Sharks Receive International Protection

This week the CITES conference, a major conference on protecting and preserving ocean wildlife, officially added five shark species to the international protection program. This is a big deal because the 5 species in question have been fighting for the protection for nearly 20 years and now it has finally been granted.

Due to the popularity of shark fin many sharks are caught simply for their fins, then thrown back into the ocean. Thanks to the new protection policies for these 5 species marine activists are hopeful that the deadly process will finally be put to a stop. There was significant opposition to the new protected status but experts at the conference decided that the threat is sever enough to warrant international protection. This is absolutely great news because it will keep millions of sharks from being senselessly killed around the world.

Following the addition of international protection, a task force will likely be created to actually enforce the law as well. Shark fishing and shark fin harvesting is expected to become a major international fight in the coming year due to social issues and the CITES conference group hopes that they will be able to police the oceans and cut down on the amount of illegal killing which is absolutely great news.

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