„Finning“ is a brutal practice used in fishing on the high seas. Sometimes the sharks are hunted selectively, but increasingly Finning is being practiced with the „unwanted by-catch“ of tuna and swordfish fishing. Immediately after catching the sharks all the fins are cut off and the remaining carcasses thrown back into the sea. During this mutilation, the animals are usually fully conscious, and, no longer able to swim, sink to the seabed where they bleed to death or suffocate.<\/p>\n
Finning is an unselective\u00a0 fishing method that does not take into account the species, size or age of the shark. The main attraction is the greed for profit. Due to this „space-saving“ method on board, significantly more fins can be stored than when the whole shark body is transported. This by-catch is also seen to be an unnecessary ballast – as well as all those other species which are caught along with the sharks on the countless bait hooks, „longlines“ caught, which float around for miles in our oceans.<\/p>\n<\/div>
Every year, around 73 million sharks die solely for their fins, which are considered to be\u00a0 a highly desirable ingredient in shark fin soup, especially in Asia (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand) [1]<\/p>\n
Every year, however, up to 273 million sharks die in our oceans. The exact numbers remain speculation, as there is a lack of reliable data and the worldwide number of unreported cases of illegal fishing is extremely high. [2] As a result of this massive overexploitation, the marine ecosystem is in danger, since sharks create a state of balance\u00a0 through their role as top predators.<\/p>\n<\/div>