Shark Fin Ban Proposed In California

LOS ANGELES — Less than one week after Chinese New Year, California legislators have introduced a bill to ban the possession, sale and distribution of shark fins used in a traditional soup.

If successful, the proposed ban announced Monday would follow a similar measure enacted in Hawaii last year. Oregon and Washington are also considering similar legislation.

Shark fins are used to create a luxury Chinese soup that can sell for as much as $40 a bowl.

Supporters of the ban say shark finning is a cruel practice in which fishermen slice the shark's fin off while the animal is still alive and then throw the shark back in the sea to die.

Democratic Assemblyman Paul Fong, of Cupertino, introduced the legislation with fellow Democrat Jared Huffman, of San Rafael.

Comments

[pxp8047]

01:50 AM on 03/03/2011

Any animal can't be raised shall be banned from the memu by all of the government in the world.

[Christopher Hull]

06:02 PM on 02/20/2011

This is way past time. I had a "fake sharks fin" soup in a vegetarian restaurant in Thailand that was almost impossible to tell from the real thing. Sharks fin has no taste and is all about texture. That texture can easily be recreated.

[Kambriel2]

10:49 PM on 02/18/2011

This is excellent news!! So many sharks are killed in this brutal way. Seeing the bodies of the sharks slip back into the water, dorsal, side and tail fins gone, to bleed out and drown, it was awful. It reminded me so much of the slaughter of bison by buffalo hunters, who would skin the bison, cut out the tongue (which was considered a delicacy) and leave the rest of the body to rot on the prairie. Bodies rotting, sometimes in the thousands. As a result, the American bison was almost extinct. The sharks suffer the same risk.

No, we can't assume that other countries will be influenced by our decision. All the same we have a responsibility to the ecosystems of our own waters, which need the sharks.

Remember, when countries first started to ban whaling, the proverbial 'they' said it could never be stopped across the globe...and now even Japan has suspended it.

[caroline gray]

03:27 AM on 02/17/2011

FYI shark fin soup lovers: The soup is actually just flavoured by beef and chicken broth. Cartilage is actually tasteless.

[Hypnos Rises]

05:39 PM on 02/17/2011

:)

[daveythegimp]

08:39 PM on 02/16/2011

Ban it.

[Andrew Marshall]

08:02 PM on 02/16/2011

I dont see why this is much different than any other over fished species. However.. considering this is a dish mainly consumed in China.. banning it here is pretty insignificant. Same for trying to ban yellow fin tuna.. or eel.. If these things arent banned in asia.. the best we can do, is to order these delicious fish as long as we can still enjoy them. I am not saying that I relish their going extinct, or the practice of "finning" I am just saying that your outrage cant reach out over the pacific and change anything.

[caroline gray]

03:25 AM on 02/17/2011

Can we at least keep the sharks in our local oceans from being extinct? I mean come on. And who says you can't change anything. Shark conservationists are reaching out to Guam already, and working on many other places and doing a great job and looks like they're winning. Have a little faith mate!

[BabyBear666]

03:48 PM on 02/24/2011

"your outrage cant reach out over the pacific and change anything." Wanna bet?

[genrel1248]

07:32 PM on 02/16/2011

Darn! No more peanut butter and shark fin sammiches, I guess!

[mcamp52]

12:31 PM on 02/16/2011

I gagged my way through a serving of shark fin soup in order to not insult my host, who was proud to have ordered it for the table. It's gelatinous and gross. This is one dish and tradition the world can do without, regardless of culture. Let the sharks keep their fins.

[INDIVIDUALTERRY]

11:36 AM on 02/16/2011

Ban shark fins ?..............don't they need them to swim proper ?

[DevRock]

11:12 AM on 02/16/2011

GOOD! This should have been done years ago. It's one of the most disgusting practices going on in the world. I'm sure the Chinese population in CA will cry foul, but get over it. This needs to stop now.

[AgingLady]

10:38 AM on 02/16/2011

Pleeeese pass this. Yes. Do it.

[William Miles Floyd]

10:13 AM on 02/16/2011

Sharks play an important role in the ocean, and they need to ban this ridiculous practice.

[Marcilliane M Basso]

07:58 AM on 02/16/2011

Finally, a good ban on something, The sharks are still alive when they cut the fins off and throw them back into the water to drown. You do something like this to serial child molesters, not sharks, not for a cup of effing soup. I hope this goes threw ASAP!!!

[AaronWP]

06:44 AM on 02/16/2011

By throwing the carcass back to sea I think they're minimizing waste. The entire shark isn't palatable but it will feed scavengers in the sea. I'd rather they toss the carcass out to sea than haul it back to shore where it will be wasted. I'd rather the shark was dead first too.

Shark fin soup is delicious and I'd eat it to celebrate the New Year even if I have to cruelly fin the sharks myself.

[caroline gray]

03:26 AM on 02/17/2011

The soup is actually just flavoured by beef and chicken broth. Cartilage is actually tasteless.

[Allen Collins]

05:29 AM on 02/19/2011

Ecosystems don't work that way. So many sharks are killed that it alters top predators and the food web gets altered. Research shows that top predators make ecosystems more diverse and healthy (i.e., more other food for us to eat if you need a human connection).

[butchcliff]

05:48 AM on 02/16/2011

Should be banned World- Wide. A terrible thing to do.