STOP SHARK FINNING!!

In the last fifteen years demand for shark fin soup has boomed in Asia. Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan are the main shark fin trading centres. Asian consumers are unaware of the cruelty and unsustainability of the shark fin trade. Increasingly on the high seas sharks are “finned” and the rest of their bodies, often still alive, are dumped at sea. Shark meat is often too low-value compared to the target species (e.g. tuna) so 95-99% of the shark is discarded to conserve hold space. Shark fin provides gelatinous bulk in shark fin soup, but it has no taste – the soup has to be flavoured with chicken or other stock. While a fisherman in India will earn only $6 per pound of shark fin, a bowl of soup can cost $100 in a Hong Kong restaurant.