The Al Jazeera English documentary “Fault Lines” has won the Emmy for Outstanding Coverage of Climate, Environment and Meteorology.
The movie focuses on the illegal shark fin trade in the US. Sadly, despite the passage of the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act, this awful trade continues to function.
The film focused primarily on the illegal trade originating in Peru and how these fins are still able to make their way to the US mainland. The film focused on Evelyn Lamadrib, the Peruvian environmental prosecutor, who was able to secure the first criminal conviction in 2018.
Oceana played a critical role in breaking this criminal ring, working closely with prosecutors, police and others to help dismantle this criminal enterprise. According to Oceana Campaign Director Gib Brogan:
“Laws only function when they’re enforced. The Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act bans the buying and selling of shark fins in the United States, but the law must be enforced to address bad actors that continue to illegally traffic shark fins in the U.S. Oceana calls on the National Marine Fisheries Service to increase enforcement of the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act to the fullest extent possible. Changing the U.S. law was a monumental first step in taking the country out of the $100M global shark fin trade, and now meaningful enforcement is needed immediately at the local, state and federal levels.”
