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."