by Marcus Brooks

Created on: April 15, 2008

Last week, I watched a nature on the Discovery Channel. It was named "Bindi the Jungle Girl". The show's hosts are Bindi and Terri Irwin. These are the daughter and the wife of Earth's most dedicated, wildlife and environment protector. Steve Irwin died after a stingray speared him in the Indian Ocean. He left behind his wife, a daughter and a son.

The episode I saw talked about millions of sharks being "finned". Finning was the practice of slicing off a shark's fins so to sell them on the open markets. Businesses used shark fins in a variety of ways. Some are crushed to use as herbs. Others are pulverized to put in soups for restaurants. Others became ingredients in medicines other products. Finning, like poaching are bestial practices. "Finned" sharks are left to drown because their fins allow them to breathe underwater. The act shared similarities to amputation. However, the shark was a healthy animal.

It took years to make poaching wildlife a crime. Kenya almost lost her entire elephant and tiger population, if not for the efforts of wildlife activists. The government employed a ranger unit and supplied them with automatic weapons to police wildlife preserves to combat poachers. The same enforcement should be done to stop shark finning. Certain species of sharks lost their mates due to mass butchering. Without mates, the species won't procreate. Some species' numbers fell to "endangered" levels.

Ms. Irwin said something poignant about stopping "ocean poachers". In the recent past, whaling ships harpooned the mighty beasts in the Arctic Ocean. Killer whales, blue whales and others ran in fear from their human killers. The whaling industry brought $60 million a year. Nature lovers enjoyed watching whales travel in "schools". Whale-watching raked a cool $1 billion a year. The Irwin's dedicated a whale-watching vessel called the "Whale One". In this particular case, wildlife did win.

There are a few solutions to curb finning and other hunting in the sea.

1) Governments have to make ocean poaching illegal. The practice of killing an animal to obtain a body part must be condemned. Poaching on land was made illegal. The same law must be extended to hunting water-borne species.

2) Fine-dining venues should revamp their menus by eliminating dishes which endanger sea creatures. Shark fin soup and Oysters Rockefeller are two appetizers that require the butchering of finned sharks and poached oysters. Any delicacy that must be illegally poached to be made deserves no place in any restaurant.

3) Consumers, regardless of economic status, must boycott restaurants which serve entrees from illegally poached or hunted animals.

4) Consumers must stop buying shark fins as jewelry, medicines from pulverized shark bones and any item created from the bodies of murdered, sea creatures.

5) Companies who don't assist in perserving sea wildlife must face hefty fines and other restrictions, such as cutting their government funding until they adopt wildlife codes and stop hunting in the ocean.

The solutions may be few, but their effect will assist many.

Learn more about this author, Marcus Brooks.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.