SHARK FIN SOUP

 

 

The ingredient that gives shark fin soup its name actually lends little flavor to the dish. Instead, it is added to improve the soup’s texture—and the perceived status of the consumer. Considered a delicacy in Asia, where it is often served at weddings as a symbol of prosperity, the soup has led to an increased demand for fins, and shark populations have been decimated as a result. After their fins are removed, the still-living sharks are often returned to the water, where what happens to them? More… Discuss

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• Opposition growing in Chinese community to city’s ban on shark fin soup (calgaryherald.com)
• Excuse me waiter, but there’s an endangered species in my bowl of soup! (newswatch.nationalgeographic.com)
• Shark fin bans across Canada praised, challenged (ctvnews.ca)

 

Survivors Hope to Take a Bite out of Shark Fin Soup

One would expect survivors of shark attacks to harbor ill will toward the creatures that maimed them, but one group of survivors is doing its best to save them. As many as 73 million sharks are killed each year for their fins, which are used to make the Chinese delicacy shark fin soup. Samples of the soup taken from US restaurants by shark attack survivors revealed that 81 percent were made using the fins of endangered, vulnerable, or near-threatened sharks. The group hopes that this knowledge will make restaurant patrons think twice before ordering the dish. More… Discuss

Related articles

• Shark attack survivors fighting to ban fin soup (greenerideal.com)
• America’s Shark Fin Soup is Appalling (news.discovery.com)
• Shark-Attack Survivors Band Together to Save Sharks (newsfeed.time.com)
• Map: Shark Attacks in California Since 1851 (laist.com)
• ‘Vulnerable’ shark bits found in soup served in Seattle (seattletimes.nwsource.com)