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Rachel Fearn

Mr. Phillips

AP Language and Composition

14 December 2018

​Swimming to Extinction

Government on Illegal Shark Fin Trade

Why are sharks so vital to the environment? According to Wenqing Yan, a renowned

artist and environmentalist, “If sharks go extinct, the fragile balance of the ocean will fall into

chaos.” In the shark finning industry, sharks have their fins hacked off, then are dropped back

into the ocean, alive in pain, and unable to swim. The ns are used for shark n soup, an Asian

delicacy retailing for approximately $100 (USD) per bowl (Smithsonian Ocean). On average,

90% of the shark is unused, and wasted. An estimated 73 million sharks are killed every year, a

number that far exceeds what many populations need to recover, without any regulation from the

Indonesian government (Vetter). The Indonesian Government needs to increase security and

promote conservation groups, as well as create laws and update their prohibited lists, before we

lose our sharks to extinction.

But where do these actions take place? According to the directorate General for Ocean

Management in the Indonesian Ministry for maritime Affairs and Fisheries, the usual destination

for shark fins are China, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The demand for shark fins from these

populations is driving multiple shark populations towards extinction. Each year, more than 1.4

million tons of sharks are caught, which is more than double the amount recorded six decades

ago. This exploitation of sharks has lead to the threatening of over sixty percent of shark species
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in Indonesia and China, which was discovered in a study by Yvonne Sadovy, lead author and

professor at the University of Hong Kong.

Thousands of sharks are being killed daily, simply for a bowl of shark fin soup. Shark fin

soup is a traditional soup or broth, primarily served at weddings or business banquets, or as a

luxury item. The soup is often claimed to have health benefits, including increasing appetite, as

well as improving one's kidneys, lungs, and bones. These ‘health benefits’ are the primary reason

the demand is so high. Unfortunately for the believers, there is no evidence to support these

claims, and the reality is that shark meat is barely fit for human consumption. Shark fin soup has

an extreme level of mercury, and the United States Environmental protection agency advises

women and young children to stay clear of it (Smithsonian Ocean). Despite the health risks

associated with consuming shark fins, there are a few benefits for the fishermen involved.

Before shark finning became valuable, people in remote areas of Indonesia were largely

subsistence fishers, harvesting just enough fish to get by. According to the ​Hakai Magazine​,

Alexander Deedy explains how over time, industries relying on the selling and trading shark fins

have infused poor communities with cash. Nazaruddin, a local fisherman living in Indonesia,

earns an average of $500 US dollars for every shark he sells. On average, the local fishermen

catches three to ten sharks each day. The shark’s fin, which is still considered a delicacy in Asia,

is the most profitable part of the shark, and each one can sell for between 1.5 million rupiah and

3 million rupiah ($100-200 USD), while the meat sells for only about 25,000 rupiah per

kilogram. When interviewed by Amanda Siddhartha, Dwi Ariyoga Gautama, coordinator for

by-catch and shark conservation at WWF Indonesia, says “because tuna are more profitable, they

just cut off the sharks’ fins and throw the rest of the fish back into the sea”. Fishermen then only
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possess the shark fins, so it is easy to get those parts past security. This is how our government

has lacked in the capturing of fishermen smuggling illegal fins, since the packages are

mislabeled and covered up. The government cannot prohibit the things they believe are legal.

Despite stricter laws, the WWF’s Ariyoga says many smugglers are still able to find

regulatory loopholes and other ways to export illegal shark fin. In 2016, Indonesian authorities

intercepted an illegal shipment of 20 tons of shark fin bound for Hong Kong, in Tanjung Perak,

Surabaya. Regarding this illegal shipment, Amanda Siddhartha, a writer for the ​South China

Morning Post​ claims, “the fins, some from the endangered hammerhead shark, were labeled as

frozen fish.” With fake labels and ways to cover up, fishermen can often get away with their

illegal shipments without getting caught. It’s almost impossible to tell the difference between the

fins of tuna, and the fins of sharks when packed away in containers. Since fishermen only take

around ten percent of the whole shark, all distinguishable features of the shark are dropped back

into the ocean. Finning results in landings of just fins or the trunk of the sharks without fins,

making species-specific identification quite challenging. The non-existent or incomplete

management plans have resulted in vague definitions for the finning industry and unclear

export/import/customs categories or commodity codes for the fins as a product. In response to

these vague regulations, multiple attempts have been planned in order to reduce shark finning.

