GrubHub to Ban Sale of Shark Fin Products - Oceana USA

Victory | December 16, 2015

GrubHub to Ban Sale of Shark Fin Products

GrubHub, the nation’s leading online and mobile food ordering company, announced it will no longer allow restaurants to sell shark fin products through its website and subsidiary websites. It is estimated that 73 million sharks, many of which are vulnerable or even critically endangered species, are killed every year to supply the wasteful demand for shark fin soup. Shark finning involves hacking a shark’s fins off, often while the shark is still alive. The body of the shark is then thrown back into the ocean, only to drown, starve or die a slow death. Although the practice of shark finning is illegal in U.S. waters, fins can still be bought and sold in many U.S. states. These fins often come from unsustainable foreign fisheries in countries that have ineffective shark finning bans, contributing to the global trend of declining shark populations, which scientists have estimated to be at more than 90 percent for many species. Since 2010, 10 states and three U.S. territories have passed laws prohibiting the buying and selling of shark fins within their borders, including California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, New York, Oregon, Texas and Washington as well as American Samoa, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands and Guam. As apex predators, sharks play a critical role in maintaining healthy oceans and balanced food webs, however the global fin trade has thrown many marine ecosystems into jeopardy.