Look beyond dinner plates to save environment

Straits Times Forum 28 Dec 11;

IS THE number of kills a relevant discussion before we decide to conserve or not to conserve a species ('He'll say it again with facts... Sharks aren't endangered, don't blame Asia' by Mr Tan Keng Tat; last Saturday)?

To focus on numbers is a distraction from the main topic. Conservation isn't merely about numbers. It is about sustainability. The killing of sharks has been proven unsustainable.

It is even more disturbing to note that sharks are a 'keystone species' and their decline in population will have cascading effects down the line in the marine ecosystem.

There are also people hunting them just for their fins. Can we be guilt-free just because it may be fewer than 73 million sharks killed a year?

If there is just one dog found left on the streets to die after all its four limbs were cut off, the case would spark global anger.

Is there a magic number we should hit before we pay attention to the killing of sharks, many of which are endangered but not protected by law?

We need to start looking beyond our dinner plates and soup bowls.

The World Wide Fund for Nature says that Singapore is the second largest shark's fin trading nation. A recent Straits Times report also showed an increase in demand for shark's fin ('Shark's fin still on menu for many'; Nov 26).

While waiting for legislation, we can definitely take individual steps towards saving our wildlife and environment.

Edwin Lim

Keep future generations in mind
Straits Times Forum 28 Dec 11;

SHARKS caught by tuna fishing boats are indeed often finned ('He'll say it again with facts... Sharks aren't endangered, don't blame Asia', by Mr Tan Keng Tat; last Saturday).

Because the meat is cheap, shark carcasses are often discarded to make space on the ship for more expensive tuna meat and shark's fin.

However, if there is no advantage in catching sharks, tuna fishing boats using longlines could use nylon instead of steel leaders, and 'weak' hooks and 'smart' hooks to reduce shark bycatches. The result is that fishermen would enjoy greater yields of target species and a reduction in opportunity losses.

While some sharks die on longlines before they are brought on board, many sharks, especially blue sharks which are by far the most common bycatch from longlines, have very high survival rates when released.

Sharks face threats in more areas than one: not just for their fins, but also their meat and cartilage, and in both longline fishing and purse-seine net fisheries where fish aggregating devices (FADs) are used.

Efforts to conserve sharks do not revolve around just one, but all of the above.

Unfortunately, many sharks are still being finned to feed the demand for shark's fin. Hence, some countries are striving to ban 'shark finning' - the process of cutting off the fins of a shark while it is still alive.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is the organisation that classifies animal risk statuses, not the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites).

Cites is an international agreement that regulates trade based on government votes. While it offers protection for three shark species (whale shark, great white shark and basking shark), it is not the determining body for species classification. The correct point of reference is IUCN, not Cites.

In a 2009 study by IUCN's Shark Specialist Group, experts estimated that one-third of shark species are threatened with extinction.

For example, great hammerhead and scalloped hammerhead sharks are globally endangered.

Porbeagle sharks are classified as globally vulnerable, but critically endangered and endangered in the north-east and north-west Atlantic, respectively.

Despite this, a trade restriction is not in place under Cites.

Scientists estimate that all commercial fish populations in our oceans may be wiped out by 2048. In situations where ideal legislation is not yet in place, Project: FIN encourages consumers to make informed decisions, with our future generations in mind.

Jennifer Lee (Ms)
Founder
Project: FIN