1,119,996 voices. Now act.

On 29 September, Fragile Hope founder Joakim Odelberg took the call to end the EU trade in detached shark fins to the European Parliament in Brussels. More than one million EU citizens have already backed that demand.

In 2025, the European Union exported 2,700 tonnes of shark fins, worth €44.8 million, to countries outside the EU. Singapore and China alone accounted for more than 82 per cent of the export value.

At the same time, 1,119,996 EU citizens have formally demanded an end to the trade in detached shark fins.

They did so through the European Citizens’ Initiative Stop Finning – Stop the Trade, the EU’s own democratic instrument that allows citizens to call on the European Commission to propose legislation.

The initiative became only the eighth European Citizens’ Initiative to reach the required thresholds. Its demand is clear: end the trade in detached shark fins in the EU, including their import, export and transit.

Taking the message to Parliament

On 29 September, Joakim Odelberg, Founder of Fragile Hope Foundation, joined policymakers, shark experts and ocean communicators at the European Parliament in Brussels for Shark Protection for Healthy Oceans, during EU Ocean Week.

The event brought together MEP Manuela Ripa, MEP Michal Wiezik, German actor and documentary filmmaker Hannes Jaenicke, Stefanie Brendl, founder of Shark Allies, and Joakim Odelberg.

The discussion focused on the international shark fin trade, the pressure facing sharks and the responsibility of the European Union to decide what happens next.

Finning is banned. The trade is not.

This distinction matters.

Removing fins from sharks on board EU fishing vessels and discarding the bodies at sea is already prohibited. EU rules require sharks to be landed with their fins naturally attached.

But that does not mean the EU trade in shark fins has ended.

Detached shark fins can still be traded under existing rules. Stop Finning – Stop the Trade is calling for that gap to be closed by extending the fins naturally attached principle to trade, including import, export and transit.

And the scale remains significant.

Although EU shark fin exports fell by 15.2 per cent in 2025 compared with 2024, 2,700 tonnes still left the EU. Of the frozen shark fins exported in 2025, 97.2 per cent were from blue sharks.

Photo: Joakim Odelberg

Why this matters

Sharks are particularly vulnerable to fishing pressure because many species grow slowly, mature late and produce relatively few young. When their numbers fall, recovery can take a long time.

Today, more than one third of shark, ray and chimaera species are threatened with extinction. Overfishing, both targeted and as bycatch, remains the main threat. llegal, unreported and unregulated fishing adds another layer of pressure, much of it hidden from official catch records and difficult to trace.

This is why the debate cannot stop at whether shark finning itself is banned. The question is also what Europe chooses to allow through its markets and trade.

More than three years after over one million voices

In July 2023, the European Commission responded to the initiative but did not introduce a ban. Instead, it committed to assessing the environmental, social and economic consequences of extending the “fins naturally attached” policy to the trade in sharks.

More than three years later, that process is still ongoing. The Commission says an external study was completed in March 2026 and that its impact assessment is expected in late 2026. That assessment will determine the next steps. The message is clear. More than three years later, the question remains: will the European Commission act on it?

Participants in Shark Protection for Healthy Oceans with detached shark fins at the European Parliament in Brussels during EU Ocean Week 2026.