The PECH Committee (Committee on Fisheries), in association with the ENVI and PETI Committees holds a public hearing on the European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) "Stop Finning – Stop the Trade".The initiative was officially submitted to the European Commission in January after having gathered the support of over 1.1 million signatures with the minimum threshold reached in 15 Member States. It calls on the Commission to propose legal measures to end the trade of shark and ray fins in the EU, including the import, export and transit of fins, other than if naturally attached to the animal's body, notably by extending the scope of Regulation (EU) No 605/2013. Ambiance shots of the protest in front of the EP (27/03), statements by statement by Asger CHRISTENSEN (Renew, DK), Vice-Chair of PECH Committee, by Dr. Nils KLUGER, Spokesperson of STOP FINNING - STOP THE TRADE and by Stefanie BRENDL, Executive Director Shark Allies and extracts from the exchange of views

Brussels

Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

public hearing

animal welfare (T)

Committee on Petitions

Committee on Fisheries

sustainable fisheries (T)

Fisheries (T2)

AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES (T1)

CHRISTENSEN, Asger (Renew, DK)

European Citizens’ Initiative - “Stop Finning – Stop the trade": statement by Asger CHRISTENSEN (Renew, DK), Vice-Chair of PECH , by Dr. Nils KLUGER, Spokesperson of Stop Finning - Stop the trade and by Stefanie BRENDL, Executive Director Sh

Stop shark finning demonstration in front of the European Parliament, 8 shots

SOUNDBITE (English), Nils Dr.KLUGER, Spokesperson of STOP FINNING - STOP THE TRADE , I have been diving with sharks for more than ten years now. And with that, I learned a lot about the threats that sharks are facing in the oceans. And one of the biggest ones is to be caught for their fins and end up in a very expensive soup called shark fin soup that makes them worth the catch, even though you don't pretty much need everything else of them.

SOUNDBITE (English), Nils Dr.KLUGER, Spokesperson of STOP FINNING - STOP THE TRADE, We're representing right now more than 1.1 million EU citizens that have signed. But besides that, we're supported by more than 100 NGOs,a lot of corporations, especially from the diving industry and numerous celebrities, have supported our cause.

SOUNDBITE (English), Nils Dr.KLUGER, Spokesperson of STOP FINNING - STOP THE TRADE, It is quite hard, actually, to campaign in 27 countries with so many different languages, but it really made us initiators of the initiative connected to other Europeans more and more. And this is even ongoing because other initiatives are approaching us asking what we did, how we did it, and we are learning from it. It's briliant, a good instrument.

SOUNDBITE (English), Stefanie BRENDL, Executive Director Shark Allies, In the ocean, sharks are a critical species to keep the whole system, the whole ecosystem healthy. When sharks are targeted for their fins, whether they're finned at sea or even brought back and then finned, it means that we're taking out an extremely important element out of the ocean.

SOUNDBITE (English), Stefanie BRENDL, Executive Director Shark Allies, Eco tourism industry is a really it's a growing industry worldwide. And the good thing about something like shark watching or viewing versus fishing is that you can make money off of the shark for 30, 40 or 50 years sometimes, this is how long they live. It's an essentially a renewable resource, whereas if you kill them and take them out, it's a one time gain for one person and not really that much. Of course, when the fins are sold, the fins are valuable, but that animal, the income for that animal is over. And more than that, once you reduce the shark population to a certain degree, there is no more potential for ecotourism because you have to have a certain quality in order for people to want to go there.

SOUNDBITE (English), Asger CHRISTENSEN (Renew, DK), Vice-Chair of PECH, It's not a way to use animals to cut the fins and drop the rest in the oceans. We must of course, we must take care of the sharks, but we must also do it on a sustainable route.

Atmosphere at the Public Hearing, 15 shots