Measures to strengthen the ban on shark finning in the Atlantic have been rejected by major fishing nations, but conservationists say that support is slowly growing.
Though finning – where a shark has its fins sliced off and its body is thrown back – is technically illegal in the Atlantic, many experts say that current measures allow it to continue.
That’s because vessels can remove fins at sea but then must show they have a certain number of carcasses for the quantity of fins. Requiring them to leave fins attached would remove any loopholes, campaigners say.
This year, the ‘fins attached’ proposal was supported by 30 out of 50 parties to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas.
Sonja Fordham of Shark Advocates International said she’s hopeful it will be passed in the next few years. “The amount of support for ‘fins attached’ rose from 14 last year to 30 this year,” she added. “Next year could be the time to get it through.”
