Stop the slaughter of sharks in Ecuador
If you've ever eaten the Chinese delicacy, shark fin soup, you've had a taste of ocean destruction.
Sharks are greatly valued for their fins which are sold for high prices in Asia. Shark fin soup is served at Chinese weddings and banquets to symbolise wealth and prestige.
The market demand for this one part of the shark has given rise to shark 'finning,' a practice in which the fins are cut off a captured shark and the rest of the animal is then dumped, often alive, back into the sea. Sharks (unlike most other fish) have only a few young at a time and so take a long time to recover from exploitation.
Shark populations around the world are in decline. Worldwide, 90% of large fish including sharks have been wiped out from our oceans since 1950, according to a 2003 study published in Nature.
In July Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, legalised the sale of fins from sharks caught by accident, saying the revenue would help impoverished fishermen to feed their families. This despite the fact that the government of Ecuador still bans fishing for sharks.
Since it's impossible to tell whether sharks have been caught intentionally or as bycatch, legalizing the export of shark fins almost certainly results in more sharks being killed intentionally.
When the decree came into effect, fishermen started returning to shore with hundreds of sharks - estimates of the daily catch range from 400 to 1000. Since there is no way to tell if a shark was caught by accident or design, all these fins can legally enter trade.
Reports indicate that there is now a large effort to catch sharks underway in the waters of Ecuador, despite the fact that this practice remains illegal.
What you can do:
Shark fishing remains illegal in Ecuador. Send President Correa an email or letter urging him to enforce that law, noting that the current catch is unlikely to be sustainable and represents a directed fishery for sharks, not simply the marketing of fins from bycaught sharks.
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Comments
Como ecuatoriana que soy me parece terrible la decisión del gobierno de permitir la comercialización legal de las aletas de tiburón (está claro que todas las capturas seran declaradas como accidentales). No se puede permitir que unicamente por congraciarse con los votantes de un sector del país se dañen los recursos naturales con los que cuenta el país (ya lo dice el dicho esto será PAN PARA HOY Y HAMBRE PARA MAÑANA.
Posted by: Gianina Aguinaga | August 15, 2007 1:37 PM
Hi i'm a kid from Ecuador itself, worried about whats going on here. Tomorrow a movement will be done, a manifestation, where all ecuadorians who have recieved the message will be dressed in red as a protest for this calamity. I beg you to do everything in your power to help uns with this. I'm worried about my future,-my friends future and all of the kids here for goodness sake, so please come here and start helping -not us but the slaughtered sharks!! I'm very happy by just knowing you have some interest in this but please take it more of your concern!
Posted by: Juan Andres | August 17, 2007 6:07 AM
soy ecuatoriana y estoy muy molesta con esta situación. el día miercoles 15 de agosto estuve presente en la marcha que se raelizo en el gobierno del litoral y mi curso esta organizando un acmpaña para evitar esta situacíón por favor ayudenos a nosotros los ecuatorianos a acabar con esta injusticia por parte del presidente solo para conseguir votos para la samblea constituyente...que falta de respeto hacia su país....
Posted by: andrea muñoz | August 19, 2007 10:09 PM
Queremos a los tiburones en nuestras aguas, no en el plato de los chinos.
Se nota que el presidente esta desesperado e inseguro, para tomar ese tipo de decisiones que cualquier persona por mas enferma mental que este no lo haria por respeto a la naturaleza. Los pescadores tienen literalmente un mar de recursos para vivir, especies de alto ciclo reproductivo, pero por unos pocos votos esta poniendo en juego los recursos naturales y el futuro no solo del pais, sino del mundo.
Posted by: Rafael Quiñonez | August 21, 2007 6:41 AM
Please keep on going to fight these type of animal protection because they feel pain and huge suffering from the humans. Thanking you
Posted by: Arjun | September 19, 2007 10:28 AM
hi... I am a youngster Brazilian and I am panic stricken with the situates will not only of the Equator as well as of the world!
i feel I must do something to help me and help the world.
Posted by: Vinicius Galvao | October 6, 2007 1:17 AM