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The safety and preservation of our planet has become a growing concern for people all around the world. Try Peas is a blog dedicated to providing news, views, and information on ways that we can help try to save the environment. We appreciate hearing from you, so feel free to join the conversation!

Karen's Bio

Karen has been a travel enthusiast since she was a young child. It has always been a dream of hers to see as much of the world as possible. Last year, while she was sailing transatlantic on the Queen Mary 2, a gentleman expressed an interest in publishing a detailed journal she’d kept of her 7 week European vacation. This inspired her to start an Ezine of her own, and combine her passion for traveling with her passion for saving the planet. She hopes you enjoy reading about her experiences around the world as much as she enjoys writing about them.

Marla's Bio

Marla is an an avid reader and self-described news junkie. She has both Bachelors and Masters degrees in English and has always had a passion for writing. She has never hesitated to express her opinion about anything. Marla attributes her interest in environmental issues to her Breast Cancer diagnosis 17 years ago. She makes it a point to keep an eye on current news and events that impact our environment and global health.

Andrea's Bio

Andrea has a passion for product specification in the construction, renovation and development of commercial and residential real estate projects. Over the last several years, she has become fascinated with how the construction industry and other businesses related to it are developing and utilizing more eco-friendly, renewable, and sustainable products. This is happening in many other industries as well. In this column, she invites you to share in her discoveries as she explores the “greening” of business. Andrea Goldman holds a bachelors degree in Sociology from SUNY at Albany and a Juris Doctor from Hofstra University Law School.

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Jan

10

Shark Fin Soup: $100… Saving the Sharks: Priceless
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by Karen R.

Approximately 73 million sharks a year are killed just for their fins, to make shark fin soup. With the help of Ellen Pikitch, a shark expert at Stony Brook University, part of the State University of New York education system, a 2000 law tried to curb this practice. The industry found loopholes in the law and finally Congress has wisely voted to close them.

The Shark Conservation Act was introduced by Reps. Madeleine Bordallo, D-Guam, Eni Faleomavaega, D-American Samoa, and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass and will require all sharks caught in U.S. waters to be landed with their fins still attached. The law targets a practice called shark finning, the removal and retention of shark fins and the discarding at sea of the rest of the body. This causes the shark to sink toward the ocean floor, with no means of swimming or defense. Regulations previously prohibited finning practices in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico and now also apply to the Pacific.

Opposing shark finning is the humane thing to do. The number of shark attacks on humans is tiny compared to our impact on them. The other reason to oppose this practice is: overfishing of sharks has led to the upset of entire marine ecosystems. As sharks disappear, the species they eat will multiply. That is not good for lower species and upsets the balance of nature.

Pikitch, the executive director of the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science, fought for the 2000 law, but people still craving the Asian delicacy found ways around it. The market for fins is still strong and they sell for more than $200 a pound. A bowl of Shark Fin soup can cost as much as $100.

Once the new bill becomes law, ships will not legally be able to bring shark fins to shore in United States ports if they are separate from the body of the shark. That will slow down both the fin harvest and the practice of ships harvesting and transferring the fins to other “non-fishing” vessels that then claim exemption from the law.

Changing the U.S. law won’t prevent other nations from harvesting fins, but it is a good start. Environmental advocates hope that the new legislation will extend internationally.

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