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10,000 sharks were brutally killed and mutilated in Brazil so corporate fishing enterprises could sell their fins. Despite sharks’ crucial role in protecting marine ecosystems, the fin trade remains legal in Brazil. The bloodbath will continue unless we act. This could be a crucial turning point! Members of Brazil’s Congress plan to hold hearings soon on a full ban on fins – but lawmakers need to act, not just talk. Let’s build a massive public outcry and push Congress to finally, fully ban the grisly shark fin trade!
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Dear friends,
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Sharks have graced our planet for 450 million years. Today, their numbers are dwindling rapidly, as a result of a sustained assault by profit-driven overfishing. Recently, Brazilian authorities seized fins from 10,000 of these majestic creatures -- many of them endangered.
A disturbing loophole in Brazil's laws allows companies to make a fortune selling severed shark fins. So fishing fleets chasing massive profits pull in as many sharks as they can.
The only way to save the sharks from slaughter is an absolute ban on the fin trade. And it can happen! The United States passed such a ban last year, followed by the UK this year. Now Brazil must urgently do the same. Brazilian lawmakers plan to hold a hearing in the coming weeks – but to move Congress to action we need to ignite a global outcry too loud to be ignored.
Sign this petition now, and we will ensure that our voices are delivered directly to Brazilian lawmakers, reaching those who have the authority to prevent the next massacre.
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The cruelty of finning is chilling, but it isn’t the only problem. Sharks are vitally important to ocean ecosystems. When shark populations dwindle, coral reefs die, seabed grass withers, and biodiversity declines.
Yet more than 70 million sharks are killed every year just for their fins, and overfishing has put over one third of shark species on the endangered list.
Just recently, Brazil's top environment agency stopped a major shipment of fins from an estimated 10,000 sharks. Among the victims were majestic species like the shortfin mako shark which was literally JUST listed as endangered!
Let's use this moment as a tipping point to call on Brazil to close all legal loopholes, ban all trade in shark fins, and end this horrifying practice once and for all. Sign the petition now, and share with everyone you know – and we’ll take it straight to Congress:
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Time and again, Avaaz members have taken a stand to defend animal rights. We’ve helped save bees from dangerous pesticides, establish massive marine reserves, and protect elephants from ivory poachers. We share the planet with so many magnificent species, yet too often we cruelly kill them for profit. This can change, starting with a ban on the trade in shark fins. Let's use this moment to turn Brazil into a world leader in ending the shark slaughter.
With hope and determination,
Abdelrahman, Nate, Muriel, John, Diego, Christoph, Antonia and the whole Avaaz team
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