Sea Monster

California approves fin ban: what next for shark celebrities?

Sharks fin soup is on the way out in America’s Golden State. Today the California State Senate voted 25-9 to pass a bill that will ban the sale, trade, and possession of shark fins. In a few days it’ll be signed by the governor and effectively put an end to one of the largest, legal shark fin markets outside Asia.

The big question on my mind is what next?

As David Shiffman at Southern Fried Science rightly points out, banning shark fins isn’t the be all and end all. Don’t get us wrong, this a substantial win for ocean conservation, but there are still heaps of things we need to do, including setting up more marine protected areas, making plans for sustainable fishing practices, protecting animals during spawning seasons… the list goes on and on.

But just for a moment let’s focus on the positives. The campaign got a huge boost from the star-studded line up of movie and sport stars. And it makes me I wonder which ocean issue we should set Leonardo diCaprio, Ed Norton, Ben Stiller, and everyone else onto now? They’ve proved themselves to be an considerable force for ocean good and we mustn’t them slip away, back to their day jobs.

So, let Seamonster know your suggestions on how the ban-the-shark celebrities should be redeployed and we’ll make sure to pass them on.

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Helen Scales

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4 responses to “California approves fin ban: what next for shark celebrities?”

  1. Catherine Kilduff

    Please, Seamonster, re-deploy the celebrities to the cause of saving bluefin tuna (especially because celebrities are members of the elite who can afford to eat it, so perhaps they can influence their friends).

    In a scary glass half-empty or half-full modelling report released this month, McKinsey & Company said that current bluefin harvesting levels (through 2009) are projected to drive the fishery to collapse between 2012 and 2015. If illegal and unreported fishing could be 100 percent eliminated, the fishery could recover by 2023. But if the fishery were to be completely closed, according to the report, it would recover within eight years.

    According to this report, there is opportunity for great success or great failure within the next decade, so send along the celebrities. http://www.bluefinboycott.org.

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  2. John Bruno

    How about ocean plastics? I imagine bottled water is big in LA.

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  3. John Bruno

    I also wanted to point out, it will still be legal to kill sharks just for fun, ie “sport”. So we still have a long way to go.

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  4. Mark

    Let’s move the effort to banning shark fishing. For the vast majority, it just doesn’t make sense to be fishing these animals.

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