Op-Ed Article

Sharks are some of the most feared animals in society today. Most people fear sharks because of their large size and ferocious behavior. Hollywood portrays sharks as bloodthirsty beasts who feed only on human flesh. Movies like Jaws have depicted sharks as terrible menaces that wreak havoc on society. These false portrayals of sharks have led to a worldwide fear of sharks. Some people are so afraid of sharks that they refuse to enter the ocean. Most people have no idea that each year 100 million sharks are slaughtered. In that same year, only five people are killed in shark attacks. The shark attacks that do occur happen when humans enter a shark's habitat and the shark must defend itself. Most of the sharks slaughtered each year are not killed out of fear, but for economic gain and to satisfy people’s appetites. These sharks are killed solely for their fins, which are considered a delicacy in parts of the world.

China is the largest importer of shark fins in the world. They import over eighty percent of all shark fins in the world. Shark fin soup is a very popular dish in China because it is associated with royalty and the upper class. Although shark fins don't have any real or distinct taste, consumers continue to buy the soup regardless. It has become a trend amongst rich people in China because they believe the fins transmit good health. Some bowls of shark fin soup sell for $100 in Chinese restaurants. These restaurants advertise the sale of shark fin soup by placing whale shark fins in the front windows. Although whale sharks pose no threat to humans and have no teeth fishermen continue to hunt them down for their fins today. There has never been a report of a whale shark attack on any human being, so why do people kill them? Money is the sole reason why the shark finning industry is so strong. Whale shark fins sell for up to $500,000. Since people are willing to pay large amounts of money for these irreplaceable creatures fishermen can make an easy living off of sharks. The problem with this industry is that shark populations are declining in record amounts. If the shark fin industry continues at today’s levels, we may see the extinction of all sharks in the near future.

Fishermen who hunt the sharks use a very barbaric method of collecting sharks. Most sharks are caught by longlines, which can stretch up to sixty-two miles. The longlines have baited hooks attached to them and they catch hundreds of sharks as they swim by. Longlines are inhumane because they don’t instantly kill the sharks; instead the hooks force them to bleed out. Longlines not only catch sharks, but they also catch sea turtles, fish, birds, and other marine animals as they swim through them. Shark fishermen also fin live sharks on their boats and throw the shark carcasses overboard. The sharks can’t swim because they have no fins, so they sink to the bottom of the ocean floor where they die a painful and long death.
How is it that governments can sit back and allow these horrific events to take place in our oceans? Since there are no real global regulations against shark finning, the industry continues to flourish and grow everyday. The U.S. Senate recently enacted a bill ending all shark finning in American waters, and this was a huge step for the world. Other countries should look at this monumental decision and choose to help protect sharks. Sharks are huge contributors to the healthy balance of our world’s oceans.

Sharks are considered to be a keystone species because they influence how an ecosystem is structured. Since sharks are top predators in the oceanic food chain, they help maintain a perfect balance in places like Western Australia. In Shark Bay, Western Australia, Tiger sharks regulate dugong and green sea turtle populations because they are the sharks’ source of food. The dugongs and green sea turtles eat sea grass, so the Tiger sharks affect the amount of sea grass in the ecosystem indirectly. So, as a whole, the ecosystem relies on the Tiger sharks to keep everything running smoothly. But when shark fishermen come and take large numbers of sharks out of the ocean it affects all of the species who rely on the sharks. In other places, sharks maintain balance to the ocean’s ecosystems by feeding on sick and dying fish and mammals who might otherwise affect the health of species and their genetic pool. A complex food web is kept in balance by sharks, and removing them from the web would negatively affect our oceans’ plant and animal species. If shark fishermen don't realize that shark finning is an unsustainable practice, there will be a catastrophic meltdown in oceans all over the world.

Shark finning is a practice that needs to end now. It is an industry that is rapidly destroying the oceans that we as humans rely on every single day. Shark fin soup is a luxury item that doesn't belong on any dinner table or menu. Sharks should be able to roam the oceans freely like they have for the last 400 million years. They are intelligent creatures who deserve our respect and need our help. Until the world wakes up and realizes how important sharks are, they will be long gone like the Dodo bird.