Yao Ming says “NO” to Shark Fin Soup.
Article courtesy of Wildaid & their shark conservation program. To see more please visit Wildaid.org.
Why say no to shark fin soup?
Shark fin soup is a key reason why one-third of the world’s sharks are now threatened with extinction. Up to 73 million sharks per year are slaughtered to make shark fin soup, a vastly popular Asian delicacy. Captured at sea and hauled on deck, the sharks are often still alive while their fins are hacked off. Because shark meat is not considered as valuable as shark fin, the maimed animals are tossed overboard to drown or bleed to death. The process is called shark finning: a recipe for cruelty and waste.
Traditionally served at Chinese New Year’s celebrations, shark fin soup can fetch up to $100 a bowl. That’s a high price to pay for a meal harmful to your health. Sharks consume marine trash polluted with heavy metal chemicals, and shark fin analyses have shown extremely high concentrations of mercury. Poisonous to humans, mercury can cause fetal damage and infertility.
California Shark Fin Ban:
With California’s Asian American population standing at 55% of the entire nation’s, assembly members Paul Fong and Jared Huffman have introduced an historic bill to prohibit the sale of shark fins in California – one of the largest sources of demand for shark fins outside Asia.
Read our full news release here
How you can help:
SIGN OUR GLOBAL PLEDGE FOR SHARKS
Our Shark Conservaton Program
WildAid’s Shark Conservation Program seeks to reduce the threats to sharks caused by over-fishing and over-consumption of shark products and by wasteful practices such as finning and needless bycatch. We also aim to improve data-collection and research, to advocate protection for individual species under international agreements and conventions and to support Marine Reserves and other key areas where sharks are protected.
Photo © Miles O’Sullivan
To view more of his work, please check out his website.
