(Bob Timmons, the Toronto area’s “artist for the ocean” and advocate for all creatures on this planet, visited Niagara Friday, March 5 to speak on the disgusting practice of hunting down sharks for shark fin soup and other ocean conservation issues. What follows is an article Bob Timmons has prepared exclusively for Niagara At Large on the destructive practice we humans have of hunting down the last of this planet’s sharks .)
By Bob Timmons
Back in 2007, I watched a movie called “Sharkwater” and it exposed me
to a whole new world that was hidden.
A Tiger Shark, photo courtesy of Amanda Cotton
This new world was the barbaric shark-fining industry that puts out thousands of miles of long lines to catch sharks, after which they remove their fins and dump the living body back into the ocean to die. Approximately 90 million or more sharks are killed
in this manner every year.
The most targeted sharks do not have offspring yearly and can take up to 20 to 25years to become sexually mature. At this rate, the sharks are endangered and not sustainable for this type of industry. The fining industry does not only take one type of shark. They take anything they can get from the endangered whale shark and basking shark, and from more than 200 other
shark species.
Currently the laws are not protecting the sharks internationally and at this rate the sharks will be removed from this planet after surviving nearly 400 million years!
The European Union is accountable for the highest percentage of the shark fins sold legally and 80% of all shark fins (legal & illegal) end up in Hong Kong. The fins are used for a Chinese delicacy called “Shark Fin Soup” which can range from $50 to $150 per bowl. As the shark population declines the bowl price rises.
Sharks are directly related to the health of the ocean that in turn is directly related to the health of the planet. Over the last three decades, 90 per cent of the sharks have been removed from the ocean making its natural balance unhealthy and the results are startling.
Tiger Shark. Photo courtesy of Amanda Cotton
This is dangerous for many important reasons. One major reason is the ocean and microscopic plankton absorbs carbon emissions from the atmosphere and the plankton converts it to oxygen, which accounts for 70 per cent of the planet’s oxygen.
Fish that feed on plankton are in balance with the presence of the shark. However, when the shark is removed the plankton feeders increase in numbers and feed heavily on the plankton lowering the percent of oxygen produced for the planet making the ocean and the planet very unhealthy.
The key is balance and the ocean’s web of life. So a shark alive is much more important than a bowl of soup to keep the oceans healthy.
( Bob Timmons is a Toronto area artist and animal activists. You can visit his work at www.bobtimmons.org. He also sits on the advisory board of Oceanic Defense that you can visit at www.oceanicdefense.org.)
(The great photos of tiger sharks have been made available to Niagara At Large courtesy of award-winning photographer Amanda Cotton. You can visit her website at www.acottonphoto.com.)
(Click on www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary from Niagara At Large of issues of interest and concern to our binational Niagara region.)
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