'Tasteless' shark soup leaves a bad taste in the mouth
PERHAPS one of the most distasteful fishing practices still in operation is that of 'harvesting' fins from sharks destined for shark fin soup.
Large numbers of sharks are being depleted due to the demand for this product in China.
Shark fin soup is considered to be on a level with caviar for luxury and the increasing affluence of Chinese people means that demand for this product has grown exponentially for a number of years.
Many of the sharks actually being fished come from EU waters and after removal of the fin, the low value of the remaining part of the carcass means that they are usually dumped back into the sea still alive but to face certain death.
Removal of the fins means that the shark is unable to move and victims are then either consumed by other predators or suffocate.
Sharks are slow growing and reproducing creatures and are therefore particularly vulnerable to overfishing.
The practice of 'finning' is said to be endangering populations worldwide, to supply the demand for a product which many people describe as 'tasteless'.
It has even been suggested that most of the flavour from shark fin soup is actually from the chicken stock that forms its basis.
Campaigners have been trying to encourage stricter controls on this fishing activity for many years.
There now appears to be a mood in the European Union to restrict finning or even ban it outright.
Since 2004, boats operating from Scotland have only been permitted to catch sharks for finning under licence.
The only boats that had permits were Anglo-Spanish vessels operating from Ayr and Ullapool.
The Scottish government now want to take it a stage further by only granting permits in "exceptional circumstances".
This is a move broadly welcomed, although campaigners still say that this does not go far enough and continue to press for an outright ban.
Whether an outright ban will work or just create a black market and drive up prices remains to be seen.
Without action soon, shark's fin soup will become history due to the catastrophic fall in numbers of sharks.
-------------------------------------
Click here for more Greenwatch.
Where are you? Add your pin to the Herald's international readers' map by clicking here.
Email the Herald: letters@worthingherald.co.uk
Want to read this page in French, German, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Urdu or 48 other languages? click here for Google translate.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Worthing
Sunday 27 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 13 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: West
