About a week ago, lawmakers proposed a ban on the sale and possession of shark fins in California. Shark finning is an ecologically disastrous process in which fishermen harvest vast quantities of fins by throwing the bodies back in the water to die. Ecologists understand that sharks are keystone species, meaning that as predators, they keep the balance of the food pyramid in their marine environment in check.
Many Chinese feel that this proposed legislation is a direct attack on their culture. Of course it is not- we simply want to ensure the health of our oceans. After all, ensuring the health of our oceans ensures the health of our fisheries, and I think we can all agree that we want that.
An important idea in America is that of refining, readjusting, and replacing traditions and values as we gain new knowledge and perspectives on how to make a better world. Whoa, did I just sound patriotic for a second? Even if it's not an American idea, it is at least an idea that I believe in. With new scientific understanding of the role of sharks in the ecosystem, and research on the harmful business of shark-finning (for proof, read this peer-reviewed article: Shark hunting- an indiscriminate trade endangering elasmobranchs to extinction), it's time to readjust our policies on the practice.
My plan? I hope to start a conversation in the Berkeley community by showing the film Sharkwater, to ignite the flame of activism. The Berkeley community is the perfect place to build this movement- we are informed, passionate, and close to San Francisco, where fins line shelves in almost every seafood shop in Chinatown. We've got an opportunity here to help California lead the way toward a global end to shark-finning, and I think we can do it.
Go Meredith!
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