Shark Finning
Sharks may look scary, but they need protection just as much as other animals!
Why should you care about shark finning?
Apex predators are the most important creatures in an ecosystem and in the ocean who are the apex predators? Sharks. Apex predators are at the top of the pyramid and keep the ecosystem in balance. If sharks were to ever go extinct, this would increase the fish population because there would be nothing to eat it. The surge in fish would cause all the fish eat the plankton and algae leading to no more food for the fishes which will eventually lead the fish to starvation. This is why shark finning must be stopped. If shark finning is not controlled, it can lead to drastic changes in the ocean’s ecosystems which will eventually affect us as well.
How did shark finning begin?
Thousand of years ago during the Song Dynasty in China, the wealthy loved dining strange, but what they believed to be "excuisite", meals. There were multiple luxury dishes: fox meat, badger meat, as well as shark fin soup. Shark fin soup was part of the eight treasures of Chinese meals and soon became one of 4 meals with a symbolic meaning in their culture. In Chinese culture, shark fin soup symbolizes wealth and power therefore only wealthy and powerful people, including emperors, ate this dish. Shark fin soup is now a contemporary tradition and has become somewhat more affordable. To this day, shark fin soup is still very popular in the Chinese culture and is served during special occasions. In order to make shark fin soup, fishermen go out, catch a shark, take their fins, and throw them back in the water to die. This is called shark finning.
Shark Fin Soup
Because China’s wealth has increased, the demand for shark fin soup has increased with it, which leads to more shark finning and shark deaths. A study conducted by the United Nation stated that the shark fin trade is killing up to 73 million sharks per year. Many shark species are becoming endangered including the scalloped hammerhead and the smooth hammerhead. Can you imagine an ocean without hammerhead sharks?
The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History states that around 1.2 to 2.7 million of hammerhead sharks are killed every year in the shark fin trade. The scallop hammerhead was very affected that from 1981 to 2005, their population declined from 155,000 to 26,500. Many shark populations decrease about 60-70% because of this practice.
As explained earlier, such a drastic change in shark populations can affect ecosystem and can cause a ripple effect that will eventually lead to us. Hammerheads like to eat rays. If hammerhead populations were to go unbalanced and decrease drastically, rays, would increase as they would have no predator to eat them and keep their population balanced. With an overpopulation of rays, clams and other bivalves would decrease drastically and the whole ecosystem would become unbalanced. This would negatively affect human fisheries which would then hurt the economy. This may seem like no big deal but this is nature. It is not something humans can fix easily. Once an ecosystem is unbalanced it is extremely difficult to balance it again. This is humans messing with nature which never goes right.
Why did I choose this topic?
I chose this topic because sharks have been my favorite animals since I was 10 years old. They have always fascinated me and I have always believed that they have been misunderstood. I also remember in the 4th grade, learning about how important it is to keep ecosystems balanced. I have always had an affinity for nature, the ocean, and anything that has to do with Earth. I learned about the mistreatment of sharks years ago and ever since then I knew I would want to help them be heard. There is a stigma that you hear of a shark and think "oh how horrible, there goes a killer", when in reality, they are just trying to survive just like the rest of us. They do not hurt humans on purpose, they don't even eat humans, they confuse humans with their prey, seals. It is good to stay away from sharks if one is seen at the beach as they are wild animals and you never know what can go wrong, but I do believe instead of hating on them and leaving them with a negative stigma, we should better look up to them and see how great and amazing these creatures are.
How is this important to my community?
This is important to my community because like I stated earlier, having so many sharks being killed each year will affect the oceans ecosystem which will eventually affect everyone as well. Not only that, but society have depicted sharks as evil animals in the ocean that only want to kill humans for years. Sharks are actually not interested in eating or attacking humans. Humans have a 1 in 3.7 million chance of being attacked by sharks, while we kill 100 million sharks every year. Because of this I feel that humans owe it to sharks to care about them being killed just for their fins. This is important for multiple communities full of people who love animals, the ocean, and Earth. This is also for the community who is against animal abuse.
"Sharks are important to me because they play an important part in oceans' ecosystems. They are beautiful animals that have an important job of keeping their prey's population in check. If they do not, then it could result in an imbalance in the ecosystem causing other animal or plant populations to diminish or go extinct. hearing about shark finning breaks my heart. There are so many animals being poached out there for their unique genetics, but I never thought sharks would be getting killed for their fins. All animal abuse has to end." - Kevin Rivas
"Sharks are important to me because of how important they are to Earth due to their roles as apex predators. Without sharks, hunting other fish and animals, the oceans ecosystem would become imbalanced and lead to many different problems. Without sharks many different fish populations would increase without any limitations while allowing them to use up the oceans organic life such as plankton, coral, kelp, and seaweed. I love the ocean and Earth which is why this topic is important to our community. People need to stop killing animals for selfish reasons."- Isai Patino
References:
Fairclough, Caty. “Shark Finning: Sharks Turned Prey.” Shark Finning: Sharks Turned Prey, 11 May 2023, ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/sharks-rays/shark-finning-sharks-turned-prey. Accessed 17 Apr. 2024.
Fisheries, NOAA. “Shark Conservation Act.” NOAA, www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/laws-and-policies/shark-conservation-act. Accessed 17 Apr. 2024.
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