EU Votes for Stronger Shark Finning Ban 17 Dec 12 In August last
year, two people walking along a deserted beach in northern New
Zealand were shocked to discover 200 finless baby sharks washed
ashore. A year later, Australian authorities investigated the
discovery of another critically endangered Grey Nurse shark,
washed ashore finless. Just last month, this photo of piles of
finned baby sharks was taken by Slow Food at Joal Port in
Senegal. In films sharks are usually cast as the bad guy. But in
real life, they are victims. In Senegal piles of finned sharks
are commonplace. The fin meat is known as ‘gold’ for the high
price it fetches on some Asian markets to satisfy demand for
shark fin soup. In Europe sharks may not be washing up on the
beaches, but fleets of boats are part of this worldwide
phenomenon that is threatening shark populations. A report by
the Pew Environment Group in June 2011 estimates some 73 million
sharks are caught annually and 30 percent of species are
threatened with extinction. An inc