Watch out, Jaws \u2014 your days are numbered.<\/p>\n
Money-hungry fishermen and sellers are ignoring international regulations in favor of big profits in the illegal sale of shark fins \u2014 and new research led by scientists from Florida International University<\/a> reveals this could lead the cartilaginous fish<\/a> to being wiped out.<\/p>\n The peer-reviewed study, published in Science Advances,<\/a> shows that fins from four out of five shark species regulated under the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species<\/a> (CITES) in 2014 remain commonly available in Hong Kong\u2019s markets, the global hub for shark fins. <\/p>\n The fins are cut off of the sharks and used for the high-end dish shark fin soup. Getty Images<\/p>\n The threatened shark species included three large hammerhead species (scalloped, smooth, and great), the porbeagle, and the oceanic whitetip.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMany sharks may be headed toward extinction, with international trade of shark products, such as dried fins that are used in the expensive luxury dish shark fin soup, often driving fishing pressure beyond a species\u2019 ability to reproduce and replenish populations,\u201d explained Dr. Demian Chapman, project leader and director of the\u00a0Shark and Rays Conservation Research Program<\/a>\u00a0at\u00a0Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium<\/a>\u00a0in Sarasota, Fla.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re seeing clear evidence of widespread noncompliance; illegal trade is still happening on a massive scale.\u201d<\/p>\n The 2014 regulations required that all trade be reported and certified as not threatening the species\u2019 survival, yet 81 percent of shark-fin-exporting countries have never reported any trade in these listed species, suggesting illegal exports are ongoing.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a huge gap between what\u2019s on paper and what\u2019s happening in the real world,\u201d said Dr. Diego Carde\u00f1osa, lead author from Florida International University\u2019s Department of Biological Sciences<\/a>. \u201cDNA evidence clearly shows these protected species are still entering the global market at alarming rates.\u201d<\/p>\n The creatures are caught and have their fins cut off before being thrown back into the water. Universal Images Group via Getty Images<\/p>\n The team red-flagged several countries that are very likely involved in the illegal shark fin trade at a high level, including Spain, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates, China, the Philippines, Ghana and Brazil. <\/p>\n Millions of pounds of meat and fins<\/a> move through international markets every year, with Hong Kong as the leading center for shark fins, bought dried or for soup, traditional medicine or by trophy hunters.<\/p>\n The popularity of the shark fin industry could lead to the extinction of sharks, experts said. South China Morning Post via Getty Images<\/p>\n This demand drives shark hunting<\/a> and shark finning, a brutal practice where fins are cut from live sharks <\/a>\u2014 which have been swimming in the Earth\u2019s oceans for around 450 million years \u2014 and the sharks<\/a> are thrown back into the sea to die.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are reaching a major tipping point where if the fishing and trade of these species is not meaningfully reduced, then these sharks will disappear,\u201d warned Dr. Carde\u00f1osa. \u201cThis would be a huge loss of top predators in our oceans, which could unleash serious and unpredictable ecosystem changes that negatively affect us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n But researchers remain hopeful that sharks aren\u2019t \u2018fin\u2019ished just yet.<\/p>\n \u201cShedding light on this problem is a major step toward solving it,\u201d concluded Chapman.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Watch out, Jaws \u2014 your days are numbered. 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