Shark Guardian at EU Ocean Week 2025: Pushing for a Europe Free from Shark Fin Trade
- Shark Guardian
- Oct 18
- 2 min read
EU Ocean Week: Brussels, 15 October 2025
A collective of dedicated shark conservationists joined forces today in Brussels to urge the European Commission to move swiftly on implementing a comprehensive shark-fin ban across the EU. The alliance included teams from Shark Guardian, Stop Finning Deutschland e.V., Elasmocean, Sharkproject, Deutsche Stiftung (DSM), Irish Wildlife Trust and Sciaena.
Posing for a group photo prior to their “Shark Lab” session at the European Parliament, the campaigners underscored how the heartbreaking reality of shark-product trade demands urgent legislative action.
In 2022, an unprecedented 1.1 million citizens across Europe signed a European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) hosted by the European Commission, calling for an EU-wide ban on shark fins. Despite that clear mandate, three years later, the Commission has yet to act on the request.
The “Shark Lab” event was attended by two German Members of the European Parliament: Manuela Ripa of the EPP group and Sebastian Everding of The Left, highlighting much-needed bipartisan support for shark-protection legislation. Also in attendance were officials from the Commission’s DG Mare (the ocean-and-fisheries department), diplomats and representatives from the fishing industry.
We understand the next step is that the Commission will publish its “impact assessment” by the end of the year—yet with shark populations already in crisis, we strongly urge the Commission to accelerate rather than stall this process. We extend our thanks to Seas At Risk for organizing and facilitating this event.
Why this matters to shark conservation
Sharks play an essential role in healthy marine ecosystems as apex predators, helping maintain biodiversity and ecological balance. Delays in protecting them allow illegal trade, unsustainable fishing and weak regulation to continue. A strong EU-wide shark-fin ban would close a major loophole and send a signal that Europe takes its marine-conservation commitments seriously.
Tying into the broader context of Ocean Policy
This event took place during Ocean Week 2025 (13 – 19 October, Brussels) — a major policy-forum week dedicated to Europe’s seas, held under the banner of restoring abundance in marine ecosystems and shaping the implementation of the European Ocean Pact (Ocean Week) brings together NGOs, policymakers, scientists and industry leaders to explore solutions for oceans under pressure from climate change, pollution and over-exploitation.
For more details on the schedule and themes of Ocean Week, see: Ocean Week 2025 official website
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