When shark fishing makes the news these days, it’s generally negative. Shark finning, especially in California, has a lot of people up in arms lately, and rightly so. It’s a deplorable practice that has a negative impact on shark populations world wide. We want to make it clear that we don’t support shark finning anywhere in the world.
Shark finning is illegal in the US thanks to the Shark Conservation Act 2010 and the Shark Finning Act of 2009. Shark fishing, however, is 100% legal, and we want to make clear that we support commercial fishermen who are using targeted fishing techniques to carefully harvest from populations of shark that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration lists as “above target levels”. We also support trying to attain maximum yield from all seafood, and the use of shark fins from legally harvested sharks and not from untraceable imports is a great way to utilize this natural resource while being respectful of cultural differences.
We are specifically addressing the Eastern Pacific common thresher shark (CTS) harvested in California waters, where local populations have been increasing since 1990. California’s commercial thresher shark season runs from August 15 to December 15 (the fishery is closed in spring and early summer to protect breeding populations), and is subject to a variety of regulations including (but not limited to):
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Santa Monica Seafood