The government of New Zealand has announced that the
finning of dead sharks will be completely banned by the year 2016.
The minister for Conservation Nick Smith and the Primary Industries
minister Nathan Guy released a National plan of Action for Sharks which lays
out the Government’s plans.
In November both the ministers have proposed a ban on the
finning of the dead sharks and now this plan of action will help the government
to manage the shark population for next three years.
The ministers initially proposed a ban should apply to all
the species by 2016. But now the deadline has been brought back to 2015 for all
the species, but Sharks, due to vast public retort.
This is likely to cause some controversy because the blue
sharks are one of the most vulnerable species to the finning practices
happening in the Kiwi land.
The new rule will force the fishing companies to release the
sharks alive or to bring them ashore with fins attached for the further
processing.
New
Zealand is one of the top 20 exporters of
shark fins in the world. Most of those sent to Asia
for the further usage in a trendy delicacy or in the traditional medicines.
Around 40, 000 submissions were received by the ministers
before coming out with the plan.
