Shark Fin Soup Thread

[DragonQuest]

Just had my first bowl yesterday at the grand diamond hotel for 500 baht. It is really good but i hear stories about mercury poison now but the chinese peolpe love it, there has been no deaths though just speculation on its benefits to the human body, like soft skin and only the high class royal elite eat it.

[Nawtilus]

Only high class eat it ??

Anyway, apart from your silly statement, do you really think cutting the fin off of a fish while it is living and throwing it back into the ocean is the way to dine ??

[snoophound]

Only the high class eat it sure its only them who can afford it.

Its a chinese thing although my lady loves it

Cost me 45 aud for a bowl at the sydney casino.

Tasted like dishwater to me.

Only high class eat it ??

Anyway, apart from your silly statement, do you really think cutting the fin off of a fish while it is living and throwing it back into the ocean is the way to dine ??

[Jamie]

Never had shark fin, but shark is good. I prefer swordfish. Either way go lightly on eating either. They are loaded with mercury. I learned my lesson.

[Nawtilus]

Think you got ripped off at the sydney casino then.

Maybe it was special sharks fin, albino or something.

[steve w]

sharks fin soup is an abomination and should be banned worldwide.

this is because the market for it causes 1,000,000 sharks a year to be caught in long lines or tangle nets where their fins are hacked off. in the main the rest of the shark is then thrown back into the sea to sink to the bottom and die.

maybe action would be taken if it was cuddly dolphin fin soup.think of the uproar that would cause.

[taxexile]

i have had this dish a few times and quite like it .

but i never knew that shark meat was loaded with mercury , how come shark has more mercury than other fish?

why is the rest of the shark thrown back after the fin is cut off , wouldnt it make more sense after catching a shark and going to the trouble and danger of de-finning it to use the whole shark , i.e. the meat as well as the fin.

[Francis Maube]

I guess you are not a diver. Sharks are some of the most magnificent creatures in the sea and disappearing real fast. Shark butchering should not be encouraged by eating Fin soup, which are by the way overpriced compare to the actual cost.

[taxexile]

no i'm not a diver.

many species of fish are disappearing due to overfishing , and if de-finned shark are thrown back to suffer and die then that is a terrible thing.

but i have to disagree with the saving of a species purely because humans perceive them to be magnificent or cuddly.

[steve w]

so fair play then you wish to promote the eating of dolphins,pandas,lickle baby seals,kittens and puppies ,just to be fair to the ugly old cows,goats and sharks!

[redrus]

I know loads of Leeds fans that are cuddly and I don't think they should be saved either.

Can you imagine cutting off a Panda's or Orang-Utan arms, then throwing it back in to the Jungle. Excuse my language but, that is <deleted>**in <deleted>**ed up....!

FOR SOUP.....?????

redrus

[taxexile]

in an ideal world we would all be vegetarians , ( until someone came along beseeching us to feel sorry for carrots ).

but most of us do eat meat and consider most animals to be fair game , just as most animals would consider us to be fair game if they got the chance .

some species are dying out due to over consumption by humans , and i suppose those species should be protected.... ( so that we can start eating them again ? ) , but why should the cuddly ones be any more special than the ugly ones ?

[beammeup]

I read somewere that there is as much nutritian in a shark fin as there is in your finger nails. If you have ever witnessed the grace and beauty of a whale shark in motion you would probably consider it an abomination to hack off its fin to make soup out of it. As long as you keep eating it they will keep doing it!

[steve w]

this was the point i was trying to make, it should be stopped.just because it is a big scary shark doesn't mean we should not give the same right to protection from extinction as the higher mammals and apes etc.

[taxexile]

but all fish have a grace and beauty as they move through the water , what is so special about a shark that puts it above a red snapper , perch or squid in the pecking order on restaurant menus.

[redrus]

in an ideal world we would all be vegetarians , ( until someone came along beseeching us to feel sorry for carrots ).

but most of us do eat meat and consider most animals to be fair game , just as most animals would consider us to be fair game if they got the chance .

some species are dying out due to over consumption by humans , and i suppose those species should be protected.... ( so that we can start eating them again ? ) , but why should the cuddly ones be any more special than the ugly ones ?

