Shark fin soup is a gourmet Chinese delicacy which is rapidly increasing in popularity as people in China and Chinese communities around the world become more affluent. The practice of shark finning, cutting off a shark’s fins and then throwing the live shark back into the ocean, has increased along with the demand for shark fins.
Shark fins are considered to be one of the most expensive seafood products in the world, selling for anywhere between US$400 and US$1,000 per kilogram, while diners pay between $50 and $400 for a bowl of shark fin soup. By taking only the fins, fishermen can maximize their profits by loading their boats with this extremely lucrative cargo, leaving behind the comparatively worthless shark meat.
Although finning does not immediately kill the shark, it is still a death sentence. Unable to swim without its fins, the shark sinks to the ocean floor where it either bleeds to death, or is eaten by other predators.
Shark populations are in decline. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature lists 18 shark species as endangered, and environmentalists blame shark finning for increasing the rate of shark extinction. In fact, researchers estimate that the 8,000 tons of shark fins processed for the shark fin trade each year are responsible for the deaths of 73 million sharks. Ironically, the rarer the shark the more valuable its fins. The most prized shark fins are those of the sawfish, which is now a highly protected Appendix I listed species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
As predators at the top of the food chain, sharks play a vital role in maintaining the balance of ocean ecosystems. They prevent the spread of disease and strengthen gene pools by culling weak, old and sick fish. Without sharks to eat them, the numbers of prey fish will increase uncontrollably and create havoc in the ecosystem, either by from overgrazing of ocean vegetation or by over-consumption of other species of fish or shellfish.
For example, when sharks disappeared from the U.S. mid-Atlantic, cownose rays became so numerous that they consumed all the bay scallops. In Tasmania, the spiny lobster fishery collapsed when there were no longer enough sharks to control the numbers of lobster-eating octopi. In the Caribbean, the disappearance of sharks allowed an increase in the grouper population. In turn, the groupers ate too many parrotfish, which keep coral reefs healthy by eating the algae that grow there. Consequently, the overabundance of coral reef algae became a threat to the entire coral reef habitat.
Shark finning violates U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization directives, including the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and the International Plan for the Conservation and Management of Sharks, and is condemned by environmental and animal rights organizations.
Unfortunately, while many countries ban shark finning within their territorial waters, the open ocean is unregulated, so the only way to stop shark finning is to reduce demand from consumers. To this end, groups in Hong Kong opposed to shark finning have persuaded restaurants and hotels to offer shark-free banquet options, and Hong Kong Disneyland and the University of Hong Kong no longer serve shark fin soup. These activist groups are now turning their attention to the Chinese mainland.
