• Animals

Iceland Whalers Announce They Won’t Hunt Again This Year

• CITES
• Commercial Whaling Moratorium
• endangered species
• fin whales
• International Whaling Commission
• whales

For the second year running, Iceland’s notorious whaling industry will opt-out, this year blaming coronavirus social distancing restrictions that would make processing the meat impossible, as well as reduced demand for whale meat in Japan. 

Why This Matters:  Given that this is the second year of the cessation of whaling, it might just be doomed.  Whale watching is much more popular and economically important to Iceland than hunting, and the two activities are fundamentally inconsistent.

• Animals

$1M In Illegal Shark Fins Seized in Miami

• #30x30
• CITES
• extinction
• shark fin soup
• sharks

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in January seized 1,400 pounds of shark fins worth nearly $1M that were hidden in 18 boxes in Miami Airport.  Federal officials believe the shipment originated in South America and was likely headed to Asia, where shark fins are in great demand for use in soup and traditional medicine, but they are still investigating.

Why This Matters:  Shark finning is banned in the U.S., but it is not illegal to buy and sell their fins here or even to sell the soup in restaurants in some states (it is banned in others).

• Forests

WWF Finds 62% of Wood Products Are Mislabeled

• CITES
• Forests
• Lacey Act
• wood
• wood products

A new study from the World Wildlife Fund looked at 73 consumer wood products from major US retailers – everything from hairbrushes to furniture to cheese plates – and found that 45, or 62% were mislabeled.

Meaning a product is advertised as one kind of wood, but is actually a completely different species.

• Animals

Major Shark Conservation Victory Celebrated With Remarkable Photos

• Brian Skerry
• CITES
• mako sharks
• National Geographic
• shark fin soup

This week, the nations of the world gathered at the Conference of the Parties of the U.N. Convention on Trade in Endangered Species and took a major step forward in protecting 18 species of sharks and rays, including mako sharks, wedgefishes, and guitarfishes. 

• Animals

Breakthroughs in Global Protection From Trade for Mako Sharks and Giraffes

• #30x30
• Blue Sphere Foundation
• CITES
• endangered species
• Endangered Species Act
• giraffe
• mako shark

Delegates from around the world came to the defense of one of the most critically endangered marine species — the mako shark (often targeted for shark fin soup) — moving ahead a global trade ban for final consideration by the U.N. body that deals with trade in endangered species despite opposition to the ban by Japan, Canada, and the United States.  Final approval of the ban is expected later this week.