Loophole Lets European Fishermen Cut Off Sharks' Fins

The European Union (E.U.) claims to have regulated shark finning since 2003. And in one sense, it has: Cutting off sharks' fins and throwing their bodies into the ocean is technically illegal in the region — unless you possess a special permit, that is.

A regulation offers a major shark-finning loophole in the E.U., allowing many fishermen to get away with a practice that's both cruel and environmentally degrading. The E.U. issues some fishermen a permit that allows them to cut off sharks' fins on the fishing vessel and throw the unwanted bodies overboard. It's a practice that many conservationists are vehemently opposed to, and they're pushing the European Commission to close up this gaping loophole.

"The waste and unsustainable mortality associated with finning pose threats to shark populations, fisheries, food security and the sustainability of marine ecosystems," Sonja Fordham, deputy chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Shark Specialist Group (SSG), told the BBC. "The most reliable way to enforce a shark-finning prohibition is to require that sharks be landed with their fins naturally attached to their bodies."

The demand for fins has been steadily growing as more folks develop a taste for shark fin soup, a dish that was once a delicacy in Asia but has now become increasingly mainstream. While folks eat shark's meat as well, the real money is in finning: According to the BBC, one kilogram of shark fins can fetch almost $400, while the same amount of shark meat goes for slightly more than nine dollars. So naturally, fishermen are fired up to get their hands on those special finning permits.

That's a problem because shark populations are currently swimming in some pretty hot water. According to the BBC, one-fifth of the world's shark, skate, and ray species are classified as threatened. Some of the most vulnerable species of shark have declined by as much as 99 percent over the past few decades, largely due to finning and fishing.

While finning sharks is clearly bad news for the sharks themselves, the practice has more far-reaching effects, too. Sharks sit at the very top of oceanic food chains. Take down the head honcho of any ecosystem and other species' populations get quickly thrown out of whack. That's a problem for the state of the seas and the state of our seafood, which is rapidly disappearing due to fishing and other ecosystem disturbances like shark finning.

Not only does finning threaten the environment and food security, it's just plain cruel. When fishermen catch a shark for its lucrative fin, they slice off the fin and then throw the still-living shark back into the water. The shark suffers — slowly and fin-less — until it eventually dies. No wonder Jaws was so pissed off at the human race.

Sharks may be in dire straits, but it's not too late to save the struggling swimmers. Conservationists from groups like the IUCN's Shark Specialists Group and Shark Alliance are lobbying the E.U. Commission hard to close the finning loophole. The Commission is accepting public comments on the practice until February of 2011. To send a note asking Europe to stop issuing finning permits, check out the E.U. Commission's Web site. Or, you can sign our petition asking the Commission to immediately close the loophole that allows fishermen to fin sharks.

Photo credit: Sazzyb80 via Flickr