These shark fins were seized by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The low number of tests does not necessarily represent all cases of California shark fins that are brought to the attention of authorities. For example, if a case provokes an immediate confession on the part of the accused, the authorities may decide that an investigation is not necessary. Texas (Section 66.2161, Parks and Wildlife Code) prohibits „the possession, sale, and purchase of shark fins or shark fin products.“ Guam (5 G.C.A. § 63114.1) prohibits „possessing, selling, offering for sale, taking, buying, bartering, transporting, exporting, importing, trading or distributing shark fins.“ Your question raises another: why shark fin? It is common knowledge that fin does not add flavor or health benefits to shark fin soup. On the contrary, it gives the soup a crystalline, noodle-like texture, which can be reproduced almost indistinctly with mung bean paste or melon. Because shark fins are rigid cartilage and protein fibers, they need to be cooked for hours or even a whole day to make them soft enough to be edible. „If you bake my belt for 24 hours, it would also be edible,“ Knights says. Spicer examined shark-like shark falls in California in 2018 — all four. Only two of these cases were shark fins; The others were a case of shark attack and a case of poaching.
In total, the two shark fin cases she worked on in 2018 involved about 20 different shark fins. He says that, of course, he is against finning and overfishing, but cutting off the fins of a legally caught dead shark is not cruel, and a particular court`s ban will not stop shark finning because shark finning is already illegal in U.S. waters. But, he says, a ban will ensure that the fins of dead sharks are wasted. Every year, tens of millions of sharks are killed for their fins, mostly to make shark fin soup. In this useless and cruel practice, a shark has its fins cut off at sea and the rest of the animal is thrown back into the water to die. Without fins, sharks bleed to death, drown or are eaten by other species. In recent decades, some shark populations have declined by up to 99%.
The removal of sharks from marine ecosystems can destabilize the system and even lead to the disappearance of other populations, including commercially fished fish and shellfish species that are further down the food web. The preparation of shark fin soup involves boiling the fin and scraping the skin and meat, leaving behind softened protein fibers that are no longer recognizable as a fin until then. New Jersey (N.J.S.A. 23:2B-23) prohibits „the sale, trade, or distribution of shark fins, or the possession of shark fins separated from a shark prior to its lawful landing.“ Either these restaurateurs are breaking the law or they should be telling their customers that they`re serving shark fins that have been sitting in their freezers for a long time, Ranker said. David Shiffman, a marine biologist at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada, and the man behind the popular Twitter account @whysharksmatter, says it`s unreasonable for people to criticize the use of shark fins for soups when they can eat shark meat in other forms. Knights says a U.S. ban on the sale of shark fins would be an important step forward, as it would send the message that the sale and consumption of shark fins is no longer acceptable. The sale of shark fins, he says, „continues to increase pressure on sharks around the world.“ According to the institute, prison sentences for shark fin violations are rare in Texas and most other states, and typically don`t exceed six months for a first offense. Fines are usually less than a thousand dollars. In contrast, a single pound of dried shark fins can sell for $400, and shark fin soup can cost anywhere from $50 to $200. But, says Robert Hueter, director of the Shark Research Center at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida, given the difficulty some states have in enforcing their shark fin bans, a national ban would only drive the shark fin market underground — as is done in San Francisco.
Every year, tens of millions of sharks are killed for their fins, mostly to make shark fin soup. In this useless and cruel practice, a shark has its fins cut off at sea and the rest of the animal is thrown back into the water to die. Two years ago, Washington state lawmakers banned the sale of shark fins, but grandfathered fins purchased before July 2011.
