Have you ever had a close encounter with a shark in the wild? How about a strange shark meal? Have you ever touched a shark—and if so, what’s the weirdest shark you’ve ever touched? Share your stories at Seafood Talk!

While I’ve never touched, eaten, or seen a shark in the wild, I have seen a few in an aquarium here and there. They’re pretty amazing animals, don’t you think? For my shark story, I’m going to tell you about how to take action against the mass killing of sharks. Did you know that about 100 million sharks are killed annually by fisherman—73 million of which are killed for the shark fin trade?

That’s likely much more shark than anyone could ever eat. Because of this mass killing, some shark populations have declined by up to 99% within the past four decades—leading, of course, to extinction. Many shark species now face the threat of extinction due to overfishing.

More than half of all migratory sharks are considered to have very depleted numbers

Right now, the Senate is considering the Shark Conservation Act of 2009 (S. 850). The act would help protect sharks by fixing the loopholes caused by the Shark Finning Prohibition Act (Damn those loopholes! Can we not pass a single piece of legislation without them?). As much as the Shark Finning Prohibition Act helps—in case you weren’t aware, shark finning is the practice of slicing off a shark’s fin for soup and then throwing the rest of the shark back into the water to die—it still allows most fisherman to get away with it.

If this act is passed, all sharks in U. S. waters will be protected from being finned by U.S. law, period. Some people are suggesting that the practice of finning itself even be protected; we must stand strong against this deadly, cruel practice and allow sharks species to recover before the sea food chain is completely off balance.

Not only would the act prohibit the practice of shark finning and close current loopholes in previous laws; it would also help encourage other nations to pass similar protections for shark species in their areas.

The good news: the House of Representatives has already passed the Shark Conservation Act. Now, it’s up to the Senate to pass it. Please write to your senators today and ask them to vote in favor of this helpful legislation. Let them know that we look to them to provide leadership for the rest of the world to follow when it comes to sea animal conservation. We have to take action today to prevent as many species as possible from becoming extinct tomorrow.