Last year I participated in a six week expedition to the Philippines with the California Academy of Sciences, as part of a joint Biological Diversity Expedition with the Philippines Natural History Museum. As filmmaker and a research assistant, I was searching for sharks.

Our team dove approximately 6000 total hours off the main island of Luzon. In that entire time, we discovered hundreds of new species of invertebrates and fish but only observed two small White-tipped reef sharks hunkered down in the dubious protection of a dive resort.  In this region known as the "Center of the Center of Biodiversity" we witnessed few fish bigger than a dinner plate swimming on the coral reef.  "The first time I dove here thirty years ago there were so many sharks it made me nervous." Dr. McCosker confessed to the camera in part of a series produced with ABC News titled Reefs to Rainforest.

In the fish market we did not find any sharks for sale.  They had all been finned and sold to China.  "But we do have rays," one man offered.  Among the reef fish in the iced bins I observed Eagle Rays and Mobula Rays: the new shark fin.

Philippine Senator Loren Legarda has called yesterday for the passage of a law that will make shark hunting punishable by law.
The Senator cited how the inhumane practice of finning sharks is also causing harm to the environment and sea ecosystem.

"Clearly, the absence of a law forbidding the catching of sharks gives people the courage to continue the practice, which could eventually lead to the extinction of shark species in the country, especially that they reproduce slowly," Legarda said in a statement.   As in other areas of the world, shark tourism is increasing in the Philippines creating ongoing economic opportunities.

Asian countries like Singapore and Hong Kong are working towards shark finning regulations as well as limiting the shark fin trade. Recently passed laws in the Western US banning the shark fin trade is limiting the market and making trade more difficult. Banning the fin trade is omportant, but we have to stop overfishing sharks.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature assessed in its Red List of Threatened Species that 30 percent of shark populations around the world are Threatened or Near Threatened with extinction. Since sharks are top predators, their depletion also damages the health of entire ocean ecosystems. Encouraging countries in Asia and elsewhere to stop shark killing is of paramount importance.

There is increasing evidence that Asian countries are becoming aware of the plight of sharks. In December, Taiwan, the fourth largest shark hunting nation passed a law banning the practice of shark finning. Several large hotel chains in Hong Kong and Singapore announced they would stop selling shark fin soup.

On our Philippine's expedition we did see another shark, a new species of Swell shark collected from a deep sea trawl.  With building momentum here in the west and awareness in the east to protect sharks from finning, perhaps there is hope we can protect sharks and even understand them as a species before they go extinct.

Shark fin bans have already been implemented in Hawaii, Washington, Oregon and California, and similar legislation has been introduced in Florida and New York.

"We applaud the efforts in Illinois and other states, following passage of our own State ban in California." Said Shark Stewards Director, David McGuire. "Sharks are vital for marine ecosystem balance, and the rate they are being removed from the oceans is destroying that balance."

These bans are ultimately lead  to curtail shark finning, the practice of extracting the animal’s fin and throwing it back in the ocean.  The demand for the Asian delicacy shark fin soup makes the distribution of shark fins a destructive trade throughout the world.

A poll taken by the Monterey Bay Aquarium revealed that Californians of all ages and backgrounds – including more than two-thirds of California’s Chinese-American voters – support a ban on sale, possession and trade in shark fins during that state's successful campaign.

Even as shark fin traders try to circumvent California's with a lawsuit, shark fin regulations are being proposed in Maryland and Virginia and discussion is occurring in Florida.  A grassroots effort in Texas initiated by Shark Stewards is well underway.

"Too many sharks are being killed worldwide, largely driven by the fin trade. Laws like this are necessary to control illegally harvested shark fins from entering our markets." Adds McGuire. "Reducing that trade will help dry up profits for shark finners and fin traders and reduce shark killing."

Shark Stewards is a non profit project of the Turtle Island Restoration Network.

1. What measurable outcome do you want to achieve in the world?

To protect shark populations and begin to restore the balance of our oceans by banning the unsustainable shark fin trade through grassroots activism.

2. Why? The practice of shark finning is the single gravest overfishing problem in the world’s oceans. High take levels not only threaten shark populations themselves, they create imbalance to and ultimately collapse of marine ecosystems.  Nearly one third of sharks are listed by the IUCN as threatened; a hundred shark species are listed as commercially exploited. Yet only three species of shark are protected under CITES.  Rising demand has yielded increased fishing.  The result is extirpation of local populations and poaching of protected areas such as Cocos Island, the Galapagos and Indonesia.  The reaction to this cataclysm by governing bodies remains lethargic; the enforcement of current regulations remains feeble.  The current trajectory of response virtually guarantees the extinction of multiple shark species. Only immediate measures that reduce the demand for shark fin can reverse this trend in time to ensure the genetic diversity and sufficient stock to restore healthy, sustainable populations. 

3. What activities or tactics will you do to make this happen? Develop a freely available toolkit that trains grassroots activists and provides a roadmap for two key activities: 1. Motivating and assisting campaigns for passing legislative local and regional bans; 2. Making available information, tools, and a network to combat the fin trade.

4. How will you engage new people and grow them into leadership positions? Drawing on its experience in fostering California’s AB 376 and a campaign already underway in Texas, Shark Stewards will host an international symposium and workshop to catalyze action in other jurisdictions. This symposium will host individual activists—both those already identified as possessing leadership capability, and others to be recruited through personal networking and social media sites, at meetings and film screenings, and at dive and ocean events world-wide. The workshop will train participants to form “fin teams” that take direct action that raises public awareness, initiates shark fin legislation, and further spreads the movement through social media and grassroots organizing. Shark Stewards will also continue to drive the movement via an on-line campaign that builds additional awareness, and provides the tool kit via free download.

5. How much do you anticipate spending and what would the grant funds be used for? Shark Stewards requests $9,000 dollars (of a $25,000 budget) to host a meeting of shark biologists, scientists and activists to develop the toolkit.  This meeting will first create a common strategy, and then develop the specific tactical tools and necessary supporting materials required to catalyze local, regional shark fin bans. Materials will initially be available in English and Chinese, and will include tactics such as how to negotiate the minefield that surrounds efforts that effectively ban a long-standing cultural tradition, the consumption of shark fin soup.

6. Are you applying for c3 (educational/administrative) or c4 (legislative/advocacy) funds? This proposal requests c3 funds.

Comments:

Shark Stewards is uniquely qualified to design and assist campaigns to ban the practice of shark finning. From initiating a local ban (Tiburon, California, 2007), and then leading the effort to the successful California shark fin ban in 2011, the program leader is recognized internationally as the leading authority on this strategy and has been solicited for strategic and tactical direction by activists in jurisdictions such as Vancouver, Toronto, Singapore, Texas, and Florida.  More information is available at www.seastewards.org