The European Shark Week is organized by the Shark Alliance, a coalition of more than 100 conservation, scientific and recreational organizations. The event urged the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to help strengthen the European Union’s ban on finning—the wasteful practice of slicing off a shark’s fins and discarding the carcass at sea.
EU finning ban is no doubt the weakest in the world as there are many loopholes that seriously hamper enforcement. The simplest, most effective way to implement a finning ban is to require that sharks be brought to port with their fins still connected to the body. In the European Parliament, concerned MEPs are gathering support from their colleagues for a Written Declaration that calls on the European Commission to include such a requirement in its forthcoming proposal for a revised regulation.
In the coming week almost all the EU states will host events and activities to encourage more MEPs to sign the Written Declaration. Irene Kingma of the Dutch Elasmobranch Society, said that the main interest in European Shark Week is bringing unprecedented opportunities to raise awareness and demonstrate concern about sharks.
She informed that this year, European citizens are calling on their MEPs to ‘focus on finning’ and help prevent this incredibly wasteful practice. Uta Bellion, director of the European Marine Programme of the Pew Environment Group and coordinator of the Shark Alliance’s European activities, told that Europe should adopt sound shark conservation policies. Bellion also said that European Shark Week will encourage many elected representatives to take a stand to protect these important animals.
