Tasteless and pointless

I am writing to protest against shark finning around the world. This means a death sentence for many innocent sharks. Shark finning is brutal and barbaric and should be stopped immediately.

Sharks are caught in nets and are moved from their normal habitat and taken to the pier in appalling conditions, suffering on the deck of the boat without any water. Some die on the way to the pier. When they arrive at the pier they are thrown out of the boat and get their fins butchered by the fishermen. And the rest of the body is dumped back into the sea to suffocate or starve to death. What would you feel if you had no arms and legs and were left to starve and eventually die?

Finning is cruel and kills 26 million to 73 million sharks every year, leaving countless species endangered and almost extinct - and all for an idiotic reason, because shark-fin soup is tasteless and the fins contain mercury.

Sharks are very important species because they are the apex predators of the sea and their job is to keep everything else balanced in the food chain. The oceans depend on them to keep the numbers of other fish and mammal species in check and weed out the sick, injured and dying so that the population of fish stays strong and healthy. Without sharks - from bottom feeders all the way up to great whites - the balance of the food chain is in danger.

Shark finning should be banned all over the world and everything possible should be done to stop it immediately. I urge readers to do your best to stop finning and boycott all shops that sell shark-fin soup.

Mark Greaves

Bangkok Patana School

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