Shark fin trade bans and sustainable shark fisheries

Ferretti, Francesco and Jacoby, David M. P. and Pfleger, Mariah O. and White, Timothy D. and Dent, Felix and Micheli, Fiorenza and Rosenberg, Andrew A. and Crowder, Larry B. and Block, Barbara A. (2020) Shark fin trade bans and sustainable shark fisheries. Conservation Letters, 13 (3): e12708. ISSN 1755-263X

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Abstract

The U.S. Congress is currently discussing the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act to eliminate shark fin trade at the federal level. This bill was introduced in 2017 and has been proceeding very slowly in Congress because of mixed reviews from the scientific community. Debate exists on whether shark conservation and management are effectively addressed with tightened trade controls for imported shark products or blanket bans that outright end U.S. participation in the shark fin trade. Here we contribute to this debate with a review and analysis of economic, nutritional, ethical, and legal arguments, as well as of the shark fisheries status and shark fin trade. We show that the United States has a limited commercial interest in shark fisheries and contributes to the shark fin trade mainly as a facilitator. A fin trade ban has few tangible economic drawbacks but would have a considerable conservation impact. While making all shark fisheries sustainable is the ultimate goal, in practice this objective is far from achievable everywhere in the world. Conversely, banning shark fin trade is an interim measure that nations like the United States can take with negligible cost and can truly impact the biggest driver of shark exploitation globally.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Conservation Letters
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1100/1105
Subjects:
?? fin trade bansfisheriesmanagement and conservationnetwork analysisseafood traceabilityshark fin sales elimination actsharkssocioeconomic value of fisheriessustainable fishingu.s. congressecology, evolution, behavior and systematicsecologynature and landsc ??
ID Code:
165445
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
04 Feb 2022 17:05
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
15 Jul 2024 22:18