While perusing the numerous posts that sprouted from our post I saw a well made video Yao Ming stars in to deter people from consuming shark fin soup. It is in English, but I am sure (and hope) there is a Chinese version as well that is broadcast in China. I personally think it is well made but could use more of a shock factor.
Take a look. If shark fin soup was an integral part of your ‘food culture’ would this deter you from eating it?
Anti-shark fin soup billboards in China are helping educate the public about the harm shark fin soup is causing our oceans. Featuring Yao Ming, the ads can be bought by anyone for $100 and will appear for 1 year at a bus stop and other high traffic areas. The billboards have been around since last year, but their effectiveness are finally beginning to take shape and statistics show that 19% of the people in Beijing surveyed remembered seeing the billboards and 82% of those that say it said they would stop or reduce their consumption of shark fin soup.
Growing up in Asia I understand the importance of educating the Chinese public about the dangers of shark finning, rather than simply lashing out at them as cruel or ruthless for a practice that is obviously wasteful and ruthless. Many Chinese don’t know the dangers that shark finning poses. Shark fin soup is embedded in their culture and it is only natural for them to want and enjoy shark fin soup. It is so important for leaders and celebrities in China to stand up against shark fin soup and educate their people about the damage the shark fin industry is causing to our oceans.
Many of us are familiar with the Whale Shark – the media darling of peaceful, large sharks. However, the Whale Shark doesn’t really look like a shark, it looks more like its name infers, a whale. Well today I wanted to feature a more ’shark-looking’, yet still peaceful, shark – the Basking Shark.
I am fortunate enough to have seen Basking Sharks in the wild off of Cape Cod, MA. Due to their surface-inclined feeding behavior, their large dorsal fin often protrude from the surface of the water in a stereotypical fashion. When I first saw this I was astounded by the sheer size of the fin, and not knowing it was a basking shark, the sight of the fin set shivers and excitement shooting through my body. I soon found out it was a Basking Shark, a peaceful, tooth-less species of shark that eats via filter feeding.
Unfortunately, this graceful species of shark cannot escape man’s greedy desire for her, and they are regularly sacrificed for their enormous, and valuable, fins. As a result, the Basking Shark is now listed as a species that is “globally vulnerable to extinction”.
I hope I don’t have to look back on my encounter with this species of sharks as a once in a lifetime opportunity.
A few posts ago I asked the question of “Why Shark’s Fin?” When it comes to shark fin soup, the consumer is looking for a few main things:
Status – the soup is expensive and usually only eaten by those who are wealthy or on special occasions
Look – the broth should be a translucent yellow or brown and the fin should appear white in shredded “noodles”
Smell – since the shark fin has no taste, the soup smells only of the broth that the fin is in
Taste – the fin has no taste but does absorb the flavor of the broth; usually of chicken, pork, or mushroom
Texture – the cartalige of the fin breaks into noodle like strands which have a texture that is specific to shark fin
So what if you could recreate these five characteristics of shark fin soup without having to slaughter another shark – EVER. Well it CAN be done and it IS being done.
Check out the pictures below and see if you can figure out which one is real and which one is “imitation shark fin soup”. I’ll bet you can’t tell.
As for the smell, taste and texture, you would have no idea if it was your first time trying it. Even people who have had it before, like CNN reporter Kristie Lu Stout, have a hard time telling the difference!
So really it comes down to the status. People just aren’t satisfied with something that looks, tastes, and feels exactly the same as the real thing. For them, it has to involve the death of a beautiful shark.
So I just finished watching Rob Stewart’s movie Sharkwater. The film is really powerful and shows the first hand accounts of Rob’s stint on the Sea Shepherd and his travels to the Galapagos and Costa Rico. Rob is one man who truly LOVES sharks and it really come out in the four years that he spent [...]
Earlier this week Maryline wrote a post on shark cartilage as a supplement in the treatment of cancer. Well, while browsing the internet today I cam across a great video that explores this myth in a little more detail. The video comes from Shark Task Force, and if you haven’t checked out their website, check [...]
Living in Philadelphia I have enjoyed the numerous food choices, especially from the different cultures that the city has to offer. One of my favorites has always been the authentic Chinese cuisine of Chinatown. Located a few blocks east of Center City, Chinatown is full of grocery stores, hotels, saloons, shopping, and restaurants all of which [...]
Below is a special guest post by an intern at Sand Shack. In this article, AJ Guzman explores the issues surrounding shark finning.
73 million+ sharks are killed annually.
That’s the equivalent to over 220 million bowls of shark fin soup being served in restaurants all over the world. Granted, this may seem insignificant to [...]
Hold on to your lunch, people, cause this story is not a pretty one. It appears that shark cartilage is now the new “fix-it” when it comes to health. People really believe that the cartilage of sharks can cure anything from arthritis to cancer. Yes, cancer. Studies have shown that shark cartilage does not produce [...]
As I watched a few video’s over at www.stopsharkfinning.net yesterday, I started thinking. Why sharks? Who chose the shark’s fin as the essential ingredient of a dish which translates literally to “fish wing soup” in Chinese. It just doesn’t make any sense at all. The shark’s fins do not even have a taste to them, [...]
