 Shark Fins for Sale
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Nov. 21, 2003 — China's growing middle class is fueling the controversial trade in shark fins that is endangering several species and severely damaging the marine ecosystem, environmentalists said Friday.
WildAid investigator Susie Watts said that China was the biggest market for shark fin soup, with millions of extra newly rich Chinese being able to afford the dish, which was once regarded as a luxury, each year.
"That's a major worry as far as we are concerned because it means millions of extra consumers are coming into the market every year," Watts told a press conference to promote an international campaign to end "shark finning."
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Shark finning is the practice of dumping the bodies of sharks back into the ocean after slicing off the high-value fins.
Shark flesh is worth much less than tuna and swordfish, meaning fishermen don't want to waste space on their boat for sharks.
Watts said people eating shark fin soup had increased dramatically in Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand and Japan as their economies boomed in the 1980s and 1990s.
"The increase in those countries has leveled off and it's China now which is going to have the growth," she said.
Singapore Environment Council executive director Howard Shaw said more than 80 percent of some shark species had been wiped out largely because of shark finning and the China factor was now fast-tracking the process.
"With a middle class of 250 million people in China aspiring to eat shark fin soup, we can be pretty sure we are heading for the extinction of a lot of shark species," Shaw said.
A WildAid document said the reported global trade in shark fins increased from 3,011 tons in 1980 to 11,732 tons in 2000. But they believed many more fins were sold, with most of the transactions conducted in cash.
WildAid has been campaigning to stop shark finning for the past four years. In that time awareness and concern has grown in places such as Singapore and Hong Kong, said Watts, with surveys showing more people saying they would eat less shark fin soup.
But she said there were no awareness campaigns in mainland China.
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Name: Blacktip Shark (Carcharhinus limbatus)
Classification: Elasmobranchii (Sharks, Skates and Rays) Location: Atlantic Ocean Habitat: Continental shelf waters, lagoons, coastlines and estuaries. Diet: Mainly bony fish. Size: Up to 8 ft in length. Description: Gray on top; white underneath; black-tipped fins; streamlined, but stocky, body. Cool Fact: They feed by surging through schools of fish while spinning rapidly. Conservation Status: Vulnerable Major Threat: Overfishing, mainly for shark fin soup. What Can I Do?: Visit The Shark Trust and WildAid's Shark Conservation Program for information on how you can help. |
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