The U.S. Congress is currently discussing the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act to eliminate shark fin trade at the federal level. This bill was introduced in 2017 and has been proceeding very slowly in Congress because of mixed reviews from the scientific community. Debate exists on whether shark conservation and management are effectively addressed with tightened trade controls for imported shark products or blanket bans that outright end U.S. participation in the shark fin trade. Here we contribute to this debate with a review and analysis of economic, nutritional, ethical, and legal arguments, as well as of the shark fisheries status and shark fin trade. We show that the United States has a limited commercial interest in shark fisheries and contributes to the shark fin trade mainly as a facilitator. A fin trade ban has few tangible economic drawbacks but would have a considerable conservation impact. While making all shark fisheries sustainable is the ultimate goal, in practice this objective is far from achievable everywhere in the world. Conversely, banning shark fin trade is an interim measure that nations like the United States can take with negligible cost and can truly impact the biggest driver of shark exploitation globally.

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禁止鱼翅贸易和可持续的鲨鱼渔业

美国国会目前正在讨论《消除鱼翅销售法》，以消除联邦一级的鱼翅贸易。该法案于2017年提出，由于科学界的不同评论，在国会中进展缓慢。关于通过加强对进口鲨鱼产品的贸易控制或彻底禁止美国完全参与鱼翅贸易的一揽子禁令，是否有效地解决了鲨鱼的养护和管理问题存在争议。在这里，我们通过对经济，营养，道德和法律论据以及鲨鱼渔业状况和鱼翅贸易的回顾和分析来为这场辩论做出贡献。我们表明，美国在鲨鱼渔业方面的商业利益有限，主要是作为促进者，对鱼翅贸易做出了贡献。有鳍贸易禁令几乎没有明显的经济弊端，但会对保护产生重大影响。虽然使所有鲨鱼渔业可持续发展是最终目标，但实际上，在世界上任何地方都无法实现这一目标。相反，禁止鱼翅贸易是一项临时措施，像美国这样的国家可以以微不足道的成本采取行动，并且可以真正影响全球鲨鱼开采的最大推动力。