How to ban shark finning

Since the New Year is fast approaching, you have to start it by doing something good and making sure that you are able to help in making sure that the coming year will be something great not just for you, but for other inhabitants of the earth, as well. One of the ways that this could happen is by helping to ban shark finning. Get involved. 

Why do people like to harvest sharks’ fins, anyway? Here are some reasons why:

• To make shark fin soup, a popular Chinese dish that is often served in banquets and weddings. It is believed that shark fins are symbolic to wealth, honor and prosperity.
• Shark fins can be sold as dried fish products.
• Shark fins can also be used as toppings or ingredients to dumplings, and other Chinese dishes.

But, no matter what people say, and whatever these traditions may be, the fact that people hurt sharks just so they can use their fins for food is very unethical. It is a threat not just to the lives of sharks, but to people, as well. Why is that, though? Here’s what you should know:

• Sharks do not have the capacity to excrete the dirt and toxins that they have accumulated by eating fish and other things that may have been thrown in the sea. In fact, these toxins and waste materials may stay in their bodies for as long as 50 to 100 years. Therefore, it means that these dirty substances are still in their bodies and you are prone to getting them, too, by eating the body parts of sharks.
• Sharks are prone to absorbing Methyl-Mercury through ocean volatization, which is one of the most dangerous substances in the world because it comes from anaerobic organisms that live in oceans, seas, lakes, and rivers. Methyl-Mercury is harmful to people who are prone to allergies, and to pregnant women, as well.

How can you help?

Start the New Year right by making sure that you get to help sharks out. Here are some of the things that you can do to ban shark finning:

• Sign Petitions. While it may seem like an invaluable thing, it could actually help out in any cause because it is able to get people’s attention and it is a sign that many people believe that it is important to ban shark finning.
• Do not patronize shark fin soup, and other products made with shark fin. Because if many people do not eat shark fin soup and other shark fin products, then it means that putting sharks’ lives in danger would be for nothing, and it could be a big wake up call for those who are in the business of finning sharks.
• Join Environmental Activist Groups that work for the benefit of sharks. This way, you can be sure that you’re working for the same cause and that sooner or later, sharks will be free from harm.

One small step could cause a lot of positive things to happen. Start the year right by helping sharks out.

Give the sharks a gift this season by banning shark fin soup

Christmas is the time for love and giving. And, it does not have to be limited to loving and caring about people. While so many people like to try eating and cooking shark fin soup, you can opt to be different.

Eating shark fin soup is something that’s not just bad for the sharks, but for humans, as well. While you may think that it’s okay to eat just about anything this season, you have to remember that your life is not the only important thing in the world, and that you have to think about others, too.

Why it’s important to stop eating/serving shark fin soup

It’s essential to ban shark fin soup, especially this holiday season, because so many sharks are getting killed for something as trivial as eating them because shark fin soup is considered a delicacy in some countries. You have to put yourself in a shark’s shoes—or fins, for that matter. You have to think about a shark’s life, because you’re not the one who gave that shark his life, and thus, you have no right to take it. And no, just because you’re not the one who put out bait and killed the shark doesn’t mean that you’re not guilty.

Sharks have inhabited the seas for over 450 million years. Yes, they’ve been on earth for longer than you, your parents, or any of your ancestors has been. So, why take the life of a shark when it’s something that’s a big part of history, and is one of the things that make the seas beautiful, and the world beautiful, too?

You know how they say that Christmas should be about giving? That’s true. Christmas is a season to give love, and hope, and to give others the chance to be happy. Thus, you have to be one of those people who work to ban shark fin soup. If you choose to stand up for the sharks, and choose to give them the gift of life, then you are doing something good.

Benefits of not going for shark fin soup

There are many good things that avoiding having this soup can bring, some of which are as follows:

·       

         - The threat of sickness and ailments caused by eating sharks would be lessened. Since sharks are prone to eating and absorbing anything that lives or are thrown in the sea, they are not able to let go of the toxins inside their bodies. This means that once you eat them, you’ll be susceptible to diseases, too.

·       

          -   Sharks would be allowed to live in the seas freely, and threat of their extinction would be lessened. Sharks are one of the only oldest creatures in the planet and that’s why their lives have to be saved.

Why eat sharks when there are so many choices? This Christmas season, be a giver, and not a taker. Allow sharks to live happily and peacefully, and you’ll see, the gift of love and peace will come back to you.

Dive to Promote Ban on Shark Fin

Because the best way to promote the ban on shark fin is to understand sharks, and the best way to know more about the sharks is by diving with them, you should be aware of the guidelines on how to dive with them in the first place. In this post, you will learn more about the diving considerations that you have to make every time you think about diving with these creatures.

