”, lack the ability to pump water through their gills if they are not constantly moving, and “presumably asphyxiate if unable to move” (Bennetta, 1996). Along with all the cuts, gashes, and beatings that come along with shark finning, most sharks that undergo finning die a very long and painful death due to loss of blood and suffocation.
Sharks have been on this earth for nearly 450 billion years. To put that into perspective, the first modern humans date back to about 60,000 years ago ("Our Mission: To save Sharks and Mantas”). Since then, both humans and sharks have evolved into the predatory mammals they are today. However, with the quick development of humans, civilization and technology, humans have not been able to fully understand the ways of sharks, although the motives of other human celebrities have been easy to understand and decipher. Because shark attacks have been becoming more televised, and sharks have been known to be more of a “threat” to humans, shark research foundations, such as the Shark Research Institute and the Pelagic Shark Research Foundation, have been created to help give an understanding to these creatures. Over 100 million sharks are being killed each year, and there is a counter on the Bite-Back Shark and Marine Conservation website. As one spends more time on the home page, the number on the counter is constantly increasing, showing how many sharks are slaughtered in the year to come (“Bite-Back – Shark and Marine Conservation”). Even with research to show that sharks are valuable to the ocean and vulnerable, there are people that think otherwise (“The Pelagic Shark ...
Thesis: Sharks should be conserved because they are an important part of the ocean, attacks are often incidental, and human behavior influences the behavior of sharks.
How many more fatal shark attacks will it take for someone in authority to acknowledge the damages, economically and socially, caused to human beings by sharks? We must legalise the culling of sharks. Sharks do not only brutally attack us humans but they also kill us. Culling sharks may not be the most pleasing way to find a solution but it is the most effective, quickest and easiest method. Scientists have argued that culling sharks will bring the ecosystem crashing down but this in fact is not true.
Most people think that sharks are large, fast-swimmers, and savage predators. This is true of some species and groups should be interested of the appealing aspects of biology found within it: all sharks have an excellent sense of smell; some can detect electrical discharges; some sharks give birth to one of the
reenland sharks are among nature’s least elegant inventions. Lumpish, with stunted pectoral fins that they use for ponderously slow swimming in cold and dark Arctic waters, they have blunt snouts and gaping mouths that give them an unfortunate, dull-witted appearance. Many live with worm-like parasites that dangle repulsively from their corneas. They belong, appropriately enough, to the family Squalidae, and appear as willing to gorge on fresh halibut as on rotting polar-bear carcasses. Once widely hunted for their liver oil, today they are considered bycatch. For some fishermen, a biologist recently told me, netting a Greenland shark is about as welcome as stepping in dog poop.
Riley, M. J., A. Harman., and R. G. Rees. 2009. Evidence of continued hunting of whale sharks Rhincodon typus in the Maldives. Environ. Biol. Fish. 86:371-374. (DOI:10.1007/s10641-009-9541-0).
Introduction One particularly interesting sea creature is the whale shark, formally known as Rhincondon typus; it was first discovered in 1828 by Andrew Smith (Rowat 2012). This large fish is found globally in warm tropical oceans and prefers to stay within 200 meters of the ocean’s surface in waters ranging from 4.2 to 28.7 degrees Celsius (Stevens 2006). This creature can be found all across the globe in warm tropical seas. Aggregations of whale sharks have been seen off the coast of Australia at times, although it is primarily a creature of solitude. Whale sharks are filter feeders that consume plankton as well as small fish and are harmless to humans.