Every year tens of millions of sharks die a slow death because of finning. Finning is the inhumane practice of hacking off the shark's fins and throwing its still living body back into the sea. The sharks either starve to death, are eaten alive by other fish, or drown (if they are not in constant movement their gills cannot extract oxygen from the water). Shark fins are being "harvested" in ever greater numbers to feed the growing demand for shark fin soup,a "delicacy" for some.

Not only is the finning of sharks barbaric, but their indiscriminate slaughter at an unsustainable rate is pushing many species to the brink of extinction. Since the 1970s the populations of several species have been decimated by over 95%.

 

We all must say no to Shark Finning. All countries should ban shark finning. All sharks caught must be landed intact – their fins must not be removed while the shipping vessel is at sea . 

I don't know about other countries but our UAE has taken action to stop shark finning in the Middle East.

 

The UAE Ministry of Environment and Water has issued new law regulating the hunting and trading of shark fins in the UAE.

 The new resolution, which will come into effect on September 1, imposes limitations on where and when the hunting of sharks in fishing waters can take place, and what kind of fishing equipment can be used.

 

Under the new law, the hunting of sharks is limited to not less than five nautical miles from the shores of the UAE and not less than three nautical miles from the islands of the UAE.

 

The regulation prevents hunting species listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Under that convention, any of these species that are caught in fishing equipment must be released back into the sea.

 

Fishermen using a lynch – a tool with multiple hooks – to catch sharks can do so from July 1 to January 31 each year, so long as they do not exceed 100 hooks her lynch. The hooks,  should be curved, no larger than 0/14 and should be biodegradable.

 

The ministry has also imposed a year-round ban on exporting sharks caught in the UAE's fishing waters – in any form (fresh, frozen, canned, etc).

The ministry said "This will prevent fishing of sharks for their fins and thwart the practice of throwing their bodies back into the sea".

The regulation states that sharks must be brought fully into the port. It also aims to prevent the trading of live sharks caught.

 

Seven Arab countries signed an agreement in Feb 2014 in Dubai to protect migrating sharks in Middle East waters from illegal trade with an aim to  create larger protected underwater corridors to protect shrinking shark stocks in regional waters where they are harvested for their fins to supply Far East market demand for a high-end brothy soup.

Delegates from UAE, Mauritania, Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, Jordan, Somalia, Syria and Comoros came to Dubai for  signing this agreement.

Under the watch of the UAE environment ministry, shark finning was declared illegal in 2011 in the UAE. The UAE is not a major harvester of local Gulf sharks despite it being the fifth largest exporter of shark fins to Hong Kong .

 To increase the protection of sharks to necessary conservation levels, first and foremost, the over-fishing needs to stop and trade in their body parts needs strict controls and regulations.

Sharks in general, and migratory sharks in particular, are in dramatic decline world-wide due to massive over-exploitation. As sharks play a vital ecological role as filter feeders and top predators in the marine environment, they deserve our protection, in particular with view to maintaining healthy oceans and fishing grounds for future generations and for the wellbeing of many local fisheries communities.

 

References:

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/environment/uae-acts-to-stop-shark-finning-in-middle-east-1.1290555

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/uae-issues-new-law-crack-down-on-shark-finning-559392.html

https://7daysindubai.com/ministry-takes-action-shark-finning-uae-waters/