Philippines’ largest airline joins shark fin ban

Dead, finned sharks are a grizzly reminder of the high cost of shark fin soup. ost(wikipedia photo)

Cebu Pacific, the Philippines’ largest national carrier, said Wednesday that it has joined the ban on transporting shark fins, in line with global conservation efforts to put an end to shark fishing.

“We are banning shark fin carriage effective immediately as we learned that unsustainable shark fishing and our carriage of shark fin is not aligned with (our) position on sustainable development,” the airline said in a statement.

The carrier likewise added that it will cease serving shark fin soup at its corporate functions.

Cebu Pacific, owned by the Gokongwei family, is the country’s largest airline in relation to number of passengers transported.

It has become the second Filipino carrier to impose the ban on shark fin shipments; on the heels of rival Philippine Airlines, which decreed the ban on board their craft in April of this year.

Over the last few years, several airlines across the globe announced that they would cease carrying shark fins. This is in support of a campaign to stop the consumption of the food product; the demand for which has led to over fishing of sharks, leaving many species now endangered.