Each year across the globe, tens of millions of sharks are hunted down, only to have their fins sliced off and their bodies thrown back into the ocean, often left to die an agonizing death.
"Finning" is done to satisfy an appetite for dishes such as shark fin soup, an Asian delicacy, which may be served at celebratory occasions to showcase one’s wealth or honor one’s guests.
Consuming shark fin soup is cruel and unnecessary. In fact, legislation has been enacted in more than a dozen states to ban the trade in sharks fins. There is also an effort to ban the trade in Congress. Demand is going down in China, the largest market for shark fins—but more work needs to be done to bring crucial protections to vulnerable shark populations.
TAKE ACTION
Many shark species today are threatened with extinction, but you can help save them by pledging to protect them today and encouraging your friends and family to do the same.