digg

Join DiggAbout

Donkeys and Elephants and Delegates,oh my!
Check out the most popular Elections 2008 content on Digg.

See the original image at ac360.blogs.cnn.com

A taste for soup - a bite out of a population

ac360.blogs.cnn.com — Often shark bodies are thrown overboard because they take up valuable boat space and have little value. It ’s the fins that are the prize. Of a sharks about 8 fins, only 4-6 of them kept. That means that an entire shark is often killed for 4 or 6 fins.

Bury
show profanity settings
expand all
  • projectstartrek, on 07/05/2008, -1/+7I don't exactly think of shark meat as a common everyday item, where's all the demand for it?
    • idontlikeyou2, on 07/06/2008, -0/+4Its called Shark Fin Soup found in Chinese and some other asian restraunts.
    • ru1smonicha, on 07/06/2008, -0/+1"brb soup" -- moot
    • antechinus, on 07/06/2008, -0/+4Shark meat is delicious. In Australia, when you order fish and chips from the local seafood takeaway the chances are that you will get shark (its is called "flake"). Due to the mercury in them it is not advisable to eat shark more than once a week.


      • dynelol, on 07/06/2008, -2/+1If there's mercury then to hell with that. I hear antifreeze is really sweet, but i sure as ***** won't be drinking that.
    • DrSnugglebunny, on 07/06/2008, -0/+2The demand is from about a billion east Asian people, and then also people who eat at Chinese/other Asian restaurants around the world. So the demand is appreciable. Shark fin soup is a gourmet delicacy and is traditionally served at Chinese weddings, in particular.
  • DeathWish808, on 07/05/2008, -3/+12Greed and ignorance proliferate the downfall of so many things, not just sharks. It's all a shame.
  • sogeshirts, on 07/05/2008, -2/+11Pretty brutal killed for shark fins? No wonder sharks are pissed all the time.
  • LewP, on 07/05/2008, -2/+6I think this is a shame. How bout making it a sport? Anyone wanting to do this to sharks should have to jump in the ocean, and have no weapon other than a pocket knife. Then we can see who the hunted and who the hunter really is.
    • AmyVernon, on 07/05/2008, -2/+4i love it! i'd watch that sport on ESPN, for sure.
      • stupidStan, on 07/06/2008, -0/+2This sport would be on ESPN 8... the Ocho
    • mithrasinvictus, on 07/06/2008, -0/+1Pocket knives are for wimps.
      • dynelol, on 07/06/2008, -0/+3Agreed. They should have to bite them off so it stays fair.
  • jcorn1, on 07/06/2008, -2/+5Oh, dear!
  • damian7, on 07/06/2008, -6/+0I wonder how much Jaws would go for
  • slvrbullet87, on 07/06/2008, -13/+3***** sharks
    • Halsfield, on 07/06/2008, -1/+3google "apex predator importance"
    • BloodyPath, on 07/06/2008, -0/+1you first
      • Halsfield, on 07/06/2008, -0/+0i dont need to google something i already understand. take out the major predators in an eco-system and it falls apart. maybe you have some insight you'd care to share?
  • DaDrake, on 07/06/2008, -2/+3If they hunt the animal, they should be required to use the entire thing. Even if the body isn't edible, I am sure some farm-raised fish, that we eat, can consume shark.
    • trispear, on 07/06/2008, -0/+1Once the bodies are thrown into the ocean, they are consumed by many other species as well.
      • Rotzooi, on 07/06/2008, -0/+4One of the problems, though, is that they are thrown back into the ocean ALIVE, but without fins. That's horrible.
  • Dylson, on 07/06/2008, -7/+1Sharks are evil bastards. I don't think they should be tortured though.
  • zinc6471, on 07/06/2008, -8/+2i say go order a bowl of shark fin soup,

    after you tried it, i think you would like it.

