California Academy of Sciences meeting on shark conservation.

During a meeting held at the California Academy of Sciences, Assembly members Paul Fong and Jared Huffman presented their proposed legislation to protect shark populations living in oceans around the world. The ever-increasing demand for shark fin, used for medical purposes, encourages many poachers to hunt these animals.

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Assembly Bill 376 (Shark Conservation Charter) aims to protect sharks by completely banning, possessing, selling or otherwise distributing shark fins. As predators at the top of the food chain, these fish are vital to maintaining the natural balance of our oceans. Research shows that the massive depletion of shark populations has a cascading effect on ocean ecosystems. To make matters worse, shark populations are highly vulnerable to ‘overfishing’, mainly because they reach reproductive age very late and produce very few offspring. Studies show that 73 million individuals are killed each year for the fin trade!

The fins are mainly used to make soup, which is considered a delicacy especially in China, and for medical preparations whose effectiveness leaves much to be desired. The consumption of shark fins has increased dramatically with the rise of wealth in the East, and the soup is commonly consumed at lavish banquets and wedding receptions of the Eastern elite. But not only that!

An assembly of Asian Pacific American leaders, chefs and advocates have joined together to create new laws to protect against the carnage we are all witnessing. The process of changing laws around the world will be very difficult and if the laws created are not onerous enough for traffickers, nothing will change.

Those who profit from killing sharks hide behind thousands of years of tradition. They have forgotten the more important tradition of the Far East, the tradition of living in harmony with the surrounding world …

Source: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/ , http://stopsharkfinning.net/
Photo: saguayo/flicker