All shark finning banned by the European Union

The brutal practice of shark finning has been strictly banned by the European Union, after nearly ten years of campaigning by ambientalists and scuba divers.

Oceana, an international ocean conservation organisation, revealed that the finning of sharks is now officially prohibited in the EU. The ban has been in place since 2003 but loopholes allowed Members States to allocate special permits to fishing vessels who would remove the fins onboard or while out at sea.

In particular Portugal and Spain would allow many vessels to remove the fins from the sharks at sea so it was impossible to monitor the brutal act which results in the deaths of millions of sharks every year.

Sharks are killed primarily to keep up with the demand for shark fin soup in destinations such as China where it is a local delicacy. Approximately 100 million sharks are killed annually in a cruel act which involves the shark being hauled onto a boat, its fins cut off, and the rest of the body is then thrown back into the ocean where it will drown or bleed to death.

"At long last, the EU has a real and enforceable ban on shark finning, with global implications," stated Xavier Pastor, the Executive Director of Oceana in Europe. "The EU catches more sharks than any country in the world, and plays a key role in regional fisheries management organisations where finning remains an acknowledged problem. After ten years with a flawed ban in place, it can now make a serious effort to tackle the issue internationally."

Campaigners are calling for measures to protect threatened species of sharks such as blue sharks and shortfin makos.

Shark populations could have the chance to regenerate if the global tourism industry understands the positive impact that excursions such as diving with sharks could have on the economy of many countries.

Shark diving is an increasingly popular activity in destinations across the world and countries such as the Maldives, South Africa and the Bahamas in the Caribbean have managed to put the message across to their governments that these unique diving activities could bring a welcomed boost to the tourism sector.

New shark trading restrictions have been put in place in the United Arab Emirates and Oman and permits are now required to export oceanic whitetip shark fins and three different species of hammerhead sharks.

While this outcome is not ideal, the restrictions are expected to lead to an increase in the number of local shark numbers in the area over a period of just 12 months.