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Posted by Daniel Workman Apr 9, 2007 |
Fishermen slice off the fins of sharks, dumping the half-dead carcasses at the bottom of the ocean to be eaten alive by other fish.
Illegal shark fishing is one of the cruelest forms of exploitation in world trade, on par with the blood diamond industry.
Once again, greed is the root cause of suffering in global trade. Still, it's hard to blame the impoverished fishermen who risk their lives on the high seas for less than one dollar per pound of shark fin.
Any form of exploitation, especially the illegal shark fin trade, has no place in world trade. Shark meat is wastefully discarded, depriving hungry families in poor countries of a valuable source of protein. Furthermore, the ecosystem is threatened, since the lifeforms that sharks prey on are allowed to multiply and devore an inordinate amount of oxygen-supplying plankton.
The fact that sharks have been vilified as monsters in movies including Jaws has makes it easy to justify or at least ignore the blackmarket for shark fins. The movie Sharkwater sets the record straight, revealing that the dramatic need for more public awareness, analysis, discussion and action.
Read more in our article about shark finning, and see how the World Trade Organization can help resolve some of the issues
Then see the movie. And learn.