WSJ: Yao Ming Joins Shark-Fin Foes
blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2011/09/22/yao-ming-richard-branson-join-shark-fin-opposition/?mod=WSJBlog&mod=chinablog#
A long-treasured culinary status symbol in China has come under renewed attack from governments and celebrities, in the latest effort to curb the trade and consumption of shark fin.
On Thursday, recently retired NBA star Yao Ming joined British billionaire Richard Branson in Shanghai to make an appeal against the fin trade to 30 of China’s richest businesspeople, the Associated Press said.
Across the Pacific, California earlier this month passed a bill that effectively prohibits the sale, trade and possession of shark fins in the state. Similar laws are already in place in Hawaii, Washington, and Oregon.
The high-profile activism is aimed at an issue that animal-rights activists and environmentalists have been fighting for years. The process of collecting the fins involves cutting off the appendages, leaving the shark to die. About 95% of shark fins are consumed in China, where consumers’ rising affluence has spurred demand for shark fin soup-a banquet staple that can cost around $80 a bowl-according to WildAid, a conservation group that sponsored the event in Shanghai Thursday.
Conservation groups and shark-fin opponents blame the dish for overfishing, which has depleted shark populations. Compounding the problem, they say, sharks tend to be long-living, reach reproductive age late, and have only a few offspring.
The effort appears to be gaining ground in Hong Kong, where the bulk of the global fin trade is centered, according to marine conservation group Bloom. In a survey earlier this year of about 1,000 people, Bloom found that 78% of Hong Kongers said they found it “acceptable” to leave shark fin soup off the menu at a wedding banquet. Most respondents said the frequency of their consumption of shark fin soup hadn’t changed, but 35% said it had decreased at least a little bit over the past five years, primarily because of “environmental concerns.”
Perhaps another reason for the decline is the soup itself, which is often described as bland, at least for Western palates.
-Allison Morrow
A long-treasured culinary status symbol in China has come under renewed attack from governments and celebrities, in the latest effort to curb the trade and consumption of shark fin.
On Thursday, recently retired NBA star Yao Ming joined British billionaire Richard Branson in Shanghai to make an appeal against the fin trade to 30 of China’s richest businesspeople, the Associated Press said.
Across the Pacific, California earlier this month passed a bill that effectively prohibits the sale, trade and possession of shark fins in the state. Similar laws are already in place in Hawaii, Washington, and Oregon.
The high-profile activism is aimed at an issue that animal-rights activists and environmentalists have been fighting for years. The process of collecting the fins involves cutting off the appendages, leaving the shark to die. About 95% of shark fins are consumed in China, where consumers’ rising affluence has spurred demand for shark fin soup-a banquet staple that can cost around $80 a bowl-according to WildAid, a conservation group that sponsored the event in Shanghai Thursday.
Conservation groups and shark-fin opponents blame the dish for overfishing, which has depleted shark populations. Compounding the problem, they say, sharks tend to be long-living, reach reproductive age late, and have only a few offspring.
The effort appears to be gaining ground in Hong Kong, where the bulk of the global fin trade is centered, according to marine conservation group Bloom. In a survey earlier this year of about 1,000 people, Bloom found that 78% of Hong Kongers said they found it “acceptable” to leave shark fin soup off the menu at a wedding banquet. Most respondents said the frequency of their consumption of shark fin soup hadn’t changed, but 35% said it had decreased at least a little bit over the past five years, primarily because of “environmental concerns.”
Perhaps another reason for the decline is the soup itself, which is often described as bland, at least for Western palates.
-Allison Morrow