Major Airline Drops Shark Fin Cargo
It is estimated more than one hundred million sharks are killed each year, the majority going to the shark fin trade. The demand for shark fin has lead to vast overfishing of sharks and is having a long term impact on global shark populations and the wider marine ecosystems.
For more than over 1000 years, shark’s fin soup has been considered a delicacy associated with wealth and prestige. Marking a dramatic shift in Eastern thinking, Air China has become the first airline in mainland China to ban shark fin cargo. Releasing a press statement, Air China Cargo said it had a “long-standing commitment to playing our role in a more sustainable world” and acknowledged the global shark trade is usustainable Following the decision by shipping company Chinese Ocean Shipping Company (Cosco) to stop carrying shark fins in July 2016, this mark as a significant change in Chinese business practices regarding sharks.
Shark advocacy groups have been campagning to stop the shark fin trade for decades
““...long-standing commitment to playing our role in a more sustainable world””
Shark fin soup has been a delicacy for over 1,000 years
Shark advocacy groups like Shark Stewards, WildAid and others put the issue of shark fin carriage and cargo to UPS who acknowledged concerns about enforcement problems and the adequacy of visual inspections to determine whether shark fins belonged to endangered species and dropped shark fin from their cargo.
Air China has joined 35 other airlines in devising policy to protect sharks and ban the carrying of shark fins. Sadly, Fed Ex has ignored the call to save sharks.
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