New Shark-Fin Pictures Reveal Ocean "Strip Mining"

Shark-Fin Haul
Photograph courtesy Paul Hilton, Pew Environment Group
Workers at a Taiwanese fishing port clean and process a haul of shark fins in new pictures taken by the U.S.-based Pew Environment Group.
Released October 19, the images show fins and body parts of vulnerable shark species—including the scalloped hammerhead and oceanic whitetip—being prepared for sale.
Up to 73 million sharks are caught each year for the global fin trade, which fuels a demand for shark-fin soup, according to Pew. Fishers usually slice the animals' fins off and throw their still-living bodies overboard.
(See "Shark Fins Traced to Home Waters Using DNA—A First.")
"Unfortunately, since there are no limits on the number of these animals that can be killed in the open ocean, this activity can continue unabated," Pew's Matt Rand said in a statement. "This strip-mining of the world's sharks is clearly unsustainable."
On October 21 the Taiwan Fisheries Agency announced a ban starting next year on shark finning, but the ban only mandates that caught sharks be taken back to shore with their fins still attached.
"This announcement is an indication that Taiwan is on the right track when it comes to protecting sharks. However, it falls short of what is really needed," Rand said. "A finning ban does not address the larger overfishing problem that is driving these animals toward extinction."
—Helen Scales
Published October 28, 2011
Daily Catch
Photograph courtesy Shawn Heinrichs, Pew Environment Group
A Taiwanese fisher lands a mixed catch, including sharks, in one of the pictures released by Pew.
Shark fishing in Taiwan involves both large-scale fleets using so-called long-line fishing in international waters as well as small, local fishing boats operating closer to shore, experts say.
In Taiwan, 85 percent of sharks caught come from the high seas, Glenn Sant of TRAFFIC—a global wildlife-trade monitoring network—said by email.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists more than half of open-ocean shark species as threatened or near-threatened with extinction.
(See "New Shark Species Found in Food Market.")
Published October 28, 2011
Scalloped Hammerheads
Photograph courtesy Shawn Heinrichs, Pew Environment Group
Scalloped hammerhead sharks, fins removed, are lined up in a Taiwanese processing plant. Each year an estimated 1.3 to 2.7 million smooth and scalloped hammerheads are caught for their fins globally, experts say.
Scalloped hammerheads are especially vulnerable to overfishing. That's because the sharks are slow-growing—they can take up to 17 years to reach maturity—and females have a long gestation period. A long pregnancy limits the ability of hammerhead populations to recover once depleted.
Overall, "sharks play a critical role in the ocean environment," Pew's Jill Hepp said in a statement.
"Where shark populations are healthy, marine life thrives; but where they have been overfished, ecosystems fall out of balance," Hepp said.
(See "Sharks' Virus Killer Could Cure Humans, Study Suggests.")
Published October 28, 2011
Factory Fins
Photograph courtesy Shawn Heinrichs, Pew Environment Group
A machine shovels piles of frozen shark fins at a Taiwanese factory.
"Taiwan has been one of the five largest catchers of sharks globally for decades," TRAFFIC's Sant said by email.
Sant also co-authored a January report, produced jointly by TRAFFIC and Pew, that ranked the world's shark-catching countries.
The top ten are Indonesia, India, Spain, Taiwan, Argentina, Mexico, Pakistan, the United States, Japan, and Malaysia.
(See overfishing pictures.)
Published October 28, 2011
Fins Laid Out to Dry
Photograph courtesy Shawn Heinrichs, Pew Environment Group
Shark fins are laid out to dry at a processing plant in Taiwan.
Taiwan's new plan to ban on shark finning, which will begin in 2012, means that fishers will need to bring whole sharks, with their fins attached, back to port.
This will limit the volume of fish that can be carried on board a vessel, TRAFFIC's Sant noted. The law is "a welcome move by one of the top five shark catchers," he said.
However, a finning ban "does not set limits on how many sharks can be killed," Pew's Rand said in a statement. "As such, the hunt will continue."
(See blog: "California Bans Shark-Fin Trade.")
Published October 28, 2011
Shark-Fin Bounty
Photograph courtesy Shawn Heinrichs, Pew Environment Group
More than 3,500 shark fins dry in the Taiwanese sun.
These images represent a snapshot of the immense scale of shark-fishing operations," Pew's Rand said in a statement.
Pew is calling on more governments to follow the lead of some Pacific and Caribbean countries, which have declared their waters to be shark sanctuaries. (Related: "France-Size Shark Sanctuary Created-A First.")
The group also wants protection for the most threatened species and to eliminate shark bycatch, or unwanted species caught while fishing for another species.
Published October 28, 2011
Shark "Logs"
Photograph courtesy Shawn Heinrichs, Pew Environment Group
A pile of dismembered shark carcasses gets offloaded at a warehouse in Taiwan. In the industry, finless shark bodies are known as "logs."
As well as international demand for shark-fin soup, there's also a significant market in Taiwan for shark meat, TRAFFIC's Joyce Wu said via email.
Some shark bodies are landed to supply meat demand, but there's concern that distant water fleets could be finning, due to lack of access to freezing facilities.
Once the fins have been removed, most shark meat in Taiwan is processed into fish paste and other fish products, she added.
(See "Megamouth Shark Picture: Ultra-Rare Shark Found, Eaten.")
Published October 28, 2011
Shark-Fin Assortment
Photograph courtesy Shawn Heinrichs, Pew Environment Group
A collection of dismembered shark fins await cleaning and processing.
Thirty percent of all shark species are now threatened or near threatened with extinction, due largely to unregulated fishing, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
"Our main concern is that it is difficult to demonstrate that the [shark] catch is from well managed or sustainable sources," TRAFFIC's Sant said.
"It begs the question whether the trade in shark products should be allowed to continue until this problem is resolved."
(See blog: "175 Governments Weigh Stricter Controls Over Wildlife Trade.")
Published October 28, 2011