Shark fin soup at Disneyland HK

[Mrs.Prages]

Well, I am Chinese-American and have lived both in Asia and the US. Both areas have some serious issues to work on so I am not touting that one area is better than another. Shark Finning is not about the US being against Asia, it is about PEOPLE destroying and maiming a creature for an outdated foolhardy adventure.

Flame Away, I can take it.

 

[Quero]

<snip>
Would you be appeased if they served farm-raised shark, and sent the rest of the meat to a culture that would enjoy blackened shark steaks?

Yep. Absolutely. :sharks:

 

[Mrs.Prages]

Still the issue with farm raising them is the actual practice of finning them.

No one - that I know if - goes out on the range and cuts the leg off of a steer and then walks off and leaves the steer to fend for itself.

I live in pretty big cattle country, so I have seen my fair share of the practices. Now that is not to say that there aren't problems with how that business is run, but at least the animal is put down.

 

[H2Andy]

so am i correct in thinking that the problem with shark fin soup is how the
shark fins are harvested?

can someone provide some links with info re/ this?

 

[CD_in_Chitown]

DocV did in the first post Andy

 

[H2Andy]

i was thinking something a little less dramatic, with more figures in it

 

[_Bella_]

read any of the following threads

 

[H2Andy]

thank you, i found this one particulalry helpful:

http://www.sportextreme.com/phdiar151/

does anyone know what percentage of sharks are harvested solely for their fins?

also... does anyone know what percentage of sharks are finned and then thrown
back and left to die?

 

[CD_in_Chitown]

thank you, i found this one particulalry helpful:

http://www.sportextreme.com/phdiar151/

does anyone know what percentage of sharks are harvested solely for their fins?

also... does anyone know what percentage of sharks are finned and then thrown
back and left to die?

For more on the state of the pacific wander through the resources of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, the council that, according to this article was studying the issue in '98.

Now according to their Strategic Plan for the Pacific there is not an issue with the overfishing of sharks...They do protect whales and dolphins though (Cuz their cuter, I'm sure)

I'm certainly convinced that the slaughter of sharks to harvest a dorsal fin is objectionable. I'm more than a little disturbed at the thought of injured sharks being dumped into the ocean and left to die. But in the big picture there are worse things being dumped into the oceans that are higher on my list of priorities.

That being said if I were so convinced that this practice must be stopped I wonder if I wouldn't direct my energies somewhere besides Disney HK, like the governments responsible for the areas of the ocean where the practice is taking place,...

"Hawaii seems to be `Fin Central,' " said Howard Deese, a marine programs specialist with the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. "In this economy, everything helps." The leftovers from this industry are heating up federal discussions over finning. What the arriving boats leave behind in the waters off Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands...

 

[Henry]

so am i correct in thinking that the problem with shark fin soup is how the
shark fins are harvested?

can someone provide some links with info re/ this?

This may have been answered already but the finning is done while the shark is still alive and only the fin is retained while the entire body is discarded off the ship. Out of the approximately 400 species of sharks that are around, 185 of them are near extinction. As many of you know, there are no known natural predators of sharks. The only reason they are harvested is for their fins. So to answer one of the questions, 100% of the sharks harvested are finned and 100% of the bodies are discarded.

The latest of many documention on this practice can be seen on the Discovery Channel's episode on diving at Kokos Island (the shark episode).

I suppose by the sound of several posters in this thread, it doesn't seem very important to you. So maybe you could just not respond and not question why people would like to save the sharks. We all try to do our own bit. Just like some of you might be really focused on issues that are closer to your heart that may not matter so much to others.

Bottom line is, if you can support the cause. You can email Disney @ TWDC.CorpCommunications@disney.com. This is there generic email and propbably does not go very far. If anyone has a way of getting either Andy Bird, President, Walt Disney International or Michael D. Eisner, Chief Executive Officer, that would be great.

Thanks and please don't flame. It is not productive.
Henry