The Economist - Shark Fin Soup

It is always great when reputable media cover shark finning.  Today The Economist published an article about the Chinese going green and doing away with traditional habits.  


"But if disapproval of the consumption of shark’s fin encourages the Chinese to see it as luo hou (backward), one of the most dreaded of all Chinese epithets, they might want to renounce the stuff anyway.


This has already happened with spitting in the streets, which many Chinese now regard as a backward habit. Eating dogs, too, is increasingly viewed as barbaric (a 600-year old dog-eating festival in eastern China was cancelled in September after public uproar). If the new Chinese elite can be persuaded that deliberately eating endangered species ill befits their aspirations to cosmopolitanism, there might be some hope for the sharks."


Be sure to read the complete article here

WildAid has recently launched a campaign to get people to stop eating shark fin soup.

Jaws will never die

Unlike sharks, the monster Jaws seems to be doing quiet well. He (or she) recently made the cover of The Economist. Just when you thought it was safe to get back to reading, swimming, or enjoying the office - I mean ocean, we are reminded of the "evil" that lurks underwater and that every so often emerges to terrorize the poor defenseless humans.

It is amazing how one book, movie, music theme, and cover image have forever scared several generations and given sharks a devastating reputation. More amazing is that we are continually exposed to it - case an point The Economist - Jaws never goes away. And when people see these images they are desensitized to the plight of the sharks.

Nothing against the magazine, I am subscribed and enjoy reading it. They have even reported on shark finning, although I think they could have covered it more in depth.