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.

Shark Savers launches new Shark Fin Soup campaign

Shark Savers have launched a new shark fin soup campaign which includes the video below, apparently it is also available in Cantonese but I have not been able to find it.  The video has a good message and is the first installment of what is to come...


As per Shark Savers: "We believe the most effective way to reduce demand for shark fin soup is to educate consumers. Research has shown that when consumers learn more about shark fin soup, a majority of them will reject it."


For the complete campaign go here.


This is a great initiative, and we hope that it will continue to have a positive reaction among people that are exposed to it.


On a separate note, it would have been nice if some of the Shark Savers' board of directors would have been more supportive of the South Africa baiting debate.


"Success is the sum of small efforts..." - Robert Collier


 

R & G Lounge Sells Shark Fin Soup

My wife is in San Francisco and she sent me a photo of a menu - already had a hunch of what it would have - shark fin soup.  The name of this establishment is R & B Lounge located in Chinatown, San Francisco.  While it is not surprising to find restaurants serving shark fin soup in the US, I must say I was surprised that it was Michelin recommended - in fact, this is what they said:



San Francisco Bay Area & Wine Country 2007 Restaurants & Hotels 
This well-run, classically Chinese place on the edge of Chinatown (within two blocks of 
the Transamerica Pyramid) is popular with business types at lunch. At dinner, groups and 
families add to the mix in the boisterous, low ceiling downstairs dining room with its wall 
if aquarium tanks. If you prefer a quieter dining atmosphere, the airy and refined space 
upstairs better accommodates private conversations. 

Signature dishes are illustrated on the menu to unravel any mystery concerning the 
Cantonese cuisine. Spend some time leafing through the wide selection before you 
narrow your choices. You won’t go wrong with a house specialty like the fresh-from-thetank salt-and-pepper crab, of chef’s specials such as stir-fried minced seafood in lettuce cups, shark fin soup, and Peking Duck


What's the point...Michelin is the same company that states on its website:


"For over 110 years, Michelin has been driven by a set of core values centered on respect. These values are: 

Respect for people

Respect for customers

Respect for shareholders

Respect for the environment (REALLY???)

Respect for facts
Our Community Relations programs illustrate how we apply these values on a daily basis."

You can email the restaurant at info@rnglounge.com

The Good and the Bad...

The Good

The Bad

So I am in Beijing and thought I was going to be able to avoid the shark-finning issue...I almost did.

At first I was pleasantly surprised as I came across a large billboard of Yao Ming and a shark - said that if you stop buying, you stop the killing.

Ironically this was on the way to the restaurant I was going to eat some Peking duck at. Flipping through the menu I came across, what else, some shark fin soup... I was thinking about leaving, but honestly did not think I was going to find a typical Chinese establishment that does not serve fins.

Regardless, I applaud the Save Our Seas Foundation efforts and do think there is hope...maybe it is just wishful thinking...

I wonder why Sharkwater has not been shown in China yet -

Encouraging

I came across this article about a Hong Kong hospital that has banned shark fin soup. They now join both HK Disneyland and the University of HK, both have dropped shark fin soup. Seems like these days any initiative is good news, no matter how small. We are still waiting on Alibaba.com to stop the facilitation of shark fin trading on their platform.

Shark Fin Soup in Vegas

My friend just called me from the Atlanta airport on his way back from CES in Las Vegas. He told me the other night he went to the Jasmine restaurant in the Bellagio, and to his surprise he found: "Braised Superior Shark's Fin-2oz.Silver sprouts & Jin Wah Ham." It is even on the restaurants website, click here - fight is not only in Asia...