Petitions
UPDATE ON “BAN SHARK FISHING PETITION” TO THE EU
In 2019 we submitted the petition below to the European Parliament. Today (May 18th 2020) we are pleased to tell you that our efforts were not in vain. On January 21st 2020 the PETI committee within the EU Parliament discussed petitions to see whether they should remain open for discussion, and thus laws should be revisited, or closed. Watch the PETI discussion here (from 16:21-16:36) recorded in Brussels. A special thank you to the Committee members who supported our petition: Eleonora Evi and Martin Buschmann.So what happens next? The EU Commission will now review the current shark fishing laws, thanks to the petition. They will be in touch once the laws have been revisited and proposed. Read their full response —>If you are an EU citizen you can officially support our petition by creating a PETI account and pressing “support” here.
Ban Shark fishing in the EU #bansharkmeat
When the headlines read 100 million sharks are killed yearly people gasp at the outrageous number. Yet few really ask who is doing the killing, or even who is doing the eating? Studies show that European nations are the world’s leading consumers of shark meat, yes China ranks first in shark fin, but shark meat is also contributing to the mass killings of our apex predators.Here are some scary facts:
- The number 1 country fishing sharks is Spain.
- Italy accounts for 10% of shark meat consumption.
- Germany eats a plate called “Schillerlocken” which is smoked shark meat in disguise
- Your local pub that serves fish and chips is really serving you shark and chips.
- A lot of beauty products contain shark liver liquid called “squalene”
Worst of all most shark consumers in the EU are barely aware of what they are eating. We are usually duped into thinking it’s swordfish—which has been so overfished it’s now rarely found in the Mediterranean—or any other white fish. Currently no EU country has shark fishing regulations in place. They technically have legislation urging food transparency, however there is no enforcement. It has gotten to the point that shark meat is cheaper than fish meat and this deceit is driving sharks to extinction.
So we started a petition to beg the EU parliament to consider a ban in shark fishing. Here their response and our petition in full. If you are an EU citizen please sign our official PETI petition.
Below the three reports we found that try to shed light on the reality behind the complex shark meat trade:
- Project Aware infographics
- Oceana Report: Head to tail: How European Nations commercialize shark products
- The Guardian Article: Shark fin ban masks growing appetite for its meat
- Bloom exposé: Beauty and the Beast: Shark in our beauty creams
