This month is Project AWARE's Big Shark Shout Out.

"Highly sought for their fins, meat, oil, teeth and cartilage, sharks have a high price on their heads. Demand for shark fins, lacking fishery management and virtually non-existing regulations for almost all shark trade are pushing many shark species to the brink of extinction." Source: Project AWARE

What are we doing in Canada about shark finning and shark fin bans?

At the end of last year, a Federal NDP Member of Parliament, Fin Donnelly, introduced a private member's bill that would ban the import of shark fins in Canada.

"Shark finning, which involves removing the fin from a living shark and then tossing its body back into the ocean to die, is already illegal in Canadian waters, but there is no law to prevent importation." Source: CBC News

Yesterday, the leader of the Green Party, Elizabeth May, also introduced a private member's bill in Ottawa to take aim at the trade of shark fins.

"Shark finning is a controversial practice that sees fishers hack the fins off sharks and throw them back in the water alive to drown, starve or bleed to death. The industry, which is conservatively estimated to be worth $1 billion a year, threatens some shark species with extinction." Source: MetroNews.ca

The Green Party's bill would also make it mandatory for all shark meat sold in Canada to carry a consumer label warning people about the danger of mercury contamination in shark meat.

Both private bills are still up for discussion at the Parliament in Ottawa.

We will continue this discussion on Sunday, April 22, at 10am at Total Diving - Montreal Scuba during a special Earth Day in Montreal event. Register on the Montreal Scuba Diving Meetup Group.

Scuba Diving Montreal. Total Diving. We care about our blue planet and sharks!