Shark Essays - Shark Finning, Sharks, Carcharhinidae, Ichthyology

Shark Killing Among some of the most wasteful reasons to hunt in the world I'd have to say that besides the killing of elephants for their tusks, this is on top of the list for one of the worst reasons a blue shark is killed. And sadly enough the United States is one of the top countries to blame. In Hawaii and Mexico shark finning is very common. The fishermen fish the sharks take the fins, and throw it back into the water. The fins are mainly used for fin soup as a status symbol for the Japanese. They eat it for fin soup. Since the fins contain a high dose of ammonia smell and taste they must be processed quickly and tossed back into the ocean, and a lot of times the fish is thrown back into the water alive. Conservation's main cause for concern is the fact that the sharks have a very low reproduction rate. They don't typically reproduce until the age of twenty-five, and even then they only produce a few babies. At The rate these fishermen hunt them the sharks will possibly become endangered in the next few years. This is one of the most cruelest things I've ever heard, and not just the killing of them for the fins, but that fact that they are thrown back into the water without fins. How is the shark supposed to survive and even swim? That is so cruel. Maybe someone should cut off fishermen's legs and arms, and watch them try to survive. It probably would probably hard for the fisherman to survive, he'd be a physical vegetable. I hope the United States does something urgently to control this growing problem before it gets out of hand. The people can do something about it by obviously not buying shark products but also by writing letters and sending petitions to congress, we could also spread the word in other ways in Japan and Hong Kong. But I think if the US stopped the finning, other countries would probably follow and sales would go down, giving the sharks a chance to live and breed in peace.