China clamps down on shark fin

China clamps down on shark fin Alvina Hung and Mary Ann Benitez  Wednesday, July 04, 2012 Shark fin is going off menus at official banquets in the mainland by order of national leaders. While the move will make the stomachs of some tradition-bound officials rumble, activists in Hong Kong applauded a decision that could save many types of shark from extinction. The news came from the Government Officers Administration of the State Council, though officials admitted the ban could need three years to take hold. But as CNN noted on responses to the action, it will "help cut the cost of sometimes lavish banquets." As activists here also worry that it could take quite a while for the ban to take effect across the mainland, they are calling on Chief Executive Leung Chun- ying to take a firm cue from Beijing and step up efforts to halt the SAR's still- flourishing trade in shark fin as well as its consumption. In fact, efforts are already under way. Hong Kong Shark Foundation program director Bertha Lo Ka-yan said the word is that shark fin soup is no longer served at SAR functions. If this was announced publicly, she said, it would set a good example. "The CE's Office contacted us and said Leung was also concerned about the issue of environmental protection," Lo said. In the longer term, she added, the hope is for legislation to ban the sale and possession of shark fins in Hong Kong. Officials in Hong Kong's Environmental Protection Department, meanwhile, said menus for official functions do not usually include shark fin - though they did not make it clear that this was solely meant to save the big fish. Shark fin was off the menu to avoid giving impressions of extravagance with public money, they said. Up to 73 million sharks are killed each year, according to a 2006 estimate quoted by the Hong Kong Shark Foundation. And the World Wildlife Fund has said that 181 species of shark are under threat compared to 15 species in 1996,. Shockingly, many sharks that are caught have their fins hacked off and then dead or dying creatures are thrown back into the sea. The WWF's Hong Kong director, Andy Cornish, believes the Hong Kong government can do more to restrict shark fin sales in the SAR than just following China's plan. It was "avoiding the topic" of trade in shark fin, he said. Still, Cornish also said the ban in the mainland shows China is showing global leadership on the issue, reckoning that the leadership would do a "pretty decent job" within the three years. With shark fin soup a traditional and top-line dish served in Chinese cuisine, the total consumption for the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan is 95 percent of the world's dried shark fins. And in 2009 Hong Kong people consumed more than 9,300 tonnes of fins. Hong Kong is one of the world's largest trading centers for shark fin. From 70 to 80 percent of dried shark fin arriving here is sent on to the mainland and other places. Besides moves to take shark fin off menus at government functions, hotels and restaurants in Hong Kong have acted too. More than 97 have joined the WWF's "Alternative Shark-free Menu Program" since 2010. And Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels has this year stopped serving shark fin at all its properties.