On Monday, a video was uploaded to Instagram in which a shark is shown being dragged behind a speedboat. Mark Quartiano, a self-described shark hunter, posted the video and says it was sent to him by two other Instagram users. Photos of the mutilated shark were also shared online.
CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WTF IS GOING ON HERE ???? JUST GOT THIS ON MY FEED ! SENT FROM @bearjew428 AND @MICHAELWENZEL .FOR ONCE I MAY HAVE TO AGREE WITH @PETA. #WHODOESTHISSHIT #sowrong #notcoolA post shared by THE SHARK HUNTER (@marktheshark) on Jul 24, 2017 at 10:20am PDT
According to the Miami Herald, the individuals responsible are known to investigating authorities.
Still, this incident shouldn’t be considered on its own. It’s an opportunity to consider the broader issue of shark hunting. Because for all his claims of moral outrage at the shark dragging, Quartiano represents a troubling global fishing industry.
It’s an industry with many faces but one result: plumetting shark populations.
Sometimes, as in Quartiano’s case, sharks are hunted as trophies. Other times they are entangled in net-based fishing. But for the most part, sharks are fished for their fins.
Those fins do not taste of anything beyond rubber, but they are regarded as a delicacy in China. As Business Insider notes, shark meat is also riddled with toxins and bacteria. These threaten human health, especially for pregnant women, and might even cause diseases like Alzheimers and ALS.
But while demand for shark fins is slowly declining, demand for shark meat is rapidly increasing. As a result, fishermen continue to kill 63 million – 273 million sharks a year. Hence, shark populations are existentially challenged.
And that matters, because as the animal that tops the oceanic food chain, sharks are crucial in ensuring healthy marine wildlife populations. If sharks go extinct, the world’s oceans will lose their wildlife balance and health.
For that reason, the United States must take the lead in opposing shark fishing.
It has to be us. African, Central American, and South American nations are too poor to constrain their fishermen from shark fishing, and Russia simply doesn’t care. Only the U.S. has the global punch to put this environmental issue on the agenda.
As a first step, Congress should pass legislation to ban the shark fin trade in the U.S. Bills have been tabled in both the House and Senate, but are lingering in committees. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan need to bring the respective bills to votes.
But going forward, we’ll need a ban similar to that which has helped restore whale populations. While whales are not yet safe from extinction, their populations are in a far stronger position than 25 years ago. Were the U.S. to push for an international ban on shark-finning, we would persuade other nations to come on board. The European Union would likely welcome U.S. leadership on this issue.
Finally, it’s important to note that, fear aside, sharks are not a threat to humans. So-called “man-eater” sharks such as the Great White and Tiger attack humans only in a small minority of their proximate interactions. Were the opposite to be true, we would see lethal attacks off the coasts of South Africa, California, Florida, Hawaii, and Australia every single day. Surfers are close to these animals all the time; they just don’t know it.
The case for action is thus uncomplicated.
Like our oceans, sharks need greater protection.
