Updated: Mar 8
Blue Religion is an official supporter of the ‘STOP FINNING – STOP THE TRADE‘ European Citizens‘ Initiative. This initiative is an opportunity to change the EU legislation and save the sharks.
Shark finning is a brutal procedure of cutting off the sharks‘ fins and throwing the rest of the body of the animal into the ocean while it’s still alive. Each year, 80-100 million sharks are killed just for their fins. Please click here to read more about the consequences of the shark finning.
Shark finning is widespread, and largely unmanaged and unmonitored. The demand for the shark fins is driven by Asian markets (over 50% of the world’s shark fin trade passes through Hong Kong), where the fins are traded for a huge profit. The fins then end up in a traditional dish called a shark fin soup. One bowl of shark fin soup can cost up to 90€ and it can contain only a few grams of fin.
The European union is a major player in this industry and every year, millions of sharks are caught in Europe. In 2013, the EU introduced a regulation that the fins must remain naturally attached to the carcass when the ship is unloaded in port, and only then the fins can then be separated from the animal and exported to Asia. For example, in 2016 alone, Spain officially landed 53,000 tons of blue shark, equivalent to approximately 1,75 million animals. But because there are few inspections at sea, fins continue to be illegally retained, transhipped or landed in the EU.
Nobody can say with certainty how many shark fins are still illegally landed in Europe. In addition to that, in many countries outside the EU, finning is still allowed and these fins can be traded legally in and across Europe.
That’s why the citizens' initiative STOP FINNING – STOP THE TRADE‘ aims to end the trade in fins in the EU, including the import, export and transit of fins that are not naturally present on the body of the animal.
The EU Citizens‘ Initiative “STOP FINNING – STOP THE TRADE” is more than a petition. Your vote for sharks officially counts and it can change the EU legislation. The end of the vote collection is on 31/01/2022. Vo
te now here: https://eci.ec.europa.eu/012/public/
Be the voice for the voiceless.
(This article was written using the information available on the campaigning website: https://www.stop-finning-eu.org/