As Shark Week kicks off July 28, restaurants across the nation are contributing to the rapid decline in shark species by serving up soup made from shark fins, despite bans in 12 states and counting.
Hawaii has become the first U.S. state to officially prohibit the possession, sale or distribution of shark fins. On May 28, Governor Linda Lingle signed the shark-finning ban into law after the bill passed the state House and Senate with broad support.
Three recent studies highlight the enormous impact that shark fishing and the demand for fins continue to have on global shark populations, as well as the difficulties inherent in efforts to stem illegal trade in fins and protect vulnerable specie
Since her first visit to an aquarium at age 9, Clark’s dream was to learn everything there was to know about her favorite animals—sharks. Shark Lady is a story of how one woman overcame misconceptions about both what girls can do and what sharks are like.
There is good news to report from the last days of the 111th Congress: Legislation to close loopholes in the 11-year-old ban on shark finning finally passed and was signed by the president. With one exemption (which AWI opposed), the new law prohibits the removal of shark fins at sea within all U.S. waters.
It is no secret that there is a worldwide extinction crisis plaguing the world’s sharks, and this crisis is fueled primarily by anthropogenic sources. In addition to overfishing, pollution, and climate change, shark finning remains the critical factor in plummeting shark populations. It is currently predicted that 28 percent of shark species will go extinct within a decade or two, and up to 73 million sharks are killed annually for their fins.
As long as there is a market for shark fins, fishermen will continue to find ways to elude shark finning bans. The newest loophole fishermen are exploiting is called “shark spining.”
As Shark Week kicks off this week, more than 200 restaurants across the United States and Canada are exacerbating the rapid decline in shark species by continuing to serve an expensive soup made from their butchered fins.
Humans kill an estimated 100 million sharks every year. Sharkwater: Extinction—the second shark documentary directed and written by the late Rob Stewart—seeks to expose practices that contribute to the cruel and unsustainable slaughter of the world’s sharks.
Responding to legal pressure from a coalition of animal protection and conservation groups, Shasta County officials have announced that the county will suspend its contract with the notorious federal wildlife-killing program known as Wildlife Services.
Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) has reintroduced his nonbinding resolution, H.Res. 208, expressing opposition to the use of gas chambers to euthanize shelter animals and calling on states to ban the practice and allow euthanasia by injection (EBI) only.
AWI isn’t usually involved in disaster relief and recovery, but when there’s a problem staring us in the face and we know we can make a difference, we act.
In May, two dead fin whales, believed to be a mother and calf, were discovered after they dislodged from the hull of a Royal Australian Navy vessel. The destroyer, HMAS Sydney, had been conducting exercises with the US Navy and was berthing in San Diego when the 65-foot-long larger whale floated to the surface.
A January 19 article in The New York Times shined an extremely harsh light on the practices at the USDA’s Meat Animal Research Center (MARC) in Clay Center, Nebraska. The in-depth article described indefensible acts that have taken place at MARC over the past several decades.
he Save Japan Dolphins Coalition joins the Oceanic Preservation Society (OPS) in releasing a shocking new video of the cruel slaughter of dolphins by Japanese whalers. Japan is pushing the International Whaling Commission (IWC), meeting in Santiago, Chile, June 23-27, to overturn the 20-year old commercial whaling moratorium by allowing it to conduct commercial whaling off its shores.
The mysterious lives of animals have been the subjects of countless films and nature shows. Though these productions might focus on similar themes, filmmakers are driven by a variety of motivations, and may use vastly different methods to capture animals on film.
American consumers are increasingly concerned about how animals raised for food are treated. But those wishing to purchase a higher-welfare turkey for Thanksgiving this year will be bombarded with a number of misleading turkey labels sanctioned by the US Department of Agriculture, the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) has found.
Only about 100 or so wild red wolves (Canis rufus) are known to exist—all in eastern North Carolina, where a population was reintroduced in 1987 from a captive-breeding program after the species went extinct in the wild.
A court in Germany is investigating whether killing animals bred for labs but never used in research constitutes a crime, since German law forbids hurting animals without reasonable cause.
The Animal Welfare Institute and Humane Society International applaud Shun Lee West restaurant, of New York City, for removing shark fin soup from its menu. AWI and HSI have, for years, been campaigning for restaurants in the United States to stop selling shark fin products and consumers from purchasing them. Shun Lee West is a favorite restaurant for tourists and theater goers due to its prominent location by New York’s Lincoln Center.
On May 19, 2012, the Sierra Club national board of directors adopted a new “Policy on Trapping of Wildlife.” The policy is perhaps the strongest statement issued to date by the 110-year-old organization in condemnation of inhumane activities targeting wildlife.
