Article Summary:

As of 15 December 410 MEPs have now signed the Written Declaration on shark finning. This is well over the 369 signatures we needed for a simple majority and the Written Declaration will be announced in the next plenary session of the European Parliament. All of you who wrote to the MEPs did make a difference. It is important to point out how much of an impact this legislation can make: one in three of shark fins in the trade are from EU registered boats. This may, in effect, stop this and potentially reduce the supply by one-third.

It is also unfortunately necessary to sound a note of caution on two fronts. Firstly, this means that the we still have a long road to go until we have legislation that forces boats to land the full shark (and makes the trade uneconomic). We need to keep the motivation and pressure up to make this happen. We have proved that we can make a difference with the legislators in Europe, so let’s keep doing so. Secondly, cutting supply is only one part. The hardest task is to cut demand, and this ultimately is where the survival of sharks will rest. Please add your support campaigns like Sharksavers’ “I pledge”.

Against all this, this is possibly the best Christmas present possible: A potential to reduce this heinous trade. Thank you all!