Top-10 Reasons to End the Shark Trade (Chinese)| Fact Sheet
- Many shark populations are already seriously threatened. The International Union for Conservation of Nature reported that over 30% of the open-ocean (pelagic) sharks are now threatened. Can we really let ourselves be responsible for killing off even one species of shark?
- Every year, around 100 million sharks are killed for their fins, liver oil, meat and teeth. Shark finning, which wastes from 80-90% of the carcass, accounts for nearly 75% of shark kills.
- Shark fin catches are very cruel, something no one should support. Boat crews slice off the fins and the body is thrown overboard. The shark, often still alive, sinks to the bottom and bleeds to death. If you haven't seen it before, please click here.
- Hong Kong is a leading trade hub and consumer of shark products. This includes shark meat, oil, fins and more. The ugly side of Hong Kong's thriving business is that it's also a leader in driving marine-habitat destruction. As the chart below shows, Hong Kong is the leading player in the shark-fin trade. But don't be quick to criticize! That 'fish' being served at the fish 'n chip shop or in those fish burgers is often made from 'flake' or 'reef cod', which is shark meat.
- It's easy to endanger and make sharks extinct. Sharks take a long time to reproduce, and when they do, they don't have many babies. Some sharks only have 2 'pups' at a time, and some carry their young for up to 2 years. So once the population is reduced, it takes many decades to recover. Already, many populations are seriously threatened.
- Although sharks are very heavily fished around the world, only three of some 350 species are weakly protected.
- The shark trade is not sustainable -- fish farms cannot raise sharks in any real sustainable way.
- In the time that it takes you to read this sentence, about 100
sharks will be killed for their fins, for unproven use of cartilage powder, as unused kills from fishing boats, or through the destruction of their environment.
- Eighty percent of all shark species are smaller than the average person. Their size alone makes most sharks harmless to people.
- Sharks aren't really as dangerous as people think. Every year, sharks cause fewer deaths than lightening, dogs,
deer
or falling coconuts.
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