Planning

In planning for the dive, you have to select the specific species of sharks that you are comfortable to dive with at this point. If you do not have any idea on how to choose the species, it is best to ask those who are highly experienced with the field. You should also take part in the briefing program. This program contains important instructions on how to safely navigate your way to optimal shark diving. As for the operators, you should choose those who are willing to uphold the advocacy regarding the ban on shark fin. 

Diving Preparation

In preparing for the diving experience, you have to make sure that the dive operator is equipped with first aid kit. This will help all of you if something untoward happens. In this regard, you also need to make sure that the dive guide is highly experienced in the field of shark diving. If you are just beginning to dive, you should not push your luck. You should only dive under the conditions that you are already accustomed with. In line with this, you should not dive if the water provides you with a low shark visibility level.

Actual Plunge

During the actual shark diving, you need to follow everything that your dive guide is telling you. These instructions are geared to promote safety for you and for the other people who will be involved with the activity. Because the sharks get distracted with significant water movement, you should make sure that you will get in and out of the water as quietly as you can. This will tell the sharks that you are friendly and mean them no harm. It will also help if you will constantly keep an eye contact with them. 

Post Diving Concerns

After the shark diving activity, you have to provide appropriate feedback for your diving operator. The feedback should heavily focus on the actual experience. This will give the operator some objective basis on how to make the diving experience a lot better for those who want to try out the activity. You also need to tell your experience to other people. You should especially tell the experience to those who are wary of going near any shark species. You may post videos and photos to showcase the beauty of these creatures. Documenting the experience in written format is also a nice way to promote your advocacy.

Both the divers and the dive operators should bear equal levels of responsibility when they want to take part in shark diving to promote ban on shark fin. For one thing, both of the parties should take the responsibility seriously because this can affect the safety levels of the entire event for the people who are involved.

Sharks are Friends—Not Food!

Sharks have always been pictured as the ruthless, ever-hungry predators that are always lurking just beneath the surface to snap their unsuspecting victims in two. Countless horror movies have been made with sharks in their core, so it comes as no surprise that sharks have always had an unsavory reputation.

While their reputation might be unsavory, however, their fins are apparently another matter. Nowadays, sharks have, among other animals, extinction danger. The fearless rulers of the deep that generations have feared are about to disappear forever because they have become from proud predators to lowly soup ingredients.

Flavorless Fishing

In Asian countries, particularly in China, shark fins are considered as luxurious delicacies, fit only for the likes of emperors and other dignitaries. It’s been served in the courts of the Forbidden Kingdom for centuries, and, as with most of its traditions, this practice continues on to this day. Shark fin meals are still very much in demand in restaurants—a demand that must be supplied constantly.

This demand has led to overfishing of sharks. As only their fins are wanted, they’re most likely left to die after having their fins cut off. A shark needs to be in constant motion to live, so having to swim without fins must be a bit difficult, right? Actually, it’s quite impossible for them to swim without their fins.

It’d have been a bit understandable if shark fins have incredible taste, but did you know that shark fin meat is actually tasteless? It doesn’t have any flavour, which is why the rest of the ingredients have to be seasoned strongly. The reason why shark fin is so desired is because of its chewy, gelatinous texture—and its supposed health benefits.

Doesn’t Hold Water

The Chinese are known for many things, one of which is their vast knowledge in health and medicine, but say what they want about shark fins—there are no studies or scientific evidence to support that shark fins can prevent hypertension and heart disease, much less evidence of them being able to boost the sexual prowess of a person, or to give smoother and younger-looking skin.

In fact, a bowl of shark fin soup contains the same amount of nutrients a bowl of vegetable soup may have, with a few differences in zinc and iron.

However, to harvest the fins of these creatures just for its texture and ungrounded health benefits is an outrage. Humans are killing an entire specie just because of their petty whims.

Sharks play an important role in the ocean’s balance. They’re apex predators—species who are on top of the food chain. They control the population of the other species below their link. Without them, that delicate balance will be broken, and the carefully controlled ecosystem might very well collapse. If that happens, sea creatures aren’t the only ones who’ll be affected—even land animals, and humans, will be affected, too. After all, several land animals get their food from the oceans too, right?

Finished with Fins

The harvesting of shark fins should be stopped! For all animals, extinctiondanger shouldn’t even exist. Everyone needs everyone else to survive. We need to stop hunting sharks and start protecting them and their natural habitat. Remember: sharks are friends, not food!

Do you think sharks should be hunted for food?

Visit Shark Angels is Leading a worldwide movement to save sharks by inspiring others through their own actions.

