The Fin Trail

The overfishing of many shark species threatens them with extinction. 

We the undersigned urge governments around the world to (a) join those who have already banned shark finning* and (b) outlaw the trade in shark fins other than those sourced from proven sustainable fisheries.

*Finning is the removal of fins with the carcass being discarded at sea.

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Sharks are facing extinction as they are hunted down in every ocean of the world.  Tens of millions are killed each year.  What's more, most of them are killed solely for their fins - the sole called process of shark finning - in order to make the famous shark fin soup.

The Fin Trail is a new feature documentary that will investigate the worldwide trade in shark fins.  The fact that sharks are facing extinction to satisfy this demand for soup is becoming well known.  But how do the fins reach the markets?  Who is making the money? How much money is being made? When and where is shark finning legal, and when is it illegal? And should we care?

The Fin Trail will follow this trade from beginning to end and will travel the world in search of the answers.  We will track down the profiteers and gangsters behind the business that is pushing a group of animals towards extinction and we will meet the conservationists around the globe who are fighting a rearguard action against the slaughter.

The trails will lead to China and southeast Asia.  Where there is demand there will always be a supply, for this reason the filmmakers have forged alliances with leading Chinese campaigners who are working to change laws and attitudes in the world's largest market for shark products.  A Chinese ban on the import of shark fins would remove 95% of the global demand for fins.  The Fin Trail will document the work of the Chinese legislators and campaigners who history may record as having played a major role in saving the world's sharks.

The producers of The Fin Trail are working closely with a panel of leading Shark advocacy NGO advisors including Greenpeace, The Nature Conservancy, PADI Project Aware, The Shark Trust, The Shark Conservation Society and the Zoological Society London.  We aim to shape and implement a campaign against unsustainable Shark fisheries which will run alongside and benefit from the public awareness generated by the film and we urge you to sign our petition.