Debunking American Shark Fisheries


Human stupidity is reaching new heights in the arguments put forth by American shark fisheries advocates in an effort to block The Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act of 2019. There are always scientists who are willing to speak up for industry and they, along with a variety of fisheries coalitions are doing their best to keep it from becoming law. But their arguments amount to protesting that the ivory trade is good for elephants in the United States, or the trade in rhino horn is good for rhinos, in the United States. 

This video debunks the main points raised by fisheries advocates.

When shark fins bring in a fortune comparable to the drug trade, it is natural that these fishermen are going to fight and make up all sorts of stories to continue to get that money--it means so much to them. But The Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act has determined that the amount of money that fishermen are losing is not enough to continue to perpetuate the monstrous shark fin trade worldwide. 

In every country that became a sanctuary for sharks, or in which the shark fin trade was banned, fishermen had to give up the money they were getting for the fins. However, they did not try to turn their complaints into a scientific paper, or pretend that they were not implicated in a global catastrophe. It is too easy to make money by killing things that are rare, and those who are willing to do it should be denounced.

It is easy to say that a fishery is sustainable with no evidence, but if it is, why are more than ninety percent of sharks already lost? Why are some of these so-called "sustainable" fisheries throwing away endangered species as by-catch? Don't believe fishermen's stories. They are used to making up big ones. Compare the size of fish caught in the 1950s with those caught now:

Fishermen posing with their catch in a tournament in the 1950s
Fish caught in a recent tournament.
These photos of the fish caught in tournaments in the 1950's, above, and in a recent tournament, below, gives an idea of what is happening with American fisheries.

Now, with fish stocks in serious trouble, fishermen are turning to sharks to replace such fish as the cod, now that they are gone. 

But look at it logically. How can you replace food fish with top predators? That is like replacing cows with wolves, or sheep with cats. It is simply a crazy idea, and if it isn't stopped, will lead to the crashing of the ecological balance of the ocean.  

No animals can withstand targeted, industrial hunting. Period.

So please support The Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act of 2019. It is badly needed to help stall the global catastrophe that has been caused by the shark fin trade.

(c) Ila France Porcher
     Author of The True Nature of Sharks and The Shark Sessions


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