Groups want shark's fin soup off the menu

Groups want shark's fin soup off the menu

HONG KONG (AP): International environmental groups have launched a campaign in Hong Kong aimed at getting gourmands to give up one of their favorite delicacies: shark's fin soup.

Some shark populations have declined by as much as 90 percent as fishermen slaughtered up to 100 million sharks a year, chopping their fins off and throwing them back into the sea to die, according to international groups WildAid and EarthCare.

Shark's fin soup, which can cost up to HK$780 (US$100) a bowl, is popular among Asians, especially Chinese, and is often the highlight of important occasions such as wedding banquets.

The world trade in fins more than doubled from 3,011 tons in 1985 to 7,048 tons in 1997, the groups said.

Hong Kong is the hub for the shark fin trade, with exports soaring from 2,420 tons in 1972 to 6,427 tons in 1999, said Peter Knights, executive director of the San Francisco, California- based WildAid.

Although consumption of shark fins in Hong Kong has declined somewhat, demand in China is skyrocketing as more mainlanders become affluent, Knights said.

The two groups urged an end to finning, the practice of chopping off fins and discarding the rest of the shark, and urged all shark-fishing nations to do more to ensure sustainable populations.

"We ask people to ban finning not because of cruelty, but because of the waste," Knights said. "You are wasting 99 percent of the animal's meat. It also makes it difficult to regulate the number of different shark species."