Canada is the first G7 member nation to ban the import and sale of shark fins.
Stop the import and sale of shark fins! Finally Canada, one of the largest markets outside Asia in this dismal trade, is now the first G20 member nation to ban the import and export of shark fins in an effort to preserve a now threatened predator.
In 2018 alone, Canada imported over 148 kg of shark fins, while the UN estimates that 73 million sharks are killed every year for their fins, considered a delicacy (just think that in China they are often served at banquets wedding).
To change her mind Kristyn Wong-Tam, city councilor of the city of Toronto, who, after a holiday in Hong Kong with her family, would have discovered how fins are cut by sharks still alive (practice of sharkfinning), before their bodies are thrown back into the water. She has since become one of the first promoters of the law.
Canada has banned sharkfinning in its waters since 1994 but the trade was still authorized and the nation became one of the largest markets after Asia.
"Shark finning is an indisputably destructive practice that is contributing to the global decline of sharks and is a continuing threat to ocean ecosystems," says Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson. The new actions are a clear example of the conservation of our ocean environment ”.
“The Chinese community must be proud, we will be the vanguard of a global movement - concludes Wong-Tam, arguing that the new generations of Asian Canadians now refuse to use shark fins as ingredients.
An excellent step forward, but in the meantime the Canadian biologist groups remember one point: overfishing, that is the practice of fishing with wide-ranging nets that preys on the seas and affects large marine animals, is one of the main threats to the Sharks.
The #SharkFinBan victory in Canada would have never happened without the visionary leadership of #RobStewart, his incredible family and talented team. Those profiting from the cruel practice of sharkfinning tried very hard to make it about culture. They failed. Sharks win. https://t.co/UF37XhyIhb
— Kristyn Wong-Tam (@kristynwongtam) June 21, 2019
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