Shark fin soup is responsible for the destruction of shark populations throughout the world.
Shark fin soup has been a Chinese delicacy since the Ming Dynasty. Back then, only the Emperor and his guests ate it. Until about twenty years ago, shark fin soup was served mostly in Hong Kong and other cities with Chinese populations, but only rarely in China, itself. This relatively low consumption of shark fin soup did not result in a significant problem for shark survival.
But now, many of the 1.3 billion people of China are enjoying more prosperity. Shark fin soup has become popular, even obligatory, at banquets, business dinners, and weddings. That adds up to a lot of shark fin soup, and a lot of sharks are being killed for this soup.
Over 100 million sharks are killed each year, and the greatest cause is the growing demand for shark fin soup. The fins from between 26 million and 73 million sharks move through the Hong Kong shark fin markets alone, each year. These sharks are generally not caught for their meat, but for their valuable fins. The most prized shark fins can cost hundreds of dollars, with the average being about US$450 (HK$3500) per pound. Shark meat, in contrast, is worth less than most fish.
In large parts of the oceans, populations of sharks are already down by 90% or more in just the last 20 years. This problem is made worse because sharks reproduce very slowly, taking years to reach sexual maturity and then reproducing few young. Many species will not be able to out-reproduce the demands of the shark fin trade.
Sharks have survived for 450 million years and yet we are on course for killing them off within a few years. Then, there will be no more shark fin soup, other seafood species will disappear, and the oceans will no longer support the healthy balance of sea life that we need to survive.
We can do our part by not eating shark fin soup and encouraging our family and friends not to eat it. The taste of shark fin soup is not shark. It is usually chicken broth. Shark fin does not contain the traditionally believed high levels of nutrition content. Its value is traditional, but not essential. If we still want to have shark fin soup, artificial shark fin is worth considering, as it is less expensive and many people have trouble telling the difference from the real thing.
Balance and moderation are valued tenets of traditional Chinese way of life. We can all take pride and honor in recreating a balance to our ecosystem by choosing not to eat shark fin soup.
Other facts about Shark Fin Soup:
Shark fins are now among the most expensive seafood products in the world, fetching up to US$650 (HK$5000) per kilogram. A single Whale Shark pectoral fin can sell for up to US$100,000 (HK$750,000) and a Basking Shark pectoral fin fetches up to US$250,000 (HK$ 2 million).
Often it is argued that consumption of shark fin soup is a long standing Asian tradition. In reality, it is only in the past 50 years that shark fin soup has been accessible to any but the most elite in Asia. For the vast majority, this is new “tradition” driven by trade marketing not dissimilar to other consumer branding campaigns.
Global trade in shark fins is increasing, and the market for shark fin soup is estimated to be growing by 5 - 15 percent per year as of 2008. Last year, consumption of shark fin soup was up 30% in Singapore, and trade of fins was up 100%. Sadly, while demand is skyrocketing, supply is plummeting causing fisherman to go to drastic measures – even finning baby sharks.
Finning occurs worldwide and is most common in high seas fisheries, hundreds of miles out at sea. Oceanic fishing fleets target valuable fish such as tuna, using thousands of baited hooks on miles of long-line, and freezing their catch onboard.
Until relatively recently, this shark 'bycatch' was considered a nuisance, and sharks were cut loose and allowed to swim away. However, as shark fins have become increasingly valuable, sharks are now deliberately targeted by these same fisheries, with captured sharks finned while alive and then, while the shark is often still alive, it is thrown back into the water to suffocate or bleed to death.
High tech, industrial fishing fleets and years of overfishing have done their damage; the oceans are in demise. Many scientists believe commercial fisheries will collapse worldwide by 2048, although regionally, thousands of fisheries have already collapsed.
Sharks cannot compete with our excessive demands – and fishermen (often times with governmental support), desperate to make a living, are going to all corners of the planet to catch the last remaining sharks, even in Marine reserves.
References showing that shark populations are crashing due to demand for shark fin soup.
Perspectives: Social, Economic, and Regulatory Drivers of the Shark Fin Trade, SHELLEY CLARKE E.J. MILNER-GULLAND Imperial College London, Marine Resource Economics, Volume 22, pp. 305–327 - 2007
You can swim but you can't hide: the global status and conservation of oceanic pelagic sharks and rays, Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems (2008), NICHOLAS K. DULVY, JULIA K. BAUM, SHELLEY CLARKE, LEONARD J. V. COMPAGNO, ENRIC CORTES, ANDRES DOMINGO, SONJA FORDHAM, SARAH FOWLER, MALCOLM P. FRANCIS, CLAUDINE GIBSON, JIMMY MARTINEZ, JOHN A. MUSICK, ALEN SOLDO, JOHN D. STEVENS and SARAH VALENTIN.
The Conservation Status of Pelagic Sharks and Rays: Report of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group, Pelagic Shark Red List Workshop – 2007, Compiled and edited by: Merry D. Camhi, Sarah V. Valenti, Sonja V. Fordham, Sarah L. Fowler and Claudine Gibson
The International Trade of Shark Fins: Endangering Shark Populations Worldwide - Oceana CITES Report - March 2010
Shark Finning: unrecorded wastage on a global scale, Sept. 2003 A Report by WildAid and Co-Habit
Review of Fisheries and Processes Impacting Shark Populations of the World, By Terence I. Walker - Marine and Freshwater Resources Institute, PO Box 114, Queenscliff, Victoria, Australia 3225
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