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Off the menu: bid to make shark fin soup illegal

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Proposed legislation making it illegal to sell shark fin soup in restaurants has raised the stakes in the long-running conservation campaign to stamp out the cruel trade.

Shark fin continues to be sold freely throughout Australia despite growing public disapproval, the online naming and shaming of restaurants and tougher fishing laws.

Conservationists say many Chinese restaurants, especially in Sydney and Melbourne, still openly – or discreetly – offer the highly-prized shark fin soup on their menus, mostly using product from overseas.

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Australia imported 18,000 kg of shark fin last year, predominantly from New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia and the Philippines.

While shark finning – the practice of cutting the fins from a live shark and dumping the body – is an offence in all jurisdictions in Australia, it is not illegal to either import, export or sell shark fin.

However, legislation just introduced into the NSW parliament by a Greens MP would make the sale of shark fin an offence under the Food Act, with a maximum fine of $11,000.

“By making the sale and consumption of shark fin in restaurants illegal, it would quickly stop its use and importation,” NSW Greens Environmental spokeswoman Mehreen Faruqi told The New Daily.

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Hundreds of people protest the slaughter of sharks in Costa Rica last month. Photo: Getty

The international shark fin trade is blamed for a dangerous decline in shark populations, with one-third of shark species facing extinction.

An estimated 73 million sharks are killed worldwide every year, with many suffering excruciating deaths when fishermen slice off their fins and throw their bodies back into the ocean where they slowly drown or are eaten alive by other predators.

Conservationists say the “barbaric” industry is primarily driven by high demand for shark fin soup, which can cost more than $100 a bowl in Australia.

In Chinese culture, shark fin soup is regarded as a delicacy and is traditionally served at formal occasions to symbolise wealth, power, prestige and honour.

The gelatinous shark fin is used to give texture to the soup rather than flavour and provides negligible nutritional value.

The fin can also pose a health risk to humans because it often carries high levels of mercury which is poisonous to the nervous system.

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Australia imported 18,000 kg of shark fin last year. Photo: Getty

According to the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS), a single shark fin can fetch up to $1000 in Sydney or Melbourne’s Chinatown but generally the price for a kilogram of dried, skinless shark fin is about $700.

By comparison, shark meat or flake sells for less than $20 a kilogram at fish markets around Australia.

Dr Faruqi has introduced a private member’s bill into the NSW Legislative Council which reflects laws in several state and council jurisdictions in the US and Canada where the sale of shark fins and food containing them is prohibited.

She said shark fin soup was still regularly served in restaurants in NSW with imported shark fin the main source of supply.

“Most of the shark fin used in Australia is imported and it is widely believed most of that comes from shark finning practices which are illegal here,” she said.

“My bill would make it an offence under the food act to prepare any shark fin or shark fin derivative for consumption. It would go a long way to stopping restaurants from serving shark fin soup and other shark fin products and making NSW ‘fin free’.”

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Shark fins laid out to dry near a traditional market in Indonesia. Photo: Getty

Dr Faruqi said the ultimate goal was a nationwide ban on shark fin imports but such was the threat to the survival of the shark that “we cannot wait for any federal action”.

“Sharks are a keystone species in our food chain. This is not just about animal welfare … there are so many other pressures on sharks at the moment – pollution, climate change and overfishing in general – and if we disturb or destroy sharks then we will jeopardise the ecosystem and the whole food web as well.”

Apart from lobbying governments to ban the sale and possession of shark fin, conservation groups in Australia and overseas have made some ground in turning public opinion against the trade.

International businesses have been targeted and several large hotel chains have stopped serving shark fin soup while more than 20 airlines are refusing to transport it.

High-profile celebrities have joined the cause, including soccer star David Beckham, Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio and celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay.

Campaign tactics in Australia have also included a “Wall of Shame” website which has listed dozens of restaurants that continue to serve shark fin soup.

US conservation group WildAid reported last year that the shark fin trade in China had been slashed by half following a campaign involving Chinese celebrities such as movie actor Jackie Chan and basketball star Yao Ming.

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The sale of shark fins is big business in Asia. Photo: Getty

AMCS marine campaigner Tooni Mahto said an anti-corruption drive by the Chinese government was also impacting on shark fin sales in that country. Shark fin had often been a “luxury” menu item at official functions, but was now banned from being served at state events.

“But even with these sorts of campaigns, the demand for shark fin soup by China’s increasingly affluent middle class puts great pressure on a range of shark species, many already endangered,” Ms Mahto told The New Daily.

“In Australia, the most immediate and effective way we could stamp out the trade would be a national ban on both the import and export of shark fin.”

Ms Mahto said that by continuing to allow shark fin to be imported from countries that still allowed live shark finning, Australia was complicit in the inhumane practice.

The Brisbane-based AMCS was continuing to pressure the Federal Government to introduce an outright ban on shark fin, because the high price the product could fetch continued to provide a great incentive for the trade.

“A total ban would quickly serve to protect endangered species of shark both within Australia and overseas, and could reduce incentives for shark fishing across the country,” she said.

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