We’ve got all the tools to stop shark finning, according to Fin Free founder Rob Stewart, now all we have to do is get it done.

We know the task and we have a network of millions of people who believe in a worldwide ban, now it’s time to hit the ground running. And with a decimated shark population as a result of grotesquely wasteful shark fin soup, we’d better get to work.

“100 Million sharks are killed each year, mostly to fuel the demand for shark fin soup, decimating shark populations by 90%”, says Rob Stewart – Fin Free founder and director of the multiple award-winning 2006  feature documentary “Sharkwater.”

Fin Free is an open source conservation movement that educates and empowers the public on the horrifically destructive practice of shark finning. More than 70 Fin Free chapters have already emerged worldwide and many businesses are also united for a ban.

Sharks were the first vertebrae on earth with jaws, 150 million years before the dinosaurs and in only a few years their population has plummeted  to dangerous levels.

Not only is shark finning inhumane and destructive, the world needs sharks to survive. They control the populations of all the marine species below them on the food chain and without them, fish populations would explode so much so that they could no longer support themselves in their environment. This would throw the entire framework of the world’s most important ecosystem out of balance–an ecosystem that we depend on for our very survival. Phytoplankton in the ocean accounts for the majority of the oxygen we breathe. It’s no small deal.

Start a Fin Free chapter in your area and let’s get a worldwide ban in place before it’s too late.

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The environmental organization OCEARCH is bringing attention to ocean conservation and saving sharks globally. In fact, there’s an app for that.

OCEARCH has developed a global shark tracker–an app and website that uses GPS to show shark movements worldwide. Researchers from OCEARCH have pulled great whites, tiger sharks, and other large species out of the water and attached GPS tags.

Every time the sharks surface they ping to satellites, which updates their location. Currently, about 100 species are known by name–like Oprah, a young great white found off the shore of South Africa and Katherine, a 14-foot long great white that weighs over a ton and has been patrolling the Straights of Florida. She was first tagged in Cape Cod last August. The app is shining a light on ocean conservation and saving sharks.

OCEARCH partners with world class fishermen and researchers to catch sharks, test them, tag them with GPS, and then release them back into the wild unharmed.

Great whites are “the lions of the ocean,” said founding chairman and expedition leader Chris Fischer, who founded the research institute in 2007, reported in the Tampa Bay Times. “They keep the balance in the oceans. Without them, there would be no fish.”

The ocean conservation organization has completed 19 expeditions, tagging 150 sharks, 50 of which are still pinging. They hope the interactive nature of the app will get people interested in what’s going in our world’s oceans, especially the plight of sharks.

“We need another global ocean movement,” he said. “It’s getting hammered.”

If you go to the website, you can get a global picture of where sharks are and even follow them on Twitter. Katherine currently has 7,500 followers.

“It’s all about the power of inclusion,” said Fischer, who grew up in Kentucky and loved fishing and the outdoors, reported in the Tampa Bay Times. “We’re transitioning a research program into a global ocean movement.”

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ColumnFrom tuna to turtles, some cultural food traditions create such egregious ethical and environmental consequences, they can never be justified.

When is a cultural tradition a legitimate reason to continue to consume something that’s environmentally problematic? When is it just a convenient excuse to keep eating whatever we want or to keep a lucrative trade going? The examples that follow may not answer that question, but they will certainly get you thinking about the issue.

A Big Beef

At a deli referendum last year, the discussion around the sustainability and history of Jewish food traditions centered on the giant pastrami sandwiches served at Jewish delis. Panelists like Michael Pollan reflected on the fact that what people think of as a long-standing food tradition is really a relatively new tradition borne out of post-war prosperity and abundance. The panel discussed the wisdom of serving and eating smaller sandwiches made from more responsibility raised beef less often. Such a practice would not only be better for the environment and our health but would be more in line with older Jewish food traditions that treated meat as a special occasion food.

Fin Free

California legislators are in the midst of considering AB 376, a bill that would ban the sale, possession, and trade of shark fins in the state. The opposition has spent millions to convince legislators and voters that banning the trade in shark fins would be racist. Shark fin soup is a traditional dish served at Chinese banquets, but it’s only relatively recently that a wide swath of middle class population has enjoyed the dish. The popularity of shark fins today is causing the decimation of the shark population. This is not only a tragedy in itself, but the practice of ripping the fins off of sharks and tossing the live sharks back in the water to die is cruel. Whether or not you care about sharks, as top predators, they are crucial to the health of the ocean ecosystem, and by extension, our survival.

Sushi Shame

Despite the fact that the Blue Fin tuna population has declined nearly 90% since the 1970s and is considered endangered by most ocean advocacy groups, if not the US Government, it still appears on the menus of most sushi bars. Why? Because it’s one of the traditional fish used in sushi, it’s delicious, and people will pay a lot of money for it. Is that enough reason to decimate an entire population of a majestic top ocean predator?

Turtle Trade

Some questions of food traditions vs. environmental conservation are a little more complicated. Sea turtle meat and eggs are important culinary traditions in many parts of Latin America. Most species are protected, but there are some indigenous communities who have the right to hunt turtles in their territory for their own consumption. In Costa Rica, residents who have few other income opportunities, are allowed to harvest a small proportion of sea turtle eggs to sell. Unfortunately, both of the above types of arrangements often lead to illegal poaching and high black market prices, which just feeds the problem.

Are there any situations in which cultural food traditions should trump environmental concerns?

This is the latest installment in Vanessa Barrington’s weekly column, The Green Plate, on the environmental, social, and political issues related to what and how we eat.

Images: cephalopodcast, divekarma, sly06, Pink Sherbert Photography, Ingrid Taylar, istolethetv

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