4 Lame Excuses for Shark Finning and Why it Must End
This installment of my monthly Alternet column, “4 Oceans,” was originally published on June 2, 2011. From bad… A powerful conservation movement is afoot in the United States. Shark finning — the practice of catching sharks, slicing their fins off, and then dumping the animals overboard (often still alive and slowly bleeding to death) — is being exposed for the monstrosity it is. Globally, we slaughter tens of millions of sharks each year. And for the most part, we do it for the fins, which can fetch hundreds of dollars a pound. This is insanity. We need sharks in our oceans. Without sharks and other top-level carnivores to keep populations …
