Home / Conservation /Dive News / Nigels View : Sharkwater
A few weeks back I saw the movie Sharkwater.
Auckland Zoo had put on a special screening with proceeds going to conservation.
Did you know that an estimated 100 million sharks are killed for their fins each year?
Shark finning is an appalling and simply absurd practice:
* The fin itself is mostly cartilage and has no flavour (the flavour comes from the chicken soup usually added to it).
* The soup made from the fin is considered a status symbol, probably because it is absurdly expensive by the time it gets to the table. It is also falsely believed that the soup has medicinal qualities, which it simply doesn’t.
* The shark is most often still alive when it is tossed back into the water. Unable to swim, the shark slowly sinks toward the bottom where it is eaten alive by other fish
If you haven’t seen it, get it out on DVD.
I’ll see if we can’t do a screening sometime here at Global Dive, collect a few dollars off everyone, and contribute it to the cause (will need to check copyright rules first).
Anyway, there ARE things we can all do to help stop this cruel and unsustainable practice, including boycotting restaurants that sell shark fin soup.
Remember, more people are killed each year by Christmas tree lights and vending machines than are by sharks.
They are a critical part of the food chain – they control smaller fish numbers, which in turn eat the plankton that turn CO2 into the oxygen we breathe. Kill all the sharks and we’re likely to be next!
