In August 2020, the ABA House of Delegates adopted Resolution 102A which urges governments to “enact and enforce legislation that prohibits and penalizes the possession, sale, and trade of shark fins.” This article briefly looks at the state of affairs around the world since the Resolution passed and reflects on where the ABA, particularly the International Law Section, can continue to protect sharks and other aquatic life from extinction through legal avenues.
Sharks are a key ocean predator. Despite the negative publicity that the movies and the coastline of Australia has given sharks, they are a necessary element in the marine eco-system. They are natural “lawn mowers” for the oceans. This means that sharks, much like wolves, are the central figures that keep the ecosystem in balance - cleaning out individual species that are weak and keeping the food chain in check. Therefore, the more sharks we lose, the worse off our oceans are. External factors like pollution and climate change are already forcing sharks to migrate to unchartered waters. In July 2021, it was reported that hundreds of sharks “hid out” in Florida canals to escape the toxic algae blooms which come from flooding, soil erosion, fertilizer, and animal excrement. Due to climate change, sharks are also migrating. Ocearch reported that there is a growing population of white sharks in the Northwest Atlantic along Canada and United States.
Although this appears to be a positive trend in one part of the world, slaughter of sharks for their fins continues. On September 24, 2021, news outlets reported that a ship bound to Hong Kong had been stopped by authorities in Colombia where over 3,000 shark fins were confiscated. Sadly, it was estimated “between 900 and 1,000 sharks of different species …were killed, ‘causing irreparable environmental damage to aquatic ecosystems of Colombia.’” It is illegal to sell or process shark fins in Colombia and in Hong Kong.
However, Hong Kong remains a key transit area for illegal wildlife trafficking, where most wildlife parts are shipped from Hong Kong into places like mainland China. Authorities in Hong Kong have reported that in the first nine months of 2021, they have seized HK 730 million in wildlife, luxury items, and other contraband. In October, an international team of inspectors from the United States, South Korea, and Canada uncovered during a joint operation 450 shark fins illegally on-board vessels operating in the waters of the Pacific Rim.
Within the legal and policy realm, positive trends continue. In January 2021, Mozambique passed legislation prohibiting commercial fishing of whales, sharks, and manta rays, including the establishment of “no take zones” and encouraging fishing communities to re-examine the instruments in which fish are caught. Included in the national legislation are prohibitions on shark finning. Several months later, in August 2021, the United Kingdom stepped up into the waters with a “world-leading” ban on the shark fin trade, which includes import and export bans on fins and shark fin soup products. This is a significant step as the United Kingdom was one of the greatest hubs for the shark fin trade, where most of the fins travel onwards to Spain.
In 2016 that the World Ocean Assessment of the United Nations noted that “humankind was running out of time to start managing the oceans sustainably.” Building upon this and other external threats to the oceans, the UN announced 2021-2030 as the “Ocean Decade.” The purpose of the Ocean Decade is to implement capacity building programs and increase international cooperation which protect life below water, a 2030 Sustainable Development Goal. In line with this Sustainable Development Goal many countries are examining their relationship to the oceans.
So, the real question is, what can the ABA continue to do? Resolution 102A is a great step in the right direction and shows the ABA’s commitment, not only to marine species, like sharks, but to our oceans. The focus should broaden however to activities that impact sharks as well as other species. A large, sometimes controversial issue, is illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing (IUU) and destructive fishing. As more conversations take place around IUU and destructive methods of fishing, the ABA International Law Section has an opportunity to also utilize and emphasize the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which was adopted by the House of Delegates (HOD 107D) in 2021. Taken together both resolutions, 102A and 107D form ample opportunities for discussions and inroads on marine conversation and the importance of preserving all life underwater.
There are two more interesting aspects to the Shark Fin Resolution that should also be considered. First, given the prevalence of organized crime in the illegal shark fin and general illegal wildlife trade, the ABA International Law community should consider adopting the UN Transnational Organized Crime Convention (UNTOC) as a resolution. UNTOC, a suppression convention, encourages states to cooperate with one another and provide mutual legal assistance in order to combat transnational organized crime. It is one of the most widely accepted international instruments to date.
In addition, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted the “Right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment” in its 48th session. This right should be incorporated into our discussions about ocean protection and human rights, as the oceans cover 71% of the earth’s surface, over 870 million people depend on the oceans for their livelihood, and approximately three billion people depend on the oceans for food security.
