14 DAY TRIAL // CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is now looking to protect the world's remaining shark population by rolling out measures intended to regulate trading activities involving these animals.
Japan does not really approve of CITES' working agenda, hence the fact that Japanese high officials have repeatedly objected to the organization's plans of better regulating the trade of five shark species that risk becoming extinct in the not so distant future.
Three of these species are hammerhead, oceanic whitetips and porbeagles, Greenpeace says, and all risk falling off the biodiversity map as a result of overfishing.
“Since Japan is the world’s biggest consumer of marine products, its fishing and distribution industries are worried by overfishing. The Japanese government ignores this fact though and instead sees international regulation as the enemy that endangers its market,” Greenpeace writes.
Furthermore, “By objecting to the CITES listing, however, the Japanese government is abandoning the protection of an endangered species and every Japanese citizen with a stake in the survival of the fishing industry, including the country's seafood-loving consumers.”
As reported some time ago, sharks are actually worth more when swimming around in our oceans than they do once turned into soup.
In light of this argument, perhaps Japan might consider rethinking its stand.