Shark fin is a deluxe menu in China, Hong kong and many developed countries in Asia. Over 73 million sharks are killed per year for these “healthy dishes” and does it make you healthy? Or it’s a dish for rich people to serve their VIP guest.

How is the soup made? We call it shark finning, shark finning is an act of removing fin from sharks and leaving them back into the ocean. This might not sound like a big deal,  but the problem is that sharks must move all the time to keep oxygen flowing over their gills. So once their fins get removed they’ll sink into the bottom of the ocean and get eaten by other predators. This action directly destroys the whole ecosystem and food chain.  and are they really make u healthy?

How do shark fin soup have a health impact?

Shark fins soup has magnesium, Omega 3 and calcium. However, the cruel production and , it doesn’t justify killing a top predator for  soup. 

Additionally, Chinese culture believes that Shark fins will boost your sexual skill, enhance your skin, and improve your bone quality. Some people even say that they’re cancer protectors, however there’s no study about it. In other words, there is no medical evidence of these Chinese cultural beliefs.

However, Shark fins soup has nutrients as much as only a single egg that we eat in our daily life but because of their rarity and good taste it’s become a luxury dish. By the way, Shark fins didn’t give any taste at all, the ingredients that are used to make the soup.

When do people eat shark fin soup and which country eats the most?

Shark fin soup is usually served in big festivals like Chinese New Year, global New Year and the Dragon Festival. Or sometimes they serve this luxury dish to important guests or at an important event such as a wedding and prom.

Countries that serve shark fin soup include China and nearby countries such as Hong kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand. Thailand is one of the big shark fin markets. A million shark fins are exported per year and most of the luxury restaurants in Thailand have shark fin soup on their menus. 61% of thais wanna try shark fin soup while 50% of them don’t even know how they’re made, this is so disappointing. But even still, Thailand isn’t the worst country but Hong Kong and China are. They’re countries that eat shark fins the most in the world.

Demand increases Supply?

Since the dish is valuable and can earn a huge amount of money, shark fins have become a many fishermen’s main target. Once they sell them to a big party, they’ll earn a lot of money.

How does shark finning affect the ocean’s ecosystem?

sharks are a keystone species they’re going after small or unhealthy fish and they’re also maintaining the coral and seaweed habitats. These actions can make the ocean’s food chain and habitat healthy but what if once they’re gone? What will happen to them?

And since they’re really wanted in fishermen and rich consumers, people are starting to hunt them more and more and sharks are starting to disappear. “But they throw them back to the ocean tho so these actions might show their responsibility and give higher tier predator free food either”. No, not at all, because once their fins are cut off they can’t grow a new one, so they’ll die as soon as they are thrown back to the ocean. Sharks are apex predators, which means they’re on top of the food chain. So if they’re hunted too much, the lower species will start to increase their populations uncontrollably.

Do western people eat shark fin soup?
No, most western countries have banned shark fin soup due the effect on the ecosystem and cruelty of the practice. The dish was banned in the USA, Costa Rica, the European Union, Canada and many others.

What can we do?

With our small voice we can’t do anything about this problem. The prestige of shark fin soup comes from one of the oldest Chinese cultural beliefs, so they won’t stop this practice easily.

But that doesn’t mean we got no hope, a lot of countries ran the education about shark fins affecting the natural to fishermen and give them advice such as suggest species to hunt other than sharks. Many countries are fighting together against the shark fin soup by banning them and giving punishment to people who are still hunting them secretly.

Extra tropic
What stage is the shark currently at right now?

Many shark species are at risk of extinction, with almost 100 million killed each year, no wonder why. And of course, shark fin soup causes the most shark hunting with over 73 million killed. What if we stop eating them immediately? There’ll be only 27 killed per year. I know that’s