Resolution approved by 60 nations
Kudos to all those involved who helped to pass this agreement helping to put a stop to this wasteful and cruel process. This has been put off for far too long, and I fear that some species of shark may end up going extinct despite these efforts. But its a step in the right direction and I hope that more companies join in on the agreement.
It will be a cold day in hell when we get East Asian countries in on this, though. The lack of moral outrage worldwide over this procedure is dissapointing, and is clearly because sharks are not lovable. God knows if they were doing this to dolphins you'd have people rioting in the streets.
Quote:
| NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- More than 60 countries agreed Sunday to ban the killing of sharks for their fins in the Atlantic Ocean, a move that conservationists hope will increase protection of threatened species around the world. The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas drew up the agreement at its annual meeting being held in New Orleans. The group, which oversees management of many Atlantic fish species, acted on a proposal by the United States. The agreement bans the practice known as shark finning in which fishermen slice off a shark's fin and throw the carcass overboard, leaving room for more fins. Shark fins are a delicacy in Asian countries and command high prices: shark fin soup sells for more than $100 in Singapore, according to WildAid, an environmental group. "This is the first international finning ban in the world, so it is quite a significant conservation step forward and the environmental community is most grateful for the United States' leadership," said Sonja Fordham, a shark conservation specialist with The Ocean Conservancy. ICCAT, which includes 63 nations, also agreed to collect more data on shark catches and identify nursery areas. The United States had called for a reduction of the number of fishing vessels that hunt sharks, but ICCAT left that unchanged. According to the United Nations, more than 100 million sharks are killed each year. A study last year by Dalhousie University marine scientists estimated that 90 percent of the world's large fish -- including sharks -- have disappeared since 1950. |
It will be a cold day in hell when we get East Asian countries in on this, though. The lack of moral outrage worldwide over this procedure is dissapointing, and is clearly because sharks are not lovable. God knows if they were doing this to dolphins you'd have people rioting in the streets.