    Killing sharks is just as bad as cows...Im pretty sure some of you guys have seen "Meet Your Meat". So how different is killing a cow (as seen in the movie) vs the shark killing?
    • realchris, on 07/06/2008, -2/+6It's probably more of a biodiversity issue. Cows are bred to be killed and eaten.
    • frankb00th, on 07/06/2008, -1/+4Cows are raised and bred in a sustainable manner and the animal is used in pretty much it's entirety and supplies a great variety of useful by products besides meat. Shark is a wild animal and stocks could plummet literally overnight. (see: cod in Newfoundland ). What this is is total waste. Shark meat is very good in a ceviche or grilled.You, my friend must be one of the great Chinese apologists and apostles of moral relativism I am seeing more and more frequently all over the bulletin boards and the many Forums of the Internet looking for anything that could paint your country in a negative light. Everywhere, the argument is the same : "America does it too !.....Tibet ? How about the Indians whose lands you stole ! Beef ? Shark ? The very same thing ! No they are not and never will be the same. Shark fin soup is in greater demand because all the Mandarins of the new economy are demanding it. It is a status symbol and nothing more in a society where the need for status symbols would put any Hollywood star to shame.
      Tiger pelts , rhino horns, bears kept with taps s tuck in the livers to collect their "medicinal" bile, big cars, nothing
      seems to satisfy your egos. Once these things are gone, and they WILL be gone, what then ?
      What will keep your dicks hard ? What will you order at the restaurant ? You'll probably move on swarm-like, and find some other species to wipe out. Stop posting non arguments such as these , they are insulting. But then again we are stupid gai-lo and think of nothing but music and sports cars.
      We may be decadent but at least we develop our resources in a sustainable manner, as flawed as our system is, there is at least a semblance of oversight.and thought for the future.If you want to come in here and apologize for a shameful waste of res sources from your country , do it with valid arguments not a cookie cutter answer I've seen used too many times to count.
      I can tell you personally that as much respect and admiration as I have for the centuries of Chinese civilization , I will tell you that you are trying to defend something that has no place in this new century.
      No matter how much you think otherwise, shark fin soup tasting good does NOT justify this.
      • mithrasinvictus, on 07/06/2008, -0/+3I don't think the animals care much about how much of their corpses we actually manage to convert into products.
        At least the shark had a natural life. For cows bred and grown in factories death would at least end the torture they were made to endure.
      • dynelol, on 07/06/2008, -0/+1I think we're talking about it being the same from the point of view of the shark or cow. Life is life.




        P.S. I can't believe i read the WHOOOOLE THIIING!
      • frankb00th, on 07/06/2008, -1/+0Sorry for the chapter and verse but it's been a long weekend already and sometimes the words come a little too freely. I broke some of my personal rules in the way I conveyed my opinion but sometimes one gets fed up with comments such as those. Comments seemingly indicative of a total lack of grasp of even the most rudimentary knowledge of the driving forces behind the topic being discussed.Unfortunately, I have mostly seen this type of absurd logic while overseeing the resolution of trade disputes with China.
        It is eerie how the same words keep appearing over and over.
        Thks for reading me !!
  • Halsfield, on 07/06/2008, -1/+6I don't understand how they can say they're valueless. There are so many yuppies in the USA and im sure all over the world that would pay high prices for shark sushi, sashimi, etc, even if it tasted awful.

    In any case, this is just one more stupid practice by stupid people that has gone on too long. Whale hunting, shark fin soup hunting, and the exotic/endangered animals black market trading in the world (southeast asia and japan , im looking at you the hardest), needs to end. Tiger penis does not make you less of a failure in bed, sorry, maybe you should buy a sex-help tape, or ask your partner how to be a better lover. Shark fin soup may taste like sex, but killing the apex predators will make the eco-system crumble, there is a balance out there, and we are @#$!ing with the balance because we want to put something tasty in our mouths.

    With all that said, i dont think the fishermen are really the ones to blame, they are just fulfilling a demand. The ones that should be punished are the ones buying these products. Without a buyer, there is no shark fishing.
    • lysdexia, on 07/06/2008, -0/+3Love the logic.

      And following it...In any case, this is just one more stupid practice by stupid people that has gone on too long. Oil, gas, petrol, diesel trading (America and Europe. I'm looking at you the hardest) needs to end. Driving fuel thirsty penile-extensions doe not make you less of a failure in bed, sorry, maybe you should buy a sex-help tape, or ask your partner how to be a better lover. High-octane fuel may feel like sex, but killing your fellow humans to source it will make the politico-eco-system crumble, there is a balance out there, and we are @#$!ing with the balance because we want to put something feisty in our cars.

      With all that said, i dont think the oil companies are really the ones to blame, they are just fulfilling a demand. The ones that should be punished are the ones buying these products. Without a buyer, there is no invasion of oil-rich countries.

      • Halsfield, on 07/06/2008, -0/+0the last part of your comment is true enough. We allow ourselves to be run by the oil companies by not demanding another source of power.

