Shark-Fin Soup: The Uncivilized Food

Some of the most disgusting photos seen on the Internet and elsewhere are depictions of men “harvesting” shark fins. Sharks of numerous species are hauled aboard fishing vessels via baited longlines and the fins are cut off the living animal and retained for the market. The writhing shark is then thrown overboard to die a slow, painful death. Shark meat itself has little market value and is not worth the on-board freezer space or the fuel required in transporting it. The dried fins, on the other hand, are easily transported, take up little space, and command ridiculous prices in predominately East Asian markets.

All the statistics surrounding shark-finning are in staggering proportions. The numbers of sharks killed annually around the world for a bowl of unremarkable soup ranges not in the thousands, tens or even hundreds of thousands, but in the tens and perhaps in scores of millions. Exact numbers are impossible to determine since shark fins take up so little cargo space and can come ashore with little tracking. The United Nations estimates that about 10 million sharks are killed each year for their fins and other products, but conservationists claim that number is far below what is actually taken, given that many nations conducting the shark-fin harvests are U.N. members whose governments financially support the industry. Some studies of the fishery estimate the take at 38 million, with others at 100 million. Remember at 52 million, we are talking about a million sharks a week pulled out of an already stressed ecosystem.

This rate of shark “take” is unsustainable. Many shark species are slow growing and may not reach sexual maturity for twelve to fourteen years. Therefore, many sharks, taken regardless of size, sex, or species, are killed before they have had a chance to go through even one reproductive cycle. Sharks are disappearing from the sea and as top predators it is their job to help maintain a balance in the ecosystem. Time after time, when humans remove predators from the natural equation, such as wolves, bears, cougars, and coyotes, the system goes all to hell. On land, deer, rabbit, squirrel, and other rodent populations soar, tear up the environment, and eliminate all kinds of natural balances. Without top marine predators, other species bloom, affecting environmental threads throughout the world. Instead of deer and rabbits we see spikes in the populations of the large, six-foot long Humboldt squid and bottom-dwelling rays, which in turn disrupt salmon and bay scallop fisheries.

The Pew Environmental Group reports that for all shark products Indonesia, India, Taiwan, Spain, and Mexico are responsible for landing the most sharks. On the civilized end of the spectrum some countries and cities have taken humane actions to limit the brutal shark fin trade.
According to the Humane Society International, Canada is working on federal legislation to prohibit the import of shark fins into the country. Also in Canada, the city of Toronto has banned the sale, possession, and distribution of shark fins or their products within city limits. Across the Atlantic, the European Union, an economic association of twenty-seven nations, has legislation pending requiring all EU fishing vessels, regardless of where in the world they fish, to have all harvested sharks landed with their fins naturally attached to the carcasses.    

How much cruelty goes into a bowl of soup? Watery soup at that, reserved for special occasions such as weddings, New Years, corporate dinners – anywhere opulence is thought appropriate. How opulent? Dried shark fins sell for about $300 a pound, a bowl of the soup for about $100. It is prepared and served not necessarily for its nutritive value or its epicurean worth. It is served as a sign of power and wastefulness. This attitude is more than an attack on shark populations, it reflects on what we condone as a species evolved from other species, with some common ancient relatives of the sharks we slaughter. We should be better than this.

In a sort of passive counter-attack – the revenge of the sharks – it seems that shark fins, because of the bioaccumulation of contaminants in food chains, carry more than their fair share of mercury. As a metal usually deposited in the seas by industrial runoff, mercury is known for its toxicity to nervous systems, so those who choose to frequently treat themselves to shark-fin soup may come to realize that that “tingling” sensation may not be due to the ecstasy of excess, but instead due to numbers of their neurons, axons, synapses, and brain cells dying as they slurp the glorious elixir.