Animal Lovers Rejoice! Historic Shark Fin Ban!

Shark fins

On July 1st, Hawaii became the first government in the world to institute a law to ban the sale, distribution and even possession of shark fins, the news is sending ripples all around the globe, and animal advocates everywhere are cheering, and ramping up their efforts to get their governments to do the same.

This new law means that restaurants in Hawaii will not be able to serve shark fin soup, a real delicacy, but the implications are so much greater than a few items on a lunch menu.

The shark has made the jump from predator and food source, to being protected. The new law instituted in Hawaii is aiming to prevent shark finning, a rather gruesome process where, once caught, the fins are removed from the shark, and the rest of it is thrown back overboard.

State Senator, Clayton Hee had this to say about the momentous occasion, “As far as I’m concerned it’s no different than killing an elephant for its tusks or de-horning a rhinoceros for its horn. These are cruel and inhumane practices that have no business in a civilized world”.

It was Senator Hee, with the support of many animal rights advocates, which managed to drum up the votes to make it illegal to have, serve, buy, or sell shark fins.

Other States, such as California, are starting to jump on the band wagon, and even other countries are talking about creating similar laws.

Not surprisingly, China is where a lot of the efforts are being made. WildAid launched a campaign in China using NBA superstar Yao Ming, to get people to stop buying shark fins, and stop eating shark fin soup.