        If you don't think consumers run things, what do you think would happen if all of a sudden everyone in the entire world stopped using gas? No consumer, oil production grinds to a halt, ciya later oil company (or at least until they convert to natural gas).
  • herbiehancock00, on 07/06/2008, -0/+20I'm Chinese and grew up eating shark fin. Just last year my sisters and I decided that we will no longer eat anything containing shark fin due to this very reason. There really isn't any special taste nor nutritional value in shark fin. Taste wise, everything comes from the broth in which the shark fin is cooked in. The demand is only sustained by the perceived value that comes along with the high price tag.
  • gluesniffined, on 07/06/2008, -1/+8Wow, I love a nice blackened shark steak. Shark is some of the best fish there is, not fishy at all and tastes very light. It's such a waste as the rest of the shark is very good eating.
  • GorfTron, on 07/06/2008, -0/+3We don't eat shark fin here. But we do eat lawyer hand soup. It does not hurt the lawyer. We just cut off their hands and throw the bastards back in their offices.
  • Yuiko, on 07/06/2008, -0/+1An unpleasant image!
    I don't want to see an ecosystem is destroyed any more.
    There is no need to do that.
  • 0xABADC0DA, on 07/06/2008, -0/+5The sharks aren't even killed most of the time... they are just thrown back in with no fins where they die slowly. Like being buried alive would be for us. The people that do this, and the people that use the shark cartilage for soup or medicine are evildoers.
    • dynelol, on 07/06/2008, -0/+1Since this is an eco-issue, call Captain Planet.
  • nigglesparish, on 07/06/2008, -0/+2I had the wrong response to this story - the first thing I thought was: "wow - you can get more than one fin from a shark? Sounds downright economical!"
    • dynelol, on 07/06/2008, -0/+1I just imagined someone running a buzzsaw above the water and cutting the exposed fin off in Jaws.
  • lysdexia, on 07/06/2008, -1/+3I wonder if Sharks agonise about eating humans.
  • theadvinci, on 07/06/2008, -0/+3at lysdexia: Sharks don't eat humans because they're bad, but because they mistake humans for seals that are their natural food source. And when sharks do eat their food they don't waste most of it.
  • edebolt, on 07/06/2008, -0/+1wouldn't the shark carcasses get eaten by other fish and sharks? and that protein would grow more fish protein? It's not like they will be wasted.. plenty of hungry organisms in the ocean.
  • frankb00th, on 07/06/2008, -1/+1 Response to zinc6471
    Cows are raised and bred in a sustainable manner and the animal is used in pretty much it's entirety and supplies a great variety of useful by products besides meat. Shark is a wild animal and stocks could plummet literally overnight. (see: cod in Newfoundland ). What this is is total waste. Shark meat is very good in a ceviche or grilled.You, my friend must be one of the great Chinese apologists and apostles of moral relativism I am seeing more and more frequently all over the bulletin boards and the many Forums of the Internet looking for anything that could paint your country in a negative light. Everywhere, the argument is the same : "America does it too !.....Tibet ? How about the Indians whose lands you stole ! Beef ? Shark ? The very same thing ! No they are not and never will be the same. Shark fin soup is in greater demand because all the Mandarins of the new economy are demanding it. It is a status symbol and nothing more in a society where the need for status symbols would put any Hollywood star to shame.
    Tiger pelts , rhino horns, bears kept with taps s tuck in the livers to collect their "medicinal" bile, big cars, nothing
    seems to satisfy your egos. Once these things are gone, and they WILL be gone, what then ?
    What will keep your dicks hard ? What will you order at the restaurant ? You'll probably move on swarm-like, and find some other species to wipe out. Stop posting non arguments such as these , they are insulting. But then again we are stupid gai-lo and think of nothing but music and sports cars.
    We may be decadent but at least we develop our resources in a sustainable manner, as flawed as our system is, there is at least a semblance of oversight.and thought for the future.If you want to come in here and apologize for a shameful waste of res sources from your country , do it with valid arguments not a cookie cutter answer I've seen used too many times to count.
    I can tell you personally that as much respect and admiration as I have for the centuries of Chinese civilization , I will tell you that you are trying to defend something that has no place in this new century.
    No matter how much you think otherwise, shark fin soup tasting good does NOT justify this.
  • dynelol, on 07/06/2008, -0/+1Why has shark hunting gone on so long? Because it's an ancient Chinese art and everybody knew their part.
  • Michiko280, on 07/06/2008, -0/+1This is extremely disturbing...i can imagine being thrown back alive bleeding and finless, unable to swim or protect myself until i'm eaten alive. It's almost as disturbing as the US meat and dairy industry.
  • lopla, on 07/06/2008, -1/+1It's kind of like the USA, only they de-limb innocent Iraqi children instead of sharks.
  • jaythewise, on 07/06/2008, -0/+0http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0856008/

    Watch the movie above called Sharkwater.

    Lots of stuff in Chinese food and Medicine needs to be stamped out. Shark fin soup is just the lastest thing that is getting headlines.
  • manzplan, on 07/06/2008, -0/+1this is a disgusting waste..
    the native american indians killed bison, but used EVERY part!

    this is terrible, ignorant, and cruel for nothing...
  • Ribbys, on 07/06/2008, -0/+1I tried this soup at a Chinese wedding recently. Im open to trying everything, but this tasted like salty water with gummy bits in it. I guess its a cultural tradition thing because its not about the soup tasting good.
  • Nature1, on 07/07/2008, -0/+1That's a horrible waste. It's bad enough they ruin sharks for their fins, but they waste the rest of the animal/kill it for no good reason.
    That's like killing an elephant for it's tusks... except elephants can live without them. :
  • vjlenin, on 07/08/2008, -0/+0Here is some other similar post. Ten surefire ways to promote your book: http://cutewriting.blogspot.com/2008/07/ten-sure-f ... Please check it out and check out the blog. Comment and digg the post if possible thanks all.

    Lenin Nair
  •  

    Login or register to add a comment

    Create a new account or login to join in the conversation on Digg. You'll also be able to Digg stories to help promote things you like.


© Digg Inc. 2008 — Content posted by Digg users is dedicated to the public domain.
DIGG, DIGG IT, DUGG, DIGG THIS, Digg graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and other service names are the trademarks of Digg Inc.