September 9th 2011. The move by a broad coalition of Toronto City Councillors to ban the sale of shark fin soup in the city’s restaurants and grocery stores has now moved to the stage where a draft by-law is being drafted. This campaign began in June, as a local response to the widespread finning of sharks, in which sharks are caught, their fins cut off, and their still-living bodies dumped at sea. Finning has been responsible for serious declines in shark populations worldwide, and many species are now on IUCN’s Red List of species in danger of extinction. Toronot’s action, assuming it succeeds, shows how local actions can have global impacts. Nearby Brantford, Ontario, was the first city in Canada to ban shark fin earlier this year.