Mate, I suppose it all depends on your definition of cuddly or ugly. I consider the Great White to be one of the most beautiful creatures alive and will be swimming with them in 2008. I also consider all snakes to be an abomination and should all be killed straight away.

You know what I mean....

I am a supporter of Fox hunting, the amount of Foxes I see dead by the roadside now has increased 1000%.

I agree with killing animals for food. They do....! It has to be sustainable though. I work for Loch Fyne, we do not buy anything that is endangered in the slightest.

Killing an animal for just about the smallest part of its body then, throwing it back in the Ocean without putting it out of its misery, is sick.

redrus

[redrus]

but all fish have a grace and beauty as they move through the water , what is so special about a shark that puts it above a red snapper , perch or squid in the pecking order on restaurant menus.

Tax, <deleted>, cos you eat all of a Red Snapper, not just its bleedin fin....!

redrus

[Mid]

try the OBVIOUS waste of resources .............

use Google and you will discover the truth ,

a shark is wasted just so you can have the soup ,

[solid]

Only high class eat it ??

Anyway, apart from your silly statement, do you really think cutting the fin off of a fish while it is living and throwing it back into the ocean is the way to dine ??

Where did you get that from?

I grew up in a fisherman village here. Nobody throws any piece of shark away. Meat and BONES can be used. We use the whole body. Only the fin is more expensive. But nothing get wasted. Since you guys live in Asia long enough, you should have known that we don't waste food.

We use meat to make dry and sweet fish. And we throw bones in a factory to make animal food (for the calcium part).

[taxexile]

I work for Loch Fyne,

i would kill for a kipper right now.

i am in no way condoning the killing of a shark just for the fin , and after reading about it here i will probably never order sharks fin soup again.

but if the whole animal is killed for its meat (including its fin) , then i encounter no moral dilemma.

and as the poster above says , in asia very little is wasted.

things are different in europe , the conservation and fishing regulations there cause terrible damage to stocks as smaller fish and "banned fish " are thrown back dead .

[Mid]

Stop the cruelty towards sharks. While in Thailand, please don't eat shark fin soup!

In the last fifteen years demand for shark fin soup has boomed in Asia. Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan are the main shark fin trading centres. Asian consumers are unaware of the cruelty and unsustainability of the shark fin trade. Increasingly on the high seas sharks are “finned” and the rest of their bodies, often still alive, are dumped at sea. Shark meat is often too low-value compared to the target species (e.g. tuna) so 95-99% of the shark is discarded to conserve hold space. Shark fin provides gelatinous bulk in shark fin soup, but it has no taste – the soup has to be flavoured with chicken or other stock. While a fisherman in India will earn only $6 per pound of shark fin, a bowl of soup can cost $100 in a Hong Kong restaurant.

[redrus]

I work for Loch Fyne,

i would kill for a kipper right now.

i am in no way condoning the killing of a shark just for the fin , and after reading about it here i will probably never order sharks fin soup again.

but if the whole animal is killed for its meat (including its fin) , then i encounter no moral dilemma.

and as the poster above says , in asia very little is wasted. [<deleted>, in LOS maybe....!]

things are different in europe , the conservation and fishing regulations there cause terrible damage to stocks as smaller fish and "banned fish " are thrown back dead .

Its in Asia that Sharks fin soup is eaten. Not a village in LOS but, China and Hong Kong. Where they DO throw back the still alive Shark after cutting off its fin.

redrus

[redrus]

Stop the cruelty towards sharks. While in Thailand, please don't eat shark fin soup!

In the last fifteen years demand for shark fin soup has boomed in Asia. Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan are the main shark fin trading centres. Asian consumers are unaware of the cruelty and unsustainability of the shark fin trade. Increasingly on the high seas sharks are “finned” and the rest of their bodies, often still alive, are dumped at sea. Shark meat is often too low-value compared to the target species (e.g. tuna) so 95-99% of the shark is discarded to conserve hold space. Shark fin provides gelatinous bulk in shark fin soup, but it has no taste – the soup has to be flavoured with chicken or other stock. While a fisherman in India will earn only $6 per pound of shark fin, a bowl of soup can cost $100 in a Hong Kong restaurant.

Don't fookin eat it anywhere.....!!!!!

If you want to eat meat of any kind, make sure its sustainable, make sure you know where its come from. With respect to our Bovine friends and the iccle piggies out there, there's loads of em, and especially in the UK now, they live a better life than I do.

