comments on shark fin soup from SAM

[Guest guest]

COMMENTS April 2002 - Utusan Konsumer newsletter

 

Shark-fin soup is once again in the limelight with the recent scare of

mercury contamination in this delicacy. As the coveted dish comes under

increasing scrutiny amid fears by environmentalists that sharks are being

pushed toward extinction, the demand for shark fin soup is still growing as

the Chinese population expands and becomes wealthier.

 

Dwindling supplies or not, restaurateurs continue to fulfil their patrons'

appetites. Favoured by the rich and middle aged professionals, the

gourmet's delight is almost indispensable at wedding banquets, family

celebrations and special festivities.

 

Such is the Asian's appetite for luxury foods that despite warning from

environmentalists, people will continue with their old destructive eating

habits - the more sought-after and the more expensive, the least they are

concerned with the environmental and ecological impact of obtaining food and

such cruel practices as finning.

 

As shark species are at even greater risk today, retailers remain seemingly

unaware of their dwindling numbers and continue to sell shark products such

as shark fillet, shark liver oil and shark cartilage pills. Recently cancer

and arthritis patients have taken to ingesting shark cartilage pills

although there is no direct evidence to show that shark cartilage pills cure

or affect cancer or arthritis-infected tissues according to animal tests by

the Mote Marine Laboratory's Center for Shark Research in Sarasota.

 

Shark species such as the dusky, sand-bar, lemon, blacktip, thresher, white,

and the hammerhead are slow to reproduce, have a high natural juvenile

mortality, and may take 15 to 30 years to reach maturity. Their low

reproductive rate increases a species' risk of extinction when the natural

population balance is destroyed by human exploitation. Bays, lagoons, and

estuarine systems are the cradle for millions of marine plants and animals,

including many shark species. Together they create a marvelously complex

system in which each species is dependent on another in a web of

relationships. And like our forests, these coastal areas have been

compromised to death.

 

As the top oceanic predator, sharks are no less important than the top

terrestrial predators we so actively defend.

 

Predators control the populations of their prey species in a beneficial way.

They eliminate diseased and genetically defective individuals, and they

stabilize population fluctuations.

 

In the ocean we are not sure what all the consequences of removing the apex

predators from the food pyramid might be. There is one example though. A

shark fishery in Tasmania collapsed after two years of over-fishing.

Shortly afterwards, the fishery for spiny lobsters also collapsed and

fishermen observed a lot of octopus in the areas. Octopuses are both major

predators of spiny lobster and an important food item for sharks.

 

SAM maintains a keen interest in the conservation of sharks due in large

part to their life history characteristics ¾ slow growth, late maturity,

small number of young - that leave sharks especially vulnerable to

overfishing and slow to recover from depletion. The unlimited demand for

shark products, such as fins, and the near total lack of management of shark

fisheries has led to the collapse of shark populations in many parts of the

world. In most cases, even if fishing stops, it takes decades for the

populations to recover.

 

SAM disapproves highly the cruel and wasteful practice of shark finning.

Cutting off a shark's fin and dumping the mutilated shark into the water

to die a slow and agonising death has proven so terrible that it has been

banned in the U.S. Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and in Caribbean waters. The

stringy tendrils from the dorsal, pectoral and lower tail fins of sharks are

the key items of oriental shark-fin shop. Much make their way through Hong

Kong with import and export of fin worth $141 million from all over the

world.

 

Rising demand for shark fins is a powerful incentive for fishermen worldwide

to step up effort and yield of shark catches, resulting in an expansion of

areas fished.

 

With environmentalists campaigning around the region, consumer attitudes

have started to change. Responding to environmental concerns about the

impact of finning on shark populations, Thai Airways announced the removal

of shark fin soup from its menu. The airline said other dishes would be

served which are equally delicious and pose no threat to the environment.

 

To protect sharks, the shark fin trade must be destroyed. As long as the

demand is there, especially lucrative dollars from traders and restaurateurs

in Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan, the fishermen will continue to go for

sharks.

 

Conservationists, divers, NGOs and media serious in protecting sharks must

step up the campaign against shark fishing while concerned citizens should

boycott all restaurants that promote gourmet shark fin soup.

 

A biologically sound management can entail a detailed understanding of the

life-history patterns of both sharks and their prey, and understanding the

role of coastal and pelagic nursery habitat and feeding areas for predator

and prey species alike.

 

There should be closure of the large coastal shark fisheries until there are

documented signs of individually depleted species recovering to their

population levels.

 

SAM believes that long term conservation ideals, practices, awareness and

education can effectively open the eyes of the offending parties of the

peril facing these magnificent marine predators.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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