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Cali bill wants shark fin ban
Source: Agencies |
May 8, 2011, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A California proposal to outlaw the title ingredient in shark fin soup, a traditional Chinese delicacy, has turned into a recipe for controversy in San Francisco, a city that is nearly one-third Asian and home to the nation's oldest Chinatown.
A bill moving through the state Legislature would ban the sale, distribution and possession of shark fins. State and federal laws prohibit shark finning in US waters but do not address the importation of fins from other countries.
Supporters say shark finning is inhumane and a threat to the ocean ecosystem. They say an estimated 73 million sharks a year are slaughtered, mainly for shark fin soup, which can sell for more than US$80 a bowl and is often served at weddings and banquets.
"The collapse of shark populations because of overfishing is a conservation issue of global concern, and the demand for fins drives overfishing of sharks," said Mike Sutton, director of the Center for the Future of the Oceans at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, located about 185 kilometers south of San Francisco.
Alex Ong, chef at the Pan-Asian restaurant Betelnut in San Francisco's Marina district, said the broth in shark fin soup is what provides most of the flavor, and the fins themselves can be easily substituted by other seafood or creatively disguised starch.
Ong said when he saw video footage of fisherman slicing off sharks' fins and tossing the animals back into the ocean to die, the images hit him "right in the gut" and he vowed to work to stop the practice.
California's proposed ban is awaiting a hearing by the state Assembly. Hawaii has already adopted a ban, and similar legislation is advancing in Oregon and Washington state.
A bill moving through the state Legislature would ban the sale, distribution and possession of shark fins. State and federal laws prohibit shark finning in US waters but do not address the importation of fins from other countries.
Supporters say shark finning is inhumane and a threat to the ocean ecosystem. They say an estimated 73 million sharks a year are slaughtered, mainly for shark fin soup, which can sell for more than US$80 a bowl and is often served at weddings and banquets.
"The collapse of shark populations because of overfishing is a conservation issue of global concern, and the demand for fins drives overfishing of sharks," said Mike Sutton, director of the Center for the Future of the Oceans at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, located about 185 kilometers south of San Francisco.
Alex Ong, chef at the Pan-Asian restaurant Betelnut in San Francisco's Marina district, said the broth in shark fin soup is what provides most of the flavor, and the fins themselves can be easily substituted by other seafood or creatively disguised starch.
Ong said when he saw video footage of fisherman slicing off sharks' fins and tossing the animals back into the ocean to die, the images hit him "right in the gut" and he vowed to work to stop the practice.
California's proposed ban is awaiting a hearing by the state Assembly. Hawaii has already adopted a ban, and similar legislation is advancing in Oregon and Washington state.
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