Legal shark fining example video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPFioJeMRO8

There’s a lot of out-of-date information circulating.  Briefly:
1.  Fishermen prefer to catch marlin, swordfish, tuna – high value products.
2.  Sharks take the baits intended for tuna, marlin, on lines many kilometers long.
3.  Sharks, unable to swim, then drown.  Unable to swim, they drown, dead in 95% of cases.
4.  So, what to do with the dead sharks?  Throw them away?  Process them for $2-3 kilo?
5.  Many (or most) countries, by law, now make fishermen bring whole sharks home, fins attached.
6.  Shark meat is processed into fake fish products, crab sticks, fish fingers etc.
7.  Shark fins are just a bonus, (as compared with a large tuna) crazy to wast them.
8.  A new bait is being trialed, a bait that tuna take yet is distasteful to sharks. It’s expensive.
9.  Fishermen see many sharks offshore and sincerely believe there is no  shortage.
10. There is a decline in all other fin fish, world-wide this is accelerating.
11.  Shark diving companies would have you believe all of the above shark info is untrue.
12.  Same applies to self-promoting marine ‘experts’.  Easy to be interviewed speaking ‘doom and gloom’ info.
13.  Bottom line at Taipei Shark Conference 2002 “We (scientists) should speak more often with fishermen to help with our research.

APPLIES EVERYWHERE

Any Taiwanese national who breaks provisions of the new law elsewhere in the world will still be subject to punishment in Taiwan

From: http://www.taipeitimes.com Wednesday, Dec 03, 2008

The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed the Statute Governing Investment and Management of Non-Taiwanese Fishing Boats, which prohibits anyone from investing in non-Taiwanese fishing boats without a permit from the agricultural authorities

Those who make such an investment without first obtaining a permit may be fined between NT$300,000 (US$8,950) and NT$1.5 million.

Under the new law, authorities will also be able to investigate any fishing irregularities by requiring fishing boat investors to present investment details.

Any Taiwanese national found to be involved in fish laundering ― an illegal act to cover up overfishing ― could be jailed from six months to three years and fined up to NT$30 million, while those entering the fishing business overseas without a permit may be sentenced to three years in prison and fined up to NT$10 million.

Those who commit these offenses abroad are subject to punishment in Taiwan, even if the acts are legal where they take place. Violators’ catch and equipment will also be confiscated.

The bill also includes a resolution urging the Council of Agriculture and the Fisheries Agency to engage in international negotiations for a “buffer zone” so the local fishing industry can gradually adjust the average size of its tuna catch.

The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas sanctioned the nation’s deep-sea fishing industry in 2004 and 2005 for dodging the fishing limits by investing in non-Taiwanese fishing boats.

A visit to Dihua Street in Taipei is very interesting.  Herbal medicines and foods galore.  All very entertaining.

Bamboo cat sharks and a carpet shark.  All three are often seen in restaurant aquarium tanks in Taiwan. I do not advise eating shark but these smaller species would be acceptable. The carpet sharks have white meat but all sharks excrete their urine into their blood as a method of maintaining an essential salt balance.  If blood is not quickly released from a caught shark the urine taints the flesh.  This should not be a problem in Taiwan were food handling is professional but a good  tip for amateur fishermen.