One reflection of a society's ethics is whether it uses or abuses natural resources, including animal and plant species.
Sharks are critical species on the oceans' ecosystems. Some societies have made a strong effort to protect sharks, for example; others continue to slaughter them primarily for shark fin soup, which has little nutritional value.
When we were in South Africa in 2012, we went cage diving with Great White sharks. Our hosts told us their numbers are declining rapidly. They hadn't seen a baby Great White in two years. People catch them for their jaws, which can sell for as much as $150,000 each.
Other shark species are being decimated for shark fin soup. One of my students sent an article that led to Alex Hofford's blog. He's based in Hong Kong and took photos of shark fins drying on the roof of a building there.
Apparently some of these shark fins came from Brazil, packaged by a company named "Amazon Catfish, Ltd." I've seen videos of similar facilities in Central America as well.
The horror of shark fin soup has been widely documented, but the "delicacy" continues to be served in Asian restaurants around the world (not only in China). There are restaurants in the U.S. that serve shark fin soup. Investigators are using DNA to detect it. Here's one source of information about such restaurants you can check:
http://awionline.org/content/restaurants-currently-offering-shark-fin-soup
Here's a source for such restaurants in other countries: http://www.stopsharkfinning.net/boycott.htm
We usually discuss this as a case in my environmental ethics classes. Most students have never eaten shark fin soup, but I've had a few students from Asia who said they grew up with it but will never eat it again.
So we're making progress, little by little.
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| Great White Shark in South Africa |
When we were in South Africa in 2012, we went cage diving with Great White sharks. Our hosts told us their numbers are declining rapidly. They hadn't seen a baby Great White in two years. People catch them for their jaws, which can sell for as much as $150,000 each.
Other shark species are being decimated for shark fin soup. One of my students sent an article that led to Alex Hofford's blog. He's based in Hong Kong and took photos of shark fins drying on the roof of a building there.
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| Rooftop shark fins - http://alexhofford.com/blog |
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| Close up on shark fins - http://alexhofford.com/blog |
The horror of shark fin soup has been widely documented, but the "delicacy" continues to be served in Asian restaurants around the world (not only in China). There are restaurants in the U.S. that serve shark fin soup. Investigators are using DNA to detect it. Here's one source of information about such restaurants you can check:
http://awionline.org/content/restaurants-currently-offering-shark-fin-soup
Here's a source for such restaurants in other countries: http://www.stopsharkfinning.net/boycott.htm
We usually discuss this as a case in my environmental ethics classes. Most students have never eaten shark fin soup, but I've had a few students from Asia who said they grew up with it but will never eat it again.
So we're making progress, little by little.
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