Who would have thought that Target would lead the charge in boldly advocating for sourcing sustainable seafood? Just yesterday, Target pledged to sell only sustainable and traceable seafood by 2015.

Target is not new to the ocean conservation club; in the last couple of years it has eliminated orange roughy and Chilean sea bass from it’s stores in response to collapsing fish populations. It also began selling wild-caught salmon in place of farmed salmon. As a result, Target and Wegman’s tied for 2nd place behind Safeway in Greenpeace’s Supermarket Seafood Sustainability Scorecard.  If are going to shop for seafood, make sure you read this ‘Scorecard’ before doing so — the top ranked retailers want to ensure our oceans are healthy and in balance while bottom ranked retailers don’t mind serving up the very last bluefin tuna.

I’d say Target has truly hit the bullseye with this pledge for the ocean conservation.

We are advocates for traveling the world to see marine life in their native habitats. By funneling dollars to these ocean destinations we send a powerful message to surrounding communities, and the world, that society and government can make more money keeping the marine life alive, than killing or destroying an ocean’s biodiversity. Then, when significant tourism dollars are at stake, towns and governments will jump on board by imposing regulations aimed to keep poachers and rampant fishing at bay.

But what happens when so many tourists flock to the marine destination that they potentially endanger an ocean ecosystem? When the intention is about keeping ocean biodiversity thriving then multiple groups can realize a clear cut plan.

I am impressed with Canada’s University of Montreal which developed a computer program that evaluates economic and ecological factors that balance marine conservation, whale watch tourism and the various ocean transportation requirements of a region. Their focus area was the Saint Lawrence Estuary where 1,000+ whales congregate every year to enjoy the abundant feeding grounds. “The objective is to reduce the collision risk with whales while taking into account the impact on industry and marine transportation,” said Lael Parrott, one of the research leaders.

The project objective was to reduce stress on the whales including beluga, blue, fin, minke and humpback. I am thinking this might be a great destination for whale watching; I want to be sure to see marine phenomenon is their natural state and I want to make sure Canada and the Saint Lawrence Estuary economy knows I appreciate their efforts to consider the importance of whale conservation.

“As far as shark finning is concerned the best way is to ban altogether shark fin soup from states and then countries. That’s perhaps the only way to save the shark in the long term.” — Richard Branson

Fish Truth is pleased to see celebrities unite and outline clear policies on shark finning.  Not only was the message clear, but the audience was Shanghai’s richest and most influential businesspeople who reside in the world’s epicenter for Asian culinary delicacies — including Shark Fin Soup.

Yao Ming recently retired and has been dedicating his free time to campaign against the killing of ~1.5 million sharks per week — a number that is taking certain shark species to extinction.

Branson and Yao are working with WildAid– an organization whose mission is to “end the illegal wildlife trade in our lifetimes by reducing demand through public awareness campaigns and providing comprehensive marine protection”.  While the topic focused on Sharks, WildAid is also working to raise awareness of tigers and other species close to extinction.

California recently passed AB 376 banning the selling and trading of shark fins from it’s Pacific waters and coastal towns; but the focus must remain on China which consumes 95% of the world’s shark fin. “There’s been a massive increase in shark fin soup and the killing of sharks,” explained Branson, whose company Virgin Airlines bans transportation of shark fins. He continued saying, “The world is getting wealthier, particularly in China people are getting wealthier, and they can now afford to buy shark fin soup… we’re trying to get other businesses to ban the transportation of shark fins.

This week California took Shark Fin Soup off its menu sending a message to the world that the shark fin trade is not welcome in their Pacific waters. Given the deep Asian cultural ties California has, we are thrilled that AB 376 was passed and ocean conservation is on the rise in such influential territories. The bill brought forward Hollywood stars who vocalized their support of sharks as the ocean’s top predator. This bill will potentially save tens of thousands of sharks given that California is one of the largest consumers of shark fin outside of China.

Tonight we will toast California for ensuring Shark Finning is illegal — but let’s take this a step further and encourage restaurateurs, caterers, and all Chinese descendants and immigrants to find other ways to celebrate their culture by taking shark fin off the menu.

All proceeds from the sale of Shark Fin Soap will benefit Shark Savers -- an organization dedicated to saving the ocean's apex predator.  The foamy shark fin soap looks fun and refreshing -- it's made of seaweed, sea salt and zesty lime.  At $5.95 for a bar of shark fin soap, this is a chance to get clean and get active.  In California, Shark Savers and Lush Cosmetics are working to increase awareness and support of AB 376, a bill that bans shark fin trade.