A prestigious Hobart restaurant plans to take shark fin soup off its menu as a campaign heats up to stop the killing of millions of sharks each year just for their fins.
The Me Wah Restaurant says it uses imported imitation shark fin from Japan in its $16-a-bowl "superior shark fin" dish.
But the award-winning Chinese restaurant said the soup would be taken off the list at its next menu change to reflect changing attitudes.

The discovery of a new species of hammerhead shark may sound like bad news for swimmers. But shark bites are rare, and it turns out this may be worse news for sharks.
The shark, as yet unnamed, closely resembles the scalloped hammerhead shark, a species currently up for protection as an endangered species due to the high commercial demand for its fins.

Divers and non-divers alike attending the London International Dive Show (#LIDS 2012) this weekend are in for a treat as marine ecologist and whale shark specialist Dr Simon J Pierce will be giving presentations with Project AWARE about whale shark conservation and ways to give sharks a fighting chance.

The Costa Rican government has announced that it will propose the inclusion of the scalloped hammerhead shark (Sphyrna lewini) in Appendix III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
They believe that this species meets the conditions and criteria for an inclusion in Appendix III, in accordance with the Resolution Conf 9.25 (Rev CoP 15).

Thanks to all your hard work lobbying MEPs, signing petitions and shouting out for sharks, we are making good progress in closing loopholes in the European ban on shark finning.
With more than 165,000 petition signatures calling on EU Fisheries Ministers to make the push to protect sharks from finning and over-exploitation, your voice is being heard loud and clear!
The European Commission finally produced a proposal during 2011 requiring all sharks to be landed with “fins naturally attached” to update the current ban (one of the weakest in the world).

“Today we changed the mindset of 13 Divemasters and 4 Instructors and I know they will be AWARE for the rest of their lives,” said Jens Nielsen Ban’s PADI Staff instructor.  It was a memorable day for Jens and fellow instructor Simon from Ban's Diving Resort, Koh Tao, Thailand who taught their first AWARE Shark Conservation course.

Fisheries scientist, Dr. Shelley Clarke talks about her work with sharks and the shark fin trade in an interview with our partners at Shark Alliance*.
Based in Japan, Dr. Clarke received her doctorate in quantitative fisheries science from Imperial College London in 2003 for her ground-breaking study of the shark fin trade.

Monday, European Union nations backed a complete ban on the practice of removing sharks' fins before throwing the fish back into the sea to die.
The EU nations said they want all boats in their waters and EU-registered boats anywhere in the world to land sharks with their fins attached. The proposals still need the support of the European Parliament before they can become law.
EU fisheries chief Maria Damanaki said the law would "ease control and help us eradicate shark finning," which she called cruel to the animals and a vast waste of resources.