Taiwan to Ban Shark Finning—but is it enough?

If you thought environmental groups would be pleased by the news today that Taiwan will soon ban shark finning, think again.

When the Taiwan Fisheries Agency (TFA) announced plans to ban the practice of shark finning in its waters, many people failed to notice one big asterisk: while the practice of finning will be made illegal, the killing off sharks for entire consumption will continue.

"If we make use of sharks in a manner that is effective and reasonable, it can be beneficial not only to humans, but also to the ecological environment,” said James Sha, the Director General of the TFA. “I hope that there can be an understanding that Taiwanese people do not only eat the shark fins, we also eat the shark meat and even its skin."

But before you go on imagining the board of the TWA playing in a string quartet as the shark ship sinks, you should know that environmental groups are also impressed by the overall futility of TWA’s efforts.

"What Taiwan, in my opinion, really needs to do, it needs to stop catching sharks that are threatened or near threatened to extinction,” said Matt Rand, the Director of PEW’s Global Shark Conservation group. “Right now a fins attached policy is far from actually ensuring the survival of sharks. It's not nearly enough."

Maybe it’s not all bad— after all Taiwain currently holds the title as the third largest exporter of shark fins and the ban could really make a difference. Or, they could earn a new title: the third largest exporter of entire shark carcasses.