Taiwan Enacts First Asian Shark Finning Ban
On Sunday, Taiwan announced plans to enforce shark finning legislation, becoming the first Asian country to limit the controversial practice.
The new act would require Taiwanese fishing vessels to return to port with shark carcasses intact, intended to limit shark finning in a country where an estimated 4 million sharks are killed every year. The legislation would be put into the hands of the Taiwan Council of Agriculture and is expected to come into effect early next year.
“Any violators may be fined, barred from leaving ports, have their catches confiscated or even have their fishing boat licenses revoked,” explained James Sha, the Director of Taiwan’s Fisheries Agency.
Although preventing fishermen from finish sharks at sea, it is really only a first step in further stemming the damage to Asian shark populations. A more meaningful solution would be moratorium on shark fishing all together, especially because the only “valued” part of sharks pulled out of the ocean is their fins.
