Looking more closely at the biosphere part of the relationship, the two most apparent consequences of shark finning in that respect are the physical cruel effects on shark bodies and the extinction of multiple shark species. Some people have the misconception that fishers kill the sharks when cutting off their fins which in most of the cases is not true. The majority of the time fishers cut off what they need and throw the rest of the still very much alive sharks back into the ocean. The sharks then proceed to sink slowly to the bottom of the ocean dying from blood loss or suffocation. The way humans treat the sharks directly affects the way their usually short lived lives are after their fins are cut. The sharks are the ones that suffer the painful consequence of humans actively changing the biosphere.
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| Source: Chef Kevin Blakeman |
As a result of shark finning, the sharks are the animals that face the immediate risk of extinction. According to scientists, 60-70% of the shark population has decreased since the popularity of shark finning has increased over the years. Human activities are responsible for directly affecting the sharks through taking them out of their natural environment and slaughtering them. As seen in the figure below, the number of shark species critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable, and near threatened is continuously increasing with time. With the still legal ongoing shark finning in parts of the world, the number of threatened species projected in the future will keep increasing until all species are under the category critically endangered.
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| Source: 2011 Species List, International Union for Conservation of Nature |
