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FALL 2016
WATER
PLANET
I
grew up in and around the sea, surrounded by
pioneers of ocean exploration and conservation.
If there’s one thing I learned from my
experiences with my father, Philippe Cousteau,
and my grandfather, Jacques-Yves Cousteau,
it’s the interconnectedness of ocean life. Every
creature has its place, and one group of creatures in
particular plays a vital role in ocean ecosystems while also
having a special place in divers’ hearts: sharks.
The joy of seeing these magnificent predators in
their natural habitat, on their terms, is difficult to
describe to someone who has not been lucky enough
to experience such a moment. A shark’s graceful
power can make you feel at once vulnerable and
deeply privileged to be able to witness the beauty of
this animal in its habitat. Seeing a shark while diving
engenders a feeling of being a guest in its home.
This is why divers, more than anyone, should be
outraged at the degrading, disgusting treatment of
sharks. To satisfy a demand for shark-fin soup, sharks
are hauled onto boats, where their fins are hacked off,
and then their mutilated bodies are tossed back into
the ocean, where they drown, bleed to death or are
even eaten alive by other fish.
The conservation organization Oceana reports that
up to 73 million sharks are killed in the shark-fin trade
every year. This is a trade that needs to be stopped.
To that end, Oceana has worked with lawmakers in
congress to introduce the bipartisan Shark Fin Trade
Elimination Act (S. 3095/H.R. 5584), with cosponsors
Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Shelley Moore Capito
(R-WV), and Reps. Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan
(I-MP) and Ed Royce (R-CA). This bill would make
the buying and selling of shark fins illegal in the
United States. I urge legislators and citizens to do
everything they can to ensure this bill passes.
The fin trade is one of the greatest threats to sharks
worldwide. The act of shark finning is currently illegal
in U.S. waters, and even though 11 states have passed
shark-fin trade bans, fins are still being bought and
sold in the United States. Once a fin is removed, it is
impossible to know whether it came from a shark that
END THE U.S. SHARK-FIN TRADE
A BIPARTISAN BILL BEFORE CONGRESS IS POISED TO STOP
THE SALE OF SHARK FINS IN THE U.S.
By Alexandra Cousteau
STEPHEN FRINK