The Economic Drive and Consequences of Shark Finning
In an era where meeting the needs of consumers to gain profit is more important than protecting the planet that we live on, shark finning has become a significant global situation. Not only are sharks killed by the inhumane practice of finning, but their population is also rapidly decreasing through bycatch. In my research paper, I will explore the following topics of how the economy influences shark finning and how this practice further affects the ecosystem negatively. To explore these issues, I will focus on one of the main reasons of shark finning, which is the economic drive and where the demand stems from. Through the actions of shark finning, an immense consequence would be the destruction of the ecosystem, which further increases the pace of climate change. This paper will provide knowledge of how important sharks are to our ecosystem and the types of damage humans do by disrupting the ocean’s natural balance.
Shark finning is an inhumane practice performed all around the world and angers millions of people because of how the entire shark is put to waste. The issue of finning is when a shark is caught, the fishermen slices off their fin, the only valuable piece, and throws the rest of the body into the water, where they are unable to survive without their fins and die due to loss of blood. Due to the high economic drive, the fins are then sold and distributed to the most demanding countries, China, Japan, and Thailand, but other countries all the around the world trade shark fins as well. Shark fins are mainly used to create a soup popular in China and Hong Kong, but other countries have their own versions of turning the fins into their own expensive delicacy, such as the way Japan uses the fins to create a pillowy white cake known as hanpen, or including the ingredient into sushi. British consumers also have their own dish made of shark fin, which is fish and chips made of spiny dogfish sharks, and there is even cat food made of shark fin sold in some markets.
Nathaniel Grimes’ academic journal, “Institutions in the Shark Fin Market: Externalities and Incentives”, written in July 2018 provides up to date research using combined literature findings of fisheries economics, shark biology, and institutional economics to analyze the role institutions have in shaping the shark fin market. Grimes’ idea is human economic activity impacts the environment through direct resource extraction or indirectly by consequence, which is true because today, about 100 million are sharks killed every year through the practice of finning with 73 million of the sharks targeted while the rest are killed indirectly through bycatch in tuna and swordfish long-line industries. The biology of sharks and nature of capturing techniques distinguishes the shark fin market from other wild-caught fishing industries. First, the difference between the shark fin and the rest of the shark leads to an incentive to fin the sharks because the fin is the only valuable part of the shark, since there is no demand for the rest of the body. Furthermore, sharks’ life are characterized by slow growth, low fecundity, and late maturity, making recovery of shark populations from fishing pressures to be extremely difficult especially when the population is already decreasing at an alarming rate. To analyze the shark fin market, Grimes studies the shark fin economy of Hong Kong, the current largest distributors of shark fins. Bases on Hong Kong’s assumed market share in 2000, 26-73 million sharks were killed for their fins, which equated to $400-$500 million worth of exchange, almost four times greater than the estimate for shark fins by the United Nations FAO. Because selling shark fins is so profitable, many poor fishermen in Thailand and Cambodia turn to this practice to make enough money to support their families.
The reason why the economic drive for shark fins is so high is due to the influence of culture. The rapid growth of the Chinese economy increases the demand for shark fin soup, due to more middle-class people are now able to afford the dish. In another academic journal, “The Influence of Culture on the International Management of Shark Finning” by Andrea Dell’Apa, Smith Chad, and Mahealani Kaneshiro-Pineiro, allows us to understand how the demand for shark fins is surrounded by culture. Shark fin has become a delicacy in China since the time of dynasties, as shark fin soup was a dish consumed by the emperor. During this time, dishes with ingredients that were hard to obtain gained a high reputation, therefore consuming shark fins was a symbol of wealth since there was a high risk of death when catching sharks. Not only did the dish symbolized a sign of wealth, but the people also believed that consuming strong and fierce animals would give strength, which was suitable for the imperial family since they believed consuming these animals’ spiritual properties would allow them to live and rule longer. The connection between shark fins and the medicinal benefits they provide play in great role in shark exploitation. In traditional Chinese culture, shark fins are believed to be a tonic and is able to cure medical conditions, but scientific research has not proven this to be true. Like in every culture, respect is very important in Chinese society. To this day, shark fin soup is served at celebrations and gatherings, usually at weddings. When shark fin soup is not served at such events, the host is deemed to look very cheap and is not giving “face” to their guests. Serving the dish portrays high social class, measuring the host’ wealth and generosity.
Sharks are portrayed as scary killer animals by the media and have lots of misconceptions made about them. Greentumble, a group whose goal is to change the way people view the world to encourage a more sustainable lifestyle, wrote an article “How Does Shark Finning Affect the Ecosystem?”, explaining how large of a role sharks play in keeping our oceans balanced. Sharks are known a apex predators, animals at the top of the food chain, especially the larger species that are preferred by their fins. Because sharks are apex predators, they control the populations of species in the lower trophic levels. Therefore if the population of sharks decreases due to a stressful cause such as finning, the populations of the lower trophic species may grow out of control without the regulation of sharks, leading to ecosystem instability. Sharks also regulate ocean health by hunting for slower, weaker fish. By going after sick fish, the overall ocean remains healthy and allows the stronger fish to reproduce, contributing to the evolution of species overtime by strengthening the gene pool. Sharks indirectly keep other small sea life healthy through maintaining seagrass and coral reef habitats, which are both crucial in keeping the ocean lively, since this is where many marine life live to hide from predators. The main reason why sharks are extremely important to the health of the whole ecosystem is because they are a keystone species, meaning the whole ocean structure would collapse if they were to be removed. Without a keystone species, the population of other marine species would decrease substantially, or even become extinct. When other marine animals start to disappear, the ecosystem would start to destabilise. Because oceans make up the majority of our planet, its disabilisation would lead to disabilisation of the entire planet, therefore we are able understand why the impact of finning and lowering the population of sharks would cause a chain reaction of destruction.
The shark fin market is driven by both incentives and institutions. The demand for shark fins are extremely high in countries around Asia, but effective institutions to regulate the shark fin market include a fins-attached policy, shark sanctuaries, pellucid and effective management strategies, and stronger property rights in their local waters. China’s communist party is actually aware of the shark fin crisis and placed a ban on shark fins, which dropped the sales by 70%. Although shark fins are now banned in China, people still having a way of exchanging shark fins illegally through the black market. High demands of shark fins are influenced by Chinese culture with the symbolization of wealth and power. As shark fins are believed to have medicinal properties in Chinese culture, they actually do not provide any nutritional value and are just tasteless strands of cartilage which may even be harmful since sharks are on top of the food chain, therefore contains large amounts of mercury and other poisonous metals. Even though shark fins are not consisted of much taste, it is still consumed due to the belief of tonic properties in the ingredient and to display a high social status.