Victory! An End to Shark Finning in the U.S.

This year has been a banner time period for sharks. This past May, Hawaii became the first U.S. state to ban the sale of shark fin soup. Then last month, conservation measures were put in place to protect some threatened shark species like oceanic whitetips, whose populations have declined by more than 99 percent in the Gulf of Mexico. Today marks another big victory for the world's sharks.

The U.S. Congress finally passed the Shark Conservation Act of 2009, a bill that prevents the finning of sharks in American waters. While finning in U.S. waters has technically been illegal since 2000, loopholes existed and regulations were poorly enforced, so many fishermen continued to get away with this brutal practice. The Shark Conservation Act closes those loopholes and allows America to take action against other countries with scant finning regulations. It's a measure that's sure to boost struggling sharks' populations and serve as model legislation for other nations to follow.

"Our oceans have reached a tipping point and sharks are essential to keeping them healthy for years to come," Beth Lowell, Oceana's federal policy director, said in a press release. "Today is a big step forward for shark conservation, both in the U.S. and internationally."

For those unfamiliar with shark finning, here's a brief (yet graphic!) description: Fins are especially popular now that more and more consumers — especially those in Asia — seek out shark fin soup. Rather than hauling in an entire shark just for the fins (which take up little room and fetch a significantly higher price than shark meat), fishermen will catch the fish, slice off its fins, then throw the living shark back into the ocean to bleed to death. The practice is not only inhumane, it threatens to upset entire oceanic ecosystems.

More than 100 million sharks die every year because of commercial fishing. The majority of these deaths come as the result of the fin trade and lax finning regulations. It's an out-of-control practice that's led some shark species to decline by 80 or 90 percent in recent years. Because sharks rank at the top of food chains, have a slow growth rate, and have a low reproduction potential, ridding the waters of these apex species can negatively impact the entire ocean ecosystem. "No one knows exactly what the oceans will look like without sharks, but some possibilities include economically important fisheries shut down; coral reefs shift to algae-dominated systems; seagrass bed decline; and species diversity and abundance decline with the loss of habitats," Keri Lynn Miller, Oceana's marine scientist, told Fast Company earlier this year.

This legislation would never have passed without the hard work and campaigning efforts of Oceana and its allies. The non-profit worked for years to get a ban on shark finning, and almost 28,000 Change.org members signed Oceana's petition asking the Senate to pass the Shark Conservation Act of 2009.

The U.S. may be giving shark finning the heave-ho, but this practice still runs rampant in other parts of the world. It's important, then, to herald this legislation as the victory that it is in the hopes that other countries will adopt similar bans. Vote with your utensils, and refuse to purchase shark fin soup and other shark meat foods. You can also sign Oceana's letter thanking your Representative for passing the Shark Conservation Act of 2009.

Photo credit: epoque via Flickr