Jasus, does the name, Sharks Fin Soup, not suggest that all is not well...!

redrus

[solid]

If you guys really wanna see how it is in fishing business, I recommend you to go to the biggest seafood market in the country called "Talay Thai" in Samutsakorn. It will open your eyes. The market starts around 4-5 am until 8-9 am.

Just go see it for yourself. And this is not just in a village. This is the biggest source of seafood for the whole country.

[Mid]

What exactly is finning?

"Finning" refers to the practice of cutting off only the shark fins and discarding the body. Sometimes sharks are dead when they're pulled into the boats, but often, they're still alive as their four fins are cut off with a knife. When they're thrown back into the ocean the sharks either bleed to death, or they drown, because sharks can't swim without fins, and they need to go forward to get oxygen. Divers have discovered hundreds of dead finned sharks at the bottom of the ocean in huge shark graveyards.

Fifty percent of sharks are bycatch -- they're accidentally caught by boats that are looking for tuna, swordfish or other fish. Many of the boats don't want to keep the entire shark, so they just fin them. This greatly increases the amount of sharks killed, because a fishing boat can hold an enormous amount of fins.

[solo siam]

"but i have to disagree with the saving of a species purely because humans perceive them to be magnificent or cuddly."

How about saving them just so they don't die, surely you can not think that we should make sharks extinct so that some people can eat some soup.

[raro]

shark fin soup is in my books just next to turtle soup, rhino horns and tiger penises.

Sick Chinese stuff that should be avoided. I am not a tree hugger (and for sure no racist if someonve wants to imply this one now!) but what's the point of cutting off a shark's fins, throwing the (edible) fish back into the sea to let it die?

As for shark cutlets, not bad, but a bit dry....I would prefer swordfish or barracuda.

Not sure about the ecological impact of bird's nest soup (since we're at it...) but from a culinary point of view I wouldn't miss it...

[/rant]

[Jamie]

i have had this dish a few times and quite like it .

but i never knew that shark meat was loaded with mercury , how come shark has more mercury than other fish?

Taxexile,

Any of your larger predatory fish will have high amounts of methyl mercury in them because they are at the top of the food chain. The mercury bioaccumulates or biomagnifies in concentration from the smallest organism up to the top.

[Nikkijah]

There is one bit of video footage that keeps going through my mind, two fishermen catching a shark in a net, slicing off it's fins and half severing its head then kicking it back into the sea, the shark is not dead, it tries to swim away but has no fins and its head is pointing in the wrong direction to the rest of its body, totally totally sick!

Sharks are an endangered species, that is half of the reason we shouldn't eat them, the other half is that butchering it and then dropping it back in the ocean half dead is sick sick sick, I hope you choke on it!

What sick <deleted> calls this dish 'magic'??

[Nikkijah]

OK, despite this website being called 'treehugger.com'...

This is a recent story of Houston Rockets star Yao Ming boycotting shark fins soup for OBVIOUS reasons...

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/08/yao_ming_no_mor.php

Houston Rockets star Yao Ming has had sharks close to his heart since he dominated the paint for the Shanghai Sharks. It may be no surprise then that last week he announced he's sworn off shark fin soup, the Cantonese delicacy often served on holidays that includes, yes, endangered sharks or their fins among its ingredients. According to conservationists, each year as many as 100 million sharks lose their fins and other body parts to hunters before they are thrown back into the ocean (statistics on the shark fin trade are notoriously hard to come by). In 2003, Hong Kong imported 11,662 tons(!!!!!) of dried shark fin, most of which were shipped to mainland China, estimated Traffic, a wildlife trade monitoring group. Last year, following protests (and public shunnings by director Ang Lee and actor Tony Leung, among others) Hong Kong University stopped serving the (potentially mercury-heavy) delicacy—which goes for $5 a bowl and often higher—while Disney decided to give up its plans to serve shark fin soup at its Hong Kong theme park. Demand for the stuff remains high in Asia, but as the NBA's tallest player says in the new tv advert for WildAid, after using his hand to stop a bullet aimed at an endangered elephant: "When the buying stops, the killing can too." Nice defense, Ming.

Well done Yao Ming, I hope this ends the life of this sick dish!