guardian.co.uk,Justin McCurry in Hong Kong, Thursday 10November 2011
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| A fisheries worker carries shark heads in Zhejiang province in China. Shark fin soup has long been considered a delicacy by Chinese people, but that could be changing. Photograph: Chinafotopress/Getty Images |
Chinesecouples who have chosen Friday – 11/11/11 – one of the most auspicious days ofthe year to exchange their wedding vows, could be among the last to mark theoccasion by feasting on shark fin soup, if environmental groups get their way.
As thewedding parties scoop pieces of the slippery, glutinous flesh from bowls ofbroth, they will not just be respecting tradition; they will also be defying agrowing campaign to ban the trade in shark fin that has now spread to its mostlucrative market, Hong Kong.
It is easyto see during a short walk through Sheung Wan, a Hong Kong neighbourhoodspecialising in dried seafood, why the campaign to ban the trade worldwide hasset its sights on the city.
Shark finsfill shop windows, ready to be hydrated and boiled before being added to a richbroth, a gastronomic preserve of wealthy Chinese since the Song Dynasty in the10th century.
Risingprosperity since the 1970s has made the delicacy affordable to the middleclasses, first in Hong Kong and now on the mainland. Eating it is so closelyassociated with new wealth that to say someone is "eating shark fin withrice" is to refer to their prosperity.
Hong Konghandles as much as 80% of the global trade in shark fins, bringing in catchesfrom more than 100 countries, with Spain by far its biggest supplier.
In 2006 ittook delivery of more than 10,000 tonnes worth $276m (£173m), according to theUN food and agricultural organisation. Most is consumed in Hong Kong andTaiwan, but also in mainland provinces such as Guangdong.
Campaignerssay it is next to impossible to verify the fins' provenance, as they are driedand bleached, and often treated with ammonia, before reaching Hong Kong.
"Thecatches are not tracked at all, and there is no species monitoring orlabelling," says Stanley Shea, a campaigner with the marine environment group Bloom Association, which last year conducted the most comprehensivesurvey to date of shark fin consumption in Hong Kong.
"Wedon't even know how much of it is eaten here or ends up in mainlandChina."
Many shark populations have plummeted by 90% in recent decades, according to campaigners,who warn that if over-fishing continues at the current rate, the most commonlytargeted species will be extinct in a few years.
DNAanalysis showed that 40% of shark fin auctioned in Hong Kong comes from 14species, all of which appear on the International Union for the Conservation ofNature's "red list" of endangered species.
After yearsof fierce opposition from traders and retailers, campaigners in Hong Kong saythe local population is finally waking up to the ecological catastrophe.
Severalhotels offer discounts, cheaper room rates and other incentives for couplesthat choose not to serve shark fin at their wedding celebrations.
One onlinecampaign calls on wedding guests to reduce cash gifts by about a third forcouples who select the dish.
Last yearcampaigners persuaded Citibank Hong Kong to withdraw a promotion offering newcredit card holders discount on a shark fin dinner.
On themainland Yao Ming, the Chinese NBA star, has appeared in a well-receivedcampaign to end finning, the practice of removing a shark's highly valued finsand dumping what is left into the sea.
But thereare pockets of resistance, particularly among older people, who still regardeating shark fin as a means of expressing their Chinese identity.
"Atweddings you have different people sitting around the same table," saysShea. "Young people understand the problem and want to do something aboutit, but at some point their parents stop them."
The managerof one Sheung Wan wholesaler, who asked not to be named, said traders werebeginning to feel the impact of the environmental campaign.
"Salesare dropping and I think that is down to the campaign," he said. Themanager's firm sells between three and four tonnes of shark fin a month.
"Thewholesale price has dropped by about 20% over the past two months, althoughthere are always fluctuations so it's too early to tell if this is a lastingtrend."
CharlieLim, a shark fin trader, is receptive to the message on sustainable fishing butaccuses some campaigners of hypocrisy.
"TheChinese tradition of eating shark fin will be maintained, but will increasinglycome from sustainable fisheries," says Lim, a prominent member of HongKong's marine products association.
"Chinesepeople and traditions do make an easy and readily identifiable target forlargely western campaigners.
"Butmany western campaigners who are seriously interested in promoting thesustainable use of sharks should look more closely at their home fisheries andthe 'boneless' fish products that their children may be eating from thesupermarket."
Despite itsearly successes, the campaign has yet to challenge shark fin's place at theheart of Cantonese cuisine.
Bloom's2010 survey revealed that 89% of the territory's 7 million people had eaten thedish at least once in the past year, with more than half saying they did so toobserve tradition. Another poll found that only 5% of couples had opted forshark-free wedding banquets.
But 66%said they were uncomfortable with the idea of eating an endangered species, andmore than three-quarters said they would not mind if it was removed frombanquet menus.
Sheabelieves Hong Kong will be viewed as a pariah as long as it fails to introducemeasures to protect shark populations similar to those introduced elsewhere.
"HongKong has always been a role model for the rest of China, and this issue shouldbe no different," he says.
"Ourmessage is that eating shark fin is unsustainable. At some point, the market isgoing to crash."
