Shark's fin gaffe: Citibank and beyond

Offers ended early but some continue promotions
Letter from Jennifer Lee Today Online 10 Aug 10;

ABOUT two weeks ago, a concerned Hong Kong citizen saw a Citibank (Hong Kong) promotion advertising discounted shark's fins.

He started a Facebook group page demanding Citibank HK cease all promotions related to the sale of shark's fins.

Within a week, the group had gained 1,000 supporters and Citibank HK, to its credit, reacted almost immediately, ending the promotion early.

Then, the spotlight was turned on Citibank (Singapore), as people around the world found out about its promotion with a restaurant selling shark's fins here. Likewise, Citibank ended the promotion, which was set to run until Dec 31.

Citibank's efficient, "no-excuses" recovery from the environmental gaffe is admirable. However, there are still a number of well-known companies in Singapore that continue to harm the world's shark population, such as other banks running joint promotions boosting the sales of shark's fins, firms hosting business lunches with shark's fin on the menu, or giving shark's fin as gifts to corporate partners.

The Citibank saga can be a good learning point for all image-conscious companies seeking to be socially and environmentally responsible, that it is never too late to do the right thing.

Of the 100 million sharks killed annually, 73 million are killed for only their fins. This figure excludes unreported and illegal fishing. More often than not, the fins are removed while the shark is alive and the finless body is thrown back into the ocean. The bleeding shark suffers a slow death, unable to feed or breathe. It can sit on the seabed for days before finally dying from blood loss and suffocation.

Singapore, despite its size, is currently among the world's largest entrepot ports for the fin trade, as well as high on the list of consumers.

Sharks' real nemesis: Longlines
Denouncing shark's fin soup won't stop problem
Letter from Tan Keng Tat Today Online 16 Aug 10;

I REFER to the letter "Shark's fin gaffe" (Aug 10) by Ms Jennifer Lee. Trying to stop a culinary practice going back over a thousand years, especially when sharks are not an endangered species, is not only culturally insensitive, but it is also bound to fail.

It is like asking the Japanese to give up their tuna sashimi or the Frenchmen, their frog's legs and snails, or the Englishmen, their fish and chips, or socialites at glitzy cocktail parties around the world their caviar canapés.

Ms Lee alleges that 100 million sharks are killed annually. The United Nations estimates about 10 million sharks killed in 2006.

The main threats to the shark are the pelagic fisheries in the developed countries, using many kilometers of longlines with thousands of hooks to target the more valuable blue fin tuna and swordfish, but unintentionally catch an appalling number of sharks instead.

Anecdotal evidence shows that a majority of the sharks are dead when hauled on board or are humanely culled before their fins are harvested, as live sharks can injure the crew.

And when a 45kg shark fetches less than US$50 ($68) in Hawaii and a giant blue fin tuna for ¥3.2 million ($50,000) recently at the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, fisheries will go out of business if they keep the sharks and discard the tuna.

According to the Shark Alliance, the major players in the global production and trade of sharks in the developed countries are Spain, United States, Japan, United Kingdom and New Zealand.

The truth is that sharks will continue to be caught unintentionally in longlines and killed on an unprecedented scale by well-organised fishing nations. Excoriating shark's fin soup will not stop their deadly bycatch.

The morally right thing to do is to campaign for longlines to be banned or regulated globally and only then will the deplorable killing of sharks subside.

Ms Lee's crusade to save the sharks is commendable, though the timing is a little troubling coming so soon after the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cities) declared at its recent biennial meeting in Doha that sharks are not an endangered species.

No, sharks' real nemesis is man
Letter from David Chen Today Online 19 Aug 10;

I REFER to the letter "Sharks' real nemesis: Longlines" (Aug 16).

The writer, Mr Tan Keng Tat, states that the United Nations estimates about 10 million sharks were killed in 2006. But that is just the official number of sharks reported to have been caught; many more are killed off the official radar. At last year's Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) talks, fisheries scientists estimated the figure at closer to 73 million.

It is also not true that no sharks are on the Cites endangered species list. First, some, like the great white and whale sharks, are indeed on the list. Second, many species do not make the list for political reasons, with finning-friendly countries lobbying against their inclusion.

Further, it is a logical fallacy to argue that shark finning is all right because long-line fishing is killing off more sharks. If this were true, then it's all the more reason to stop eating shark fins to protect the dwindling population.

Finally, it is not cultural insensitivity to campaign against shark finning. Many "traditional" practices have fallen, thankfully, by the wayside in recent years: Foot-binding and bear gall consumption, to name but two. Few would argue that these practices have a place in the modern world. This applies, too, to the unsustainable consumption of shark fins.