A plan is being put in place to ban shark fin from being sold in Toronto.  A group of non governmental organizations and top environmental groups that have come together to honour and praise the shark species was publicly praised by Wildaid and Rob Stewart, local Canadian and director of Sharkwater.  The honouring and praising of sharks will run in the city during the summer and its purpose is to teach people about humanity’s cruel actions taken on sharks.  As part of the program, the film Sharkwater will be shown, along with speeches from Rob Stewart and there will be a petition that aims to get 10,000 signatures in hopes of getting shark fin banned in the city.

The shark problem is a major issue as its numbers continue to decline each year. People in the conservation field concur that lots of shark species have become extinct.  The decrease in their numbers is due mostly to people wanting their fins.  The desire for shark fin soup, where it is seen as a treat within Asia, has pushed up the need for them.  What usually happens is that the shark is captured, its fins are removed and then its body is thrown away.

This practice of fin removal has been banned as of 1994 in Canada.  European Union did this in 2003, and the United States followed suit in 2009.  Despite this, shark fins are still sold all over the planet.  Many countries have put forward bans on the selling and eating of the fins.  Indonesia and the Chinese mainland are similarly putting forward restrictions and bans on them.