For centuries, shark fin soup has been considered a delicacy in the east, coveted for its social flare. The spike in demand for shark fin soup has turned shark finning into a lucrative business, leaving shark populations in danger. Finning is a cruel and wasteful practice that is running shark populations into the ground and imbalancing our ocean ecosystems. In order to reduce the demand for shark fins, consumers should reject shark fin soup in favor of shark-friendly alternatives that adequately fill the cultural role of shark fin soup. Shark fin soup is a popular dish in many east Asian countries, namely China and Hong Kong. It is an expensive dish, sometimes priced at over $100 USD a bowl. Historically, shark fin soup was thought to have
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They hold no real nutritional value, either. In fact, shark fins are prone to holding over the safe amount of mercury. The dish is purely symbolic. Yet, as China has become more economically prosperous in the past 30 years, the demand for shark fin soup has exploded. More people can afford to serve it. In order to meet these growing demands, millions of sharks are pulled from the ocean each year and finned. Shark finning is vastly different from other means of catching and utilizing animals for food. Their fins are considered their only “useful” part. Nearly 99% of the shark's body is wasted in finning. Sharks are hauled onto the deck of the ship alive, where a fisherman takes a knife and saws off each fin. Then, the shark's body is tossed back into the water in order to conserve space on the boat. It then sinks to the bottom, where it dies of either starvation, blood loss, or suffocation. Sometimes they are …show more content…
There is one viable solution available. As a statement against shark cruelty, some Chinese couples have instead chosen to serve birds nest soup to their guests. Birds nest soup is exactly what it sounds like: a birds nest, cooked with broth, vegetables, and usually chicken. It is just as expensive and upper class as shark fin soup. In fact, it has often been referred to as “the caviar of the East”. Birds nest soup does far less harm to animal populations and the environment. Nests are only harvested after the swiftlets are old enough to live on their own. No eggs are collected or damaged in the process. The dish has all the status, flair, and shock value associated with shark fin soup, just without the environmentally destructive
They hold no real nutritional value, either. In fact, shark fins are prone to holding over the safe amount of mercury. The dish is purely symbolic. Yet, as China has become more economically prosperous in the past 30 years, the demand for shark fin soup has exploded. More people can afford to serve it. In order to meet these growing demands, millions of sharks are pulled from the ocean each year and finned. Shark finning is vastly different from other means of catching and utilizing animals for food. Their fins are considered their only “useful” part. Nearly 99% of the shark's body is wasted in finning. Sharks are hauled onto the deck of the ship alive, where a fisherman takes a knife and saws off each fin. Then, the shark's body is tossed back into the water in order to conserve space on the boat. It then sinks to the bottom, where it dies of either starvation, blood loss, or suffocation. Sometimes they are …show more content…
There is one viable solution available. As a statement against shark cruelty, some Chinese couples have instead chosen to serve birds nest soup to their guests. Birds nest soup is exactly what it sounds like: a birds nest, cooked with broth, vegetables, and usually chicken. It is just as expensive and upper class as shark fin soup. In fact, it has often been referred to as “the caviar of the East”. Birds nest soup does far less harm to animal populations and the environment. Nests are only harvested after the swiftlets are old enough to live on their own. No eggs are collected or damaged in the process. The dish has all the status, flair, and shock value associated with shark fin soup, just without the environmentally destructive