Taiwan has the fourth largest shark-finning industry in the world, but it will soon become the first Asian country to ban the practice of removing shark fins in open water. But the majority of Taiwan’s glamorous hotels have refused to take shark-fin soup off the menu in order to do their bit for the cause.

The new legislation doesn’t make the de-finning of sharks illegal; it does make it illegal to take sharks caught by fishermen back to shore in pieces though.

What this effectively means is that fishermen will have to adhere to a specific fin-to-carcass weight ratio if they intend landing a shark, and then selling the meat.

The idea is that this will prevent masses of sharks being slaughtered purely for their fins, while the remainder of the carcass often ends up back in the ocean, many times with the shark still alive.

Fishermen will now have to bring the whole carcass to shore before being able to remove the fin.

The new legislation, which comes into effect next year, should thereby reduce the number of shark fins that are able to pass through the Taiwanese island mainland.

It would be good if the Taiwanese decided to do something about the possession of rhino horn too.

[Source: Time]