How to Stop Shark Soup Massacre

"Sharks attacking humans is big news; humans attacking sharks, not so much."- that's sad  truth. This is the theme of the new book, Men and Shark by Paul Hilton and Alex Hofford. New Scientist review here:


"Seeing it in Japan shocked me beyond all belief," he says. "I thought Yemen was bad, but then I walked into this warehouse and saw 75 tonnes of blue shark laid out across the dock at 8:30 in the morning, with workers silently moving among them, cutting off their fins." The tableau is the same every morning, except on Sundays, when the market is closed. Hilton calls it "shark genocide".


"At the rate sharks are declining, they could all be wiped out in 10 to 15 years," claims Hofford. Tiger, bull and dusky sharks are particularly at risk, with populations down to just 5 per cent of 1970s levels. The reason for this decline? A lust for shark-fin soup.

There is a good news though...

Recent high-profile Facebook campaigns have raised awareness of the cruelty of the practice, and some have attempted to shame couples into taking shark fin soup off their wedding menu. "The culture of eating shark fins is slowly eroding," says Hofford. "Traders are beginning to feel the heat."


But if the culture of consuming shark fins is eroding, it is not eroding fast enough. Only three shark species are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species: basking sharks, great whites and whale sharks. Hawaii stands alone as the only state in the world that has banned the trading and possession of shark fins. California is considering following suit, but it is China and Japan that must lead the way to make a substantial difference. Legislation and international treaties can only go so far, however, says Hilton: "It's ultimately up to the consumers and the choices they make."

I got to watch few great movies in-flight on my trip to India. Oceans was one of them. I was completely enthralled until the Shark fin chopping scene when I lost my appetite and wanted to puke. Humans are weird creatures... one never can predict what they are capable of....