Say Goodbye to Sharks

In what has to be one of the more wasteful uses of a marine organism, sharks are being driven to extinction for their fins, which are used in soup:

Long-line fishing methods used by shark fishermen are believed to be responsible for indiscriminate shark catches environment groups say are endangering populations of grey nurse sharks, classified as critically endangered, and the vulnerable great white shark.

This has been compounded by the growing number of fishermen along the east coast who are turning to shark fishing, seen as a more lucrative area of the often difficult fishing industry.

Shark fishers can earn as much as $100 a kilogram for the fins which are in demand on the Asian market where they become shark-fin soup, a prized delicacy.

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In related news, there seems to be a last-ditch effort to save the Hawaiian Monk Seal. Bound to fail, one fears. The only way to save our oceans is to catch a lot less fish, drastically reduce by-catch, allow developing countries to close down fishing grounds to foreign trawlers, and stop subsidies to fishing fleets. And, to do all of that, you'll have to struggle against capitalism.