European Shark Week: Ask Your MEP to sign to protect sharks today!

12th October 2010



Shark finning is a cruel and wasteful practice. Tens of millions of sharks are caught each year, their fins (and tails) are sliced off, and their often still-live bodies are thrown back into the sea. There, they face a slow and painful death -- all to supply the international market for shark fins and shark fin soup.

Send a message to your MEP today - ask him or her to sign to protect vulnerable sharks!
The present EU legislation (EC 1185/2003), which was intended to stop the practice of slicing off sharks' fins and discarding their bodies at sea, has gaping loopholes that allow shark finning to continue.

Members of the European Parliament have initiated a Written Declaration urging the European Commission to amend the present legislation to prohibit the removal of shark fins onboard EU fishing vessels without exception. Please ask your MEP to add their name to Written Declaration 71/2010 on strengthening the EU ban on shark finning.
Presently, fishermen can obtain special permits to remove fins on board. They can also land the shark fins and carcasses at separate ports, making it impossible to enforce current legislation. Now, the UK and Germany have stopped issuing permits altogether.

The best way of stopping shark finning and enforcing the law is to ensure that all sharks are landed with their fins still naturally attached. This policy has already been successfully adopted in the UK, the US Atlantic, Costa Rica and other Central American countries.

Help protect sharks -- ask your MEP to sign Written Declaration 71/2010. Every signature counts -- please write today. Together we can help stop shark finning!
Thanks for all you do to help animals.

Sincerely,




Mark Glover
Executive Director
Humane Society International/European Union