wild places | wild happenings | wild news
make a difference for our wild places

home | links | search the site
  all articles latest | past | articles by topics | search wildnews
wild news on wildsingapore
  Underwatertimes 10 Nov 06
Chinese Chefs Divided Over Shark Fin Use Amid Reports of Species Decline;
'No Banquet is Complete without Shark Fin'
by Underwatertimes.com News Service

Yahoo News 9 Nov 06
Teeth bared in battle over world shark stocks
 By Ben Blanchard

BEIJING (Reuters) - A group of wildlife experts and industry officials weighed into the increasingly acrimonious battle over shark fishing on Thursday, saying very few species were threatened with extinction as some activists charge.

Hitting back at what they said were misleading claims, they told Reuters that there was no targeted killing of sharks just for their fins -- a Chinese delicacy -- as most sharks are caught mainly for their meat.

"We want to tell the real picture to the world," said Charlie Lim, secretary of the Hong Kong-based Shark Fin and Marine Products Association. "We believe what is true, is true."

Some wildlife groups say that many sharks are specifically targeted for their fins, which are hacked off and the sharks then thrown back into the sea to die a painful death.

Lim disputed this as making no economic sense. "Only taking the fin and leaving the meat -- this is impossible," he said. "You are not going to throw 98 percent of the shark back to the sea just for the 2 percent that is the fin. It's not worth it."

The global campaign to protect sharks has included the use of celebrities to try to persuade people in Asia not to eat shark fin to help save an animal which in some cases they say faces extinction.

Over-fishing threatens 20 percent of the world's 547 shark and ray species with extinction, the World Conservation Union -- also known as IUCN -- said earlier this year.

Another distorted fact, say those on the other side of the argument.

"Sharks are not as endangered as made out by some extreme NGOs," said Choo-hoo Giam, an animals committee member of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna, better known as CITES.

He said only three shark species were on the CITES list of animals whose trade and consumption was in need of monitoring -- the Basking Shark, the Whale Shark and the Great White. And none was on the most threatened list, he said.

"It's mischievous for advocates for shark protection to talk about endangered species of sharks due to over-fishing," added Hank Jenkins, president of Australia's Species Management Specialists.

"Large environmental change is likely to be global warming or habitat destruction. They're the factors that are going to produce biological extinction, not fishing."

The three -- Lim, Giam and Jenkins -- were in Beijing to attend a shark conservation meeting, also attended by groups that dispute their claims about finning and the extinction threat.

"For many of these species the data is quite conclusive. The number of sharks ending up in international trade in fins is far higher than the number that are going into trade as meat," said Sarah Fowler, co-chair of the World Conservation Union's shark specialist group.

"We're seeing serial depletion. In due course we will run out of productive shark stocks," she told Reuters on Wednesday.

"What we need is to get the management in before that happens. It's in everyone's interests to introduce good, sound, collaborative fisheries management. There's no argument about that."

Underwatertimes 10 Nov 06
Chinese Chefs Divided Over Shark Fin Use Amid Reports of Species Decline;
'No Banquet is Complete without Shark Fin'
by Underwatertimes.com News Service

Shanghai, China: A new wildlife conservation report that rising demand for shark fin cuisine is endangering sharks has divided China's chefs, but may fail to convince connoisseurs to abstain from their favorite dish.

Qu Hao, former chef with the three-star Feng Ze Yuan hotel, said the consumption of shark fin would probably decline after a report released in Beijing on Wednesday at the World Conservation Union Species Survival Commission's Shark Specialist Group.

Sarah Fowler, co-chair of the group told the conference that about a third of the 450 shark species were threatened with extinction or were close to being threatened. Fowler warned that if current trends continued, the world's shark population would be depleted in 10 years.

A WildAid report said a major reason for the sharp decrease in shark numbers was the soaring demand for shark fin on the international market, especially in China and southeast Asia.

Qu, the chef, said previous articles reporting that shark fin contained hydrargyrum that might cause male sterility if consumed in large quantities would contribute to its declining popularity.

However, Niu Yunting, a chef at the state-run Wanshouzhuang Hotel and chairman of the Chinese Shark Fin Cooking Research Society, disagreed.

He said traditional dining habits were difficult to change and he foresaw no change in the popularity of shark fin.

Prices for shark fin varied from 1,400 yuan (US$175) to 4,000 yuan per kilogram and the value increased during the preparation and cooking, which could take two to three days, Niu said.

"In Chinese culture, a banquet with expensive shark fin dishes shows how much a hospitable host respects his or her guests," Niu said.

However, he advocated the "rational and moderate" consumption of shark fin.

"Some wealthy people eat shark fin just to show off. It's an attitude that I cannot accept," Niu said.

Li Weilin, 25, a Cantonese shark fin soup connoisseur, said shark fin was part of the traditional southern Chinese cuisine. Shark fin was historically believed to be nutritious, and as time went by, its scarcity had given consumers social status.

"There is an old saying that 'no banquet is complete without a shark fin dish,' which stresses the role of shark fin in Chinese cuisine," Li said, adding that tradition demanded shark fin be served to important guests.

The annual shark fin trade has reached around 10,000 tons and Hong Kong alone imports about 52 percent of the total.

Li Yanliang, deputy general director of the Aquatic Wild Fauna and Flora Administrative Office under the Ministry of Agriculture, said China's fisheries did not specialize in catching sharks.

Shark catches were strictly regulated in accordance with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna, said Li.
links
Related articles on Shark's fins
about the site | email ria
  News articles are reproduced for non-profit educational purposes.
 

website©ria tan 2003 www.wildsingapore.com