Shark Fin Regulation Vote

In Panama, almost 200 countries voted to protect many sharks and that there needs to be shark fin regulation. On Thursday, at the 19th Conference of the Parties in Panama, over 50 species of sharks were added to the list of protected species. This extensive list of protected sharks includes six small hammerhead, bull, and tiger sharks. The hope is that this will help prevent the shark fin trade and prevent sharks from extinction.

Sharks are killed daily for their fins so that people can make shark fin soup. The overfishing and lack of regulations for sharks have put most of them on the brink of extinction. It is estimated that over 100 million sharks are killed yearly just for shark fin soup. The countries voted to limit or regulate the shark fin trade at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or Cites. Fifty-four shark species have been added to the list of protected species. Another 37 types of guitarfish have been added to the list as well.

This shark protection proposal which was placed by Panama and backed by 40 other counties, will make sure that two thirds of the sharks are protected. Luke Warwick of the Wildlife Conservation Society is excited that the shark fin trade will be “fully regulated.” He also said that this new step “will forever change how the world’s ocean predators are managed and protected.”

The shark population has declined by 70 percent in the last fifty years. By implementing the shark fin regulation, we can prevent total shark extinction. Do you believe that the shark fin regulation will help prevent shark extinction?