Chinese New Year causes shark fin feeding frenzy

Katie Cuttris Sydney Morning Herald 22 Jan 12;

IT'S renowned for its slippery, glutinous texture and its touted ability to ward off ageing and boost the libido.

While shark fin soup will be a staple at Chinese New Year banquets in Australia this week, it is under attack from conservation groups.

And there are growing international efforts to ban the delicacy from the table for good. Hong Kong-based Peninsula and Shangri-La hotel groups have taken shark fin soup off their menus and Singapore's largest supermarket chain, NTUC FairPrice, will cease sales of shark fin products in March. The Taiwanese government, European Union and state of California have all announced bans on shark finning.

Shark finning is banned in Australia but there is nothing to stop fisherman slicing fins off carcasses once boats land onshore - so Chinese restaurants still serve the dish.

In Sydney, the managing director of Fat Buddha restaurant, Kim Yee Joy, said tradition dictates that many customers have shark fin soup for Chinese New Year. ''It's one of our main traditions and has been eaten for many years,'' she said.

She recognised the ecological impact of shark finning, but said her restaurant ''must have shark fin soup, otherwise no one will come to the restaurant for functions, weddings or Chinese New Year. There is nothing we can do about shark finning''.

But Mike Rutzen, the founder of The Australian Anti Shark Finning Alliance, believes it is ''not an excuse to say it's tradition''.

''Foot binding was also a tradition and it is no longer in practice because it is cruel and barbaric'', he said. ''Just like foot binding, shark fin soup should be relegated to the history books.''

In an effort to ''encourage'' restaurants around the country to stop featuring shark fin soup on their menus, Mr Rutzen last year established an online registry dubbed the 'Wall of Shame', listing 184 restaurants serving the soup. Mr Rutzen said the registry had been welcomed by some restaurants, which had explained they were ''looking for an incentive to take shark fin soup off their menus and now they had an excuse''.

Among the high-profile names on the list are Fat Buddha in George Street and Golden Century Seafood in Sussex Street.The alliance, along with federal Greens MP and environment spokeswoman Cate Faehrmann, has called for legislation making it a criminal offence to possess, sell and trade shark fins.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/chinese-new-year-causes-shark-fin-feeding-frenzy-20120121-1qbky.html#ixzz1k8x25Iue