As a solution, conservation groups, laws, and regulations have attempted to be put in

place by the Indonesian government. Over the past decade, conservation groups have sought to

reduce the toll brought on by this industry , and activism only has slashed China’s demand in

half (Vetter). If we can stop the demand for shark fins, the need to catch and kill sharks will

decrease. According to​ Science Daily,​ Sadovy wrote how fishing pressure on threatened shark
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populations has increased dramatically in the recent years, and it is urgent that consumers reject

shark fin products altogether. When interviewed by the​ ​Amanda Siddhartha, an author for the

South China Morning Post,​ Dwi Ariyoga Gautama, coordinator for by-catch and shark

conservation at WWF Indone spoke about the need for regulation and enforcement, and the need

to stop demanding shark fin and instead raise awareness. So in response, Indonesia’s government

set a goal to reduce the quantity of shark fins sold without overly inflicting the fishermen’s lives.

Often, fishermen apart of the illegal shark fin industry try to find loopholes in the law. A local

fisherman, Nazaruddin, was interviewed by the SCMP. He claims “I only catch fish that are not

on the governments list of prohibited species.” So fishermen can either plan around what species

of shark to catch, or lie and cover up to say its tuna. Indonesia has stricter regulations on the

exports of shark meat, but only 9 out of 118 species have been regulated (Siddhartha). One of the

major arguments used by the Australian government to justify the exclusion of Indonesian

fishers from the AFZ was that the Indonesian had changed from subsistence to commercial

fishers and this forfeited any usufructuary rights of entry (Murdoch).

As a follow up to the regulations mentioned prior, local governments and firms are

already taking action. The local government in Raja Ampat, an archipelago at the heart of the

indo pacific triangle, declared its waters a shark sanctuary as a push to preserve the apex

predators in a busy hotspot. Adding on, firms such as Maxim and four seasons hotels have

promised not to use or transport shark fins (Vetter). Actions and movements like these are the

reason shark finning has been cut in half. In time, all shark finning can become banned, regulated

or stopped by the government and Indonesian population.

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The Indonesian government has adequately regulated shark finning, however more

regulation is needed. Due to the increase of businesses, laws and companies raising awareness of

the shark fin industry, the government has begun to take action. It is important that the action of

capturing, mutilating, and release or killing of sharks is greatly reduced, or better off banned

completely. If these actions are not regulated soon, our sharks fall risk to extinction. As Loretta

Lynch once said, “ We all have a responsibility to protect endangered species both for their sake

and for the sake of our own future generations”.

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Works Cited

“Appetite for Shark Fin Soup Serious Risk to Threatened Sharks.” ​ScienceDaily,​ ScienceDaily,
13 Sept. 2018, ​www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/09/180913113841.htm​.

Butcher, Asa. “Animated Campaign Targets Shark Fin Soup Served at Chinese Weddings.”
GBTIMES,​ 17 Oct. 2018,
gbtimes.com/animated-campaign-targets-shark-fin-soup-served-at-chinese-weddings.

Deedy, Alexander. “Banned From Some Indonesian Waters, Shark Fishers Simply Move
Elsewhere.” ​Hakai Magazine,​ Hakai Magazine, 26 May 2016,
www.hakaimagazine.com/news/banned-some-indonesian-waters-shark-fishers-simply-m
ove-elsewhere/.

Johnson, and Constance. “Global Legal Monitor.” ​Planning D-Day (April 2003) - Library of
Congress Information Bulletin,​ Victor, 5 Nov. 2013,
www.loc.gov/law/foreign-news/article/indonesia-government-planning-to-reduce-exports
-of-shark-fins/.

Kelleher, Jennifer Sinco. “10 Indonesian Fishermen Accused of Shark Fin Smuggling.” ​U.S.
News & World Report,​ U.S. News & World Report, 13 Nov. 2018,
www.usnews.com/news/best-states/hawaii/articles/2018-11-13/10-indonesian-fishermen-
accused-of-shark-fin-smuggling.

Siddhartha, Amanda. “Indonesia's Fishermen Turn to Shark Finning to Feed Demand for
Delicacy.” ​South China Morning Post​, South China Morning Post, 15 Apr. 2018,
www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/2141537/indonesias-fishermen-turn-shark-finning-satisfy
-demand-sharks-fin-soup-and.

“Smithsonian Ocean.” ​Ocean Portal | Smithsonian,​ Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural

History, 23 May 2018, ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/sharks-rays/shark-fin-genetics.

Sodovy, Yvonne. “Appetite for Luxurious Shark Fin Soup Drives Massive Shark Populations
Decline.” ​Sea Around Us,​ University of Hong Kong, 10 Sept. 2018,
www.seaaroundus.org/appetite-for-luxurious-shark-fin-soup-drives-massive-shark-popul
ations-decline/.
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Tull, Malcolm. ​The History of Shark Fishing in Indonesia: A HMAP Asia Project Paper.​
Murdoch University, 2009, pp. 1–4, ​The History of Shark Fishing in Indonesia: A HMAP
Asia Project Paper​.

Vetter, David. “'Right Thing to Do': Big Firms Pledge to End Shark Fin Trade.” ​South China
Morning Post​, South China Morning Post, 29 Nov. 2018,
www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2171486/cathay-pacific-am
ong-major-hong-kong-firms-uniting.