Persuasive Speech!!!

Shark Fining

Do you think that people should be killing sharks JUST for their fins?

I think shark fining should be illegal worldwide. It is a cruel and wasteful thing that fishermen are doing just for the shark's fins. Most of the fisherman don't care and just do it for the money and I think it has to stop.

The process for catching the sharks is by long lining. The fishing lines can be up to 100 km long, and are pulled out to sea behind a boat. The fishing lines can have tens of thousands of baited hooks on them.When the lines get pulled in, there are sharks and many other sea creatures that get killed and thrown back into the sea.

When the sharks get hauled into the boat they are given a blow to the spine that paralyses them and makes it easier to cut off the fins. When they cut off the fins they use a machete to hack them off.Then they are returned to the ocean and are often alive and unable to move,  they sink to the bottom of the ocean and die of suffocation or get eaten by other predators.

Over the past 30 to 40 years species have had a huge drop in population around the world. But in NZ the great white shark has been given full protection in the territorial waters of New Zealand. But shark fining is legal on other shark species if the shark is dead. On the 10th of November 2013 an announcement was made by the conservation minister saying shark fining will be outlawed in New Zealand.

Shark fining at sea enables fishing vessels to increase profitability and the number of sharks being killed. Some countries have banned shark fining at sea and made it so the whole shark has to be brought back to land before removing the fins.

People who are involved in the shark fining trade or who enjoy eating shark fin soup often argue that shark fining shouldn't be banned because sharks are harmful to humans. But did you know you are 16 times more likely to be struck by lightning than to be bitten by a shark?

In conclusion I think shark fining should be illegal world wide, it is a cruel and atrocious thing that fisherman are doing and if somebody doesn’t do something about it it will never stop. Would you kill a shark just for the fins?