India Bans Shark Finning
India’s ministry of environment has announced that it has banned the hunting of sharks for only their fins.
According to the new law, fishermen found with hauls of shark fins will face up to seven years in prison. Numerous shark species can be found in the waters off India’s coast, several of them endangered, including hammerheads, whale sharks and broadfins.
The practice of shark “finning,” or slicing off a shark’s fins and throwing it back to die slowly on the ocean floor, is big business thanks to demand from China, Hong Kong and other parts of Asia where shark fin soup is considered a delicacy.
India is the world’s second largest shark-catching nation after Indonesia, so it’s no surprise that the move has applauded by marine conservationists from around the globe.
However, with the majority of the finning and the trading of fins occurring offshore, experts are saying that it is vital that the ban is now enforced.
Rajeev Mathen Mathew, expert committee member of AP Biodiversity Board, says, “Sharks are caught offshore.
Fishermen on foreign vessels on the borders of territorial waters of India have been reportedly engaged in shark finning. It is very difficult to monitor these transactions offshore where the trading is done. The policy on paper will not help. There must be strict vigilance and it has to be implemented.”
C. Samyuktha of Humane Society International, says, “We are overjoyed at India’s decision to adopt a Fins Naturally Attached policy, which experts worldwide agree is necessary to protect sharks from the cruelty of finning. Humane Society International has been campaigning hard to see this policy enacted, and we are delighted that authorities have taken this crucial step.”
Bhanu Sridharan of Researchers for Wildlife Conservation said that in the long term the Central government must develop an effective mechanism for preventing illegal foreign fishing vessels from engaging in shark finning in Indian waters as this is detrimental to marine biodiversity and to the livelihoods of Indian fishing communities.
Provided the ban is seriously enforced, it will give sharks a fair chance of survival, which in turns helps maintain a balanced marine ecosystem, said Gajender Sharma of World Society for Protection of Animals.