Prelude to the Angel Shark Extinction

The angel shark was once discarded as a nuisance species by halibut gillnet fishermen prior to the 1980s. From several decades of insignificance, the angel sharks extinct classification today was precipitated by its phenomenal distinction as the most sought-after commercial shark species in the Santa Barbara Channel in the 1980s. A big factor in such giant leap in stature is the change in consumer acceptance of sharks as high-quality food fish. Another important influence to such a remarkable change is the concentrated marketing stance by pioneering but innovative food processor and entrepreneur, Michael Wagner.

Wagner coordinated with the local fishermen to stimulate development of angel shark fishery in the Santa Barbara area. The ensuing developments became known in ecosystem history as the prelude to the near extinction of the angel sharks. It may certainly be stated that the rapid growth of the fishery led to the angel sharks extinct status based on a nature conservation body.

Development of any kind has its good and bad side. For the ecological balance, the angel shark industry was a death blow to the Squatinidae family. To the food processing industry, the angel shark phenomenon is a great lesson in operational innovations. Accordingly, growth was premised on two elements:

•     Quality control brought about by the maintenance of shark meat freshness; and

•     Operational efficiency in terms of developing fillet methods acceptable to both distributors and consumers.

As the demand for angel shark meat grew, more and more of them were supplied primarily using the gillnet method. Demand for this shark dramatically ballooned because practically every part of the fish can be used with the exception of the tail and the cartilage. Landings of angel shark exceeded one million pounds in the mid-1980s. It has replaced the thresher shark as the top food shark.

By 1987, landings declined not because demand decreased but because resources were scant. Decline in angel shark population continued brought about by fishery and worsened by the threats from other fusing methods and human activities to their natural habitat. The road to extinction draws near unless conservation efforts are put in place.

By the 1990s, landings steadily dwindled. Meanwhile, research on angel sharks began in the 1980s. Cooperative research and information gathered led to the development of regulatory guidelines in the form of co-management. The industry players were, however, amenable that regulation came in too late- the ecological imbalance was irreversible.

The boom in the shark food processing was not counter-balanced with measures to maintain sustainability. Biological knowledge on the location of the Pacific species revealed that these sharks are endemic to the eastern Pacific Ocean from southern Alaska to the Gulf of California, as well as from Ecuador to Chile. The angel sharks are imperiled by extinction since they have vanished from the identified locations.

The angel sharks are critically endangered to the point of extinction. Man failed to act in time to balance the surge in fishery of the resource. The basic cliché about the crucial need for prevention instead of a cure or intervention, indeed, was not made in due time. The initial decreases in landings hinted of the decline in the particular shark population. 

Three Vital Tips to Make Your Shark Diving Experience As Safe As Possible

If you are someone who would like to engage in the breath-taking experience of going shark diving then you should definitely make sure to be prepared to the fullest. After all, shark diving is guaranteed to be a wonderful opportunity to see the tremendous beauty of sharks.

Here are three vital tips to make your shark diving experience as safe as possible:

1.    

             Never Go Diving With An Open Wound

The number one rule in shark diving is to never go diving with an open wound. The reason behind this is simply because sharks are such efficient hunters that can detect the smallest amount of blood from many miles away. The last thing you want on your ocean adventure is the attention of a hungry shark!

2.   

            Make Sure To Go Diving With Experts

If you are going to do something, you might as well make sure to do it right. When it comes to shark diving, make sure that you go diving with experts because they know all of the risks involved as well as what to do in the event that things go out of hand.

3.      

           Try To Avoid Any Unnecessary Attention

While we have already established that the attention of a hungry shark is the last thing you want on your ocean adventure, it is important to add that removing all shiny items and refraining from using the flash on your camera are two helpful ways to make sure that you avoid unnecessary attention.

Read the full Shark Diving Guidelines, and go dive with Shark Angels. Visit their web site at SharkAngels.org.

Learn About Bycatch – One of the Many Important Shark Awareness Issues Today

Being able to raise shark awareness is considered to be of great significance nowadays, especially since there now happens to be a major threat to shark populations, and one of the biggest reasons that there is now a dwindling number of sharks living in today’s oceans is something called bycatch.

Simply put, bycatch is a term used whenever certain types of fish become unintentionally caught in a fishery that is intended to catch specific types of fish. Bycatch usually results in the death of millions of different marine life which includes an estimate of 50 million sharks being killed annually.

Back in the day, fisheries would have to go through the tedious process of cutting their bycatch loose and releasing them back into the water. But now, a lot of fisheries opt for the profitable option of slicing off shark fins which they can then sell at very lucrative prices. The sharks’ bodies, however, are thrown back into the ocean where they are left to either drown or bleed to death since their meat is not of much value on the market.

Many of today’s shark awareness campaigns are looking to raise consciousness regarding these issues, especially since sharks play a very important role in maintaining the balance of the ecosystem. If you would like to learn more about bycatch and other reasons behind the dwindling shark population in our ocean’s waters, we encourage you to speak with a shark awareness group for more information.