Hong Kong is a big consumer of shark fin soup, as increasingly is China. Unfortunately it is a delicacy that is very popular at wedding banquets. Even ignoring the conservation aspect, I think shark fin soup is highly over-rated anyway, as the shark fin doesn’t really taste of anything and so the soup is a bit like very expensive chicken broth. But it is so widely served at wedding banquets that demand is leading to serious over-fishing. So if you’re considering getting married – Live in Sin and Save a Fin!
Today’s SCMP is reporting that unregulated fishing for shark fins is threatening the existence of 11 kinds of ocean sharks. This finding comes from a study of 21 species of sharks and rays which was carried out by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The pelagic sharks that are specifically mentioned in the study include 3 types of Thresher as well as silky sharks and short-fin mako. Sharks and rays are particularly affected as they take a long time to reach sexual maturity and don’t have many offspring. I was diving with Thresher sharks in Malapascua 2 weeks ago, and they are beautiful creatures. Very graceful with their long tails, but with a much stockier body than I had been expecting.
“The traditional view of oceanic sharks and rays as fast and powerful too often leads to a misperception that they are resilient to fishing pressure,” Sonja Fordham, report co-author and deputy head of the IUCN’s shark specialist group, said.
If you’re an SCMP subscriber you can read their article here. If not, well the BBC has a similar report.
