More than a million people have voted in favor of Sea Shepherd’s campaign to stop the EU’s shark finning trade.
The marine conservation organization was one of the original members of the “Stop Finning, Stop the Trade” European Citizens’ Initiative, which was introduced in February 2020.
Despite the fact that shark finning is prohibited in Europe, a report released earlier this year revealed that EU nations account for half of the Asian shark fin trade. This is so that countries can trade complete sharks, with the exception of a few species.
EU citizens can request that the European Commission propose new laws through the European Citizens Initiative. The European Commission will determine what to do after an initiative achieves one million votes.
One in 400 adult EU residents must vote for an initiative to acquire one million signatures.
Sea Shepherd announced via Instagram that it had received 1,119,999 valid votes. Following 289,413 votes from France. The ball is currently “in the EU court,” it added.
Ending the shark finning trade
When a shark is finned, its fin is typically removed while it is still conscious. Sharks that have had their fins removed are frequently returned to the water while still alive, which causes them to die slowly and painfully.
Because they are used to produce shark fin soup, a popular dish in China and Chinese communities, shark fins are quite expensive.
Between 73 and 100 million sharks are estimated to be killed annually solely for their fins. In the last 50 years, shark populations have decreased globally by 70%.
The campaign by Sea Shepherd to stop the EU’s involvement in the trade has gotten off to a slower start than expected. It barely obtained 350,000 votes by November 2021.
The organization claims that the pandemic was to blame for the slow progress.
“We were relying heavily on going out onto the streets in Europe to advocate for our cause and to gather signatures… Instead we had to make this a campaign that relies almost exclusively on online outreach,” the group stated.
In October 2022, Sea Shepherd accomplished their objective. Here, you can keep track of the initiative’s development.
Source: “Over 1 Million People Vote To Ban Shark Finning Trade In Europe” by Plant Based News
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