Animal Welfare Issues

Biological

How does it impact sharks?

• Sharks are caught and have their fins sliced off and they are thrown back into the ocean to drown, starve to death or eaten by other predators (Spiegel 2001). They may be clubbed and stabbed multiple times while the fins are being removed and thrown back into the ocean or carried back to land in pieces.
• Shark populations are seeing a steady decline, as some shark specialists estimate that 100 million sharks are killed for their fins annually

Values

Are there culture or traditions behind this practice?

• Shark fins are a highly valued food has been a part of Chinese culture for a long time, and been coined the Chinese foodway, other foods include birds nest, bears par and beche-de-mer (Cheung 2011)
• In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) there has been varied use of rare animal parts like rhino horns, tiger bones and seal penises due to their connection with the chinese medicine (Cheung 2011)
• Shark fin hunting has increased dramatically with the economic rise of China and cultural delicacy with ritual meaning has degenerated to a symbol of richness and exotic taste. (Cheung 2003)
• Shark fins used to be eaten only at special occasions like wedding, but now offered at luncheons and business meetings.

Economics

How much money is in shark fin hunting?

• Being regarded as one of the most expensive soups, shark fin hunting is growing in popularity over regular fishing
• One pound of dried shark fin can retail for $300 or more. It is a multi-millon dollar industry.

Is it wasteful?

• Over 95% of shark is not used, the cartilage, meat, skin is not in great demand so they are simply thrown back after their fins are cut off (Spiegel 2001)

Technology

How can technology lessen the suffering of sharks?

• By designing better fishing boats we can potentially reduce bycatch of sharks, reducing shark finning which would occur if sharks are accidentally caught