Shark Fin Soup driving 11 species to extinction
May 26th, 2008 by RYK
Tremendous demand for Shark Fin Soup is driving 11 shark species to extinction reports Discovery Channel “Despite mounting evidence of decline and increasing threats to these species, there are no international catch limits for oceanic sharks,” said Sonja Fordham, a researcher at the Oceans Conservancy and Shark Alliance in Brussels
Fin soup used to be a rare and very expensive delicacy in China. As the Asian economies grow, in particular that of mainland China, a middle class has emerged hungry for shark fin soup; they eat it almost as a status symbol. So what was a rare and expensive delicacy is now just part of the buffet at most weddings and corporate functions. This symbol of luxury and wealth is a luxury that the people in coastal communities in the developing world who depend upon shark meat for protein cannot afford. The sharks threatened by extinction certainly cannot afford this delicacy! Living sharks are enjoyed by recreational divers, bringing millions of dollars in foreign exchange to countries in both the developed and developing world. By contrast, the trade in shark fins has created a handful of millionaires in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
So how do we at GSTF stop this?
Read the Discovery article here: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/05/22/shark-fin-soup.html
Start a rumor that shark fin soup is the cause of erectile dysfunction and birth defects.
OH OH! We could have Mike start a video rumor like that of the Vagina Dentata series —
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onRotSlDhR4
Ha Ha Ha..eeeks, what a disease
@Blue Collar Goddess: This is the very first time I have heard of Vagina Dentata but I think it simply remains rumour..no such thing right? haha..can’t imagine having teeth down there..
Anyway, shark fin soup is actually delicious especially when you mix it with vinegar (I was a kid around 12 when I tried it out)..but at the same time, the cost of having the sharks losing their fins is by having them extinct..These people won’t realised that sharks are dying to extinction unless if all the sharks are gone, and then they will realised,
“OMG, we don’t have shark fins to eat anymore. We are gonna die. We are gonna die because of our status now is from ‘able-to-provide-shark-fin-soup to NOT-ABLE-to-provide-shark-fin-soup anymore..Ahhhh…”
It is almost like customary to provide shark fin soup for Chinese Weddings and I have seen those shark fins being displayed in Chinese Herb Shop that makes me wondering, “Why are we destructing our own natural resources, killing other living creatures when we are not given the power to do that and at the same time cared so much about the symbol status of being super damn rich?”
The bad thing about shark extinction : Our young generation would not know what is a shark
The good thing about shark extinction : No more shark fin soup
Where I live we have a lot of authentic Chinese resturants that serve shark fin soup which I do not like. I think the younger, generation (younger than me, the 2nd and 3rd generation immigrants) will make the difference.
I say, don’t give your kids a taste for it and hope a future generation grows up thinking that it’s disgusting, like brussels sprouts or kidney pie.
Its something I avoid and any functions or work dinner we have I tell our guys to make sure its not ordered.
Same for sea cucumber. I hear that species of sea cucumber aka sea slug are under pressure. For the life of me I can’t see why as they aren’t exactly tasty, however the guys here seem to love them.
I’m not certain how best to go about getting the message accross as it is a favourite of most here, I think the rumour method might be a good one, either that or get a genetically modified shark that has 10 fins.
One thing I can tell you is, if you eat the sea cucumber, it Isss like eating slug..slimy..but they taste best when it is stewed with mushrooms and Pork..
I had one still live in Korea, it wiggled just as I put it in my mouth. Not the best gastronmoic experience of my life but I avoided throwing up - just.
Can never imagine eating it alive though..eating it while it’s cooked is also hard enough what’s more to eat it while it’s alive..
Mike, sounds like we need a video…
Hi RYK.
At least the Chinese are not using the Japanese excuse of researching them to extinction like the whales
Dont get me started on the whales…but the fact they cut the fin off and throw the rest out is sickening…
The whole situtation stinks…
Not only with the Shark Fins, but with the whaling, the hunting and blatent killing of endagered species, the Forestry down here in Tasmania, the culling of Kangaroos and others, until there is a Global awareness that these practices are driving species to extinction nothing will change. Half the problem is that so many people really dont care….. and those of us that do are ridiculed and called hippies…. if the hippies where listened to 30 years ago, we might not facing the global issues we are today.. but thats another post…
Sustainable industried are possible, but only if populations and areas are allowed to first grow to a level which would allow them to be harvested without damaging their genetic diversity.
Greed is always the driving force regardless of how you look at it… the need to have the biggest, newest, fastest and most extravagant this or that….
It is a shameful waste of the limited resources this planet has given us …. disgraceful all round… and the funny thing is, that it not only harms the environment it will eventual harm us… regardless of what it is….