Is shark fin soup really worth the loss of the worlds shark population? Sharks are an essential part of the marine ecosystem and food chain. They maintain a balance by keeping fish populations from rising too high. Sharks also improve the genetic pool of fish by eating the sick and injured fish. Sharks are also scavengers [1].
I was recently on a dive near red 18, a site that I know as Labyrinth. I had a group of boy scouts with me and we were observing all sorts of neat marine life; different fish, corals, lobsters, etc. We were all pointing out marine life to each other as we went bubbling along. From a distance it looked like a sting ray was in the sand. How neat we all thought! But as I got closer I realized that it was not a sting ray but a nurse shark. I also noticed that there were several things very wrong with this nurse shark. It was missing its dorsal fin! As I got closer I noticed the hook in its mouth. As I swam around to the other side I saw that there was a huge cut down its side and its organs were hanging out!
Later I was chatting with the scouts and they said it was the worst part of their week down here in the Florida Keys. They asked me what I thought happened because they already knew that the removal of a dorsal fin will kill a shark. I told them that I could only guess but that I assume that someone was trying to catch sharks on a line, then they slit its slide where they knew that would be least likely to be bitten, and then they cut off its dorsal fin. The only reason that I can come up for such an atrocious act is that in the orient shark fin soup is considered a delicacy.
I know that most people are afraid of sharks. A few searches online indicate that heart diseases, cancer, and coconuts kill more people a year than sharks [1, 2]. Imagine a world without sharks. That is a real possibility if fining continues. For those of you who still view the decline in shark populations as a positive aspect allow me to add one last bit of information. If you like lobsters then you are concerned with their populations. Due to the food chain, if sharks disappear the lobster population will follow shortly [1].
1. Sharks Roll In The Ocean
2. About.com
I was recently on a dive near red 18, a site that I know as Labyrinth. I had a group of boy scouts with me and we were observing all sorts of neat marine life; different fish, corals, lobsters, etc. We were all pointing out marine life to each other as we went bubbling along. From a distance it looked like a sting ray was in the sand. How neat we all thought! But as I got closer I realized that it was not a sting ray but a nurse shark. I also noticed that there were several things very wrong with this nurse shark. It was missing its dorsal fin! As I got closer I noticed the hook in its mouth. As I swam around to the other side I saw that there was a huge cut down its side and its organs were hanging out!
Later I was chatting with the scouts and they said it was the worst part of their week down here in the Florida Keys. They asked me what I thought happened because they already knew that the removal of a dorsal fin will kill a shark. I told them that I could only guess but that I assume that someone was trying to catch sharks on a line, then they slit its slide where they knew that would be least likely to be bitten, and then they cut off its dorsal fin. The only reason that I can come up for such an atrocious act is that in the orient shark fin soup is considered a delicacy.
I know that most people are afraid of sharks. A few searches online indicate that heart diseases, cancer, and coconuts kill more people a year than sharks [1, 2]. Imagine a world without sharks. That is a real possibility if fining continues. For those of you who still view the decline in shark populations as a positive aspect allow me to add one last bit of information. If you like lobsters then you are concerned with their populations. Due to the food chain, if sharks disappear the lobster population will follow shortly [1].
1. Sharks Roll In The Ocean
2. About.com
