Environmental Preservation 101: Educating the Public about the Drawbacks of Shark Fin Consumption

Advocacy groups, including animal rights and environmental advocacy groups, are significant players in contributing and shaping the debate over the unsustainability of shark finning. These interest groups focus their efforts at the root of the problem—the consumers, largely in Asia, who eat shark fin soup as a symbol of their wealth. 

Richard Thomas is the communications director at Traffic, a wildlife trade monitoring network that works to ensure that trade does not threaten nature. Thomas, in an interview with the New York Times, warned that shark finning at current levels is unsustainable for the environment. “If sharks continue to be overfished at the current rate, it’s only a matter of a few years before the targeted species are extinct,” he said (Wassener 2010).

Overfishing has grown rapidly to the extent that many more shark species could soon be extinct. According to the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) website, in 1996, just 15 shark species were at threat of extinction; just fourteen years later, in 2010, more than 180 species are threatened by extinction (WWF Singapore 2013). The WWF, through its operations in Hong Kong, a global center of shark fin commerce and consumption, has been “promoting and educating the public on sustainable seafood,” including “engaging caters and corporations in Hong Kong not to serve and consume shark fin soup” (WWF Hong Kong 2013).

Environmental activists are trying to spread awareness about the problems associated with shark finning because of the large number of uninformed shark fin consumers. “Many people in China are simply not aware that shark finning is wasteful, cruel, and unsustainable,” said Michael Skoletsky, who is the founder and executive director of Shark Savers, an advocacy group based in New York City, in an interview with the New York Times (Wassener 2010).

Educating and spreading awareness among the public seems to be a common thread among environmental organizations advocating for the end of unsustainable shark finning. The website of Humane Society International (HSI), a group that advocates for animals rights, says that “raising awareness is key” because “many say they never realized what impact their consumption had on the environment” (HSI 2013).

Environmental and animal rights advocacy groups have an uphill battle ahead of them. With the standard of living in China rapidly rising, giving more people the economic means with which to feast on expensive shark fin soup, consumer education from animal rights and environmental advocacy groups has never been more important. 

WildAid is an advocacy group that aims to reduce and eventually end the illegal wildlife trade. This infographic from WildAid is an example of an effort by an advocacy group to educate the public about shark finning. (Karpus 2011)

Works Cited 
Humane Society International. (2013). Shark Finning. Humane Society International. Humane Society International. (Date Accessed: February 11, 2013) http://www.hsi.org/issues/shark_finning/

Karpus, K. (2011). “What is Shark Finning?” WildAid. WildAid. (Date Accessed: February 20, 2013).  http://www.wildaid.org/blog/what-shark-finning-infographic

 

Wassener, B. (2010). “Environmental Cost of Shark Finning is Getting Attention in Hong Kong.” The New York Times. The New York Times Company. (Date Accessed: February 9, 2013) http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/21/business/global/21iht-green.html

WWF Hong Kong. (2013). Shark Fin Initiative. WWF Hong Kong. World Wildlife Fund. (Date Accessed: February 10, 2013) http://www.wwf.org.hk/en/whatwedo/footprint/seafood/sharkfin_initiative/

WWF Singapore. (2013). Say No to Shark Fin. WWF Singapore. World Wildlife Fund. (Date Accessed: February 10, 2013) http://www.wwf.sg/take_action/say_our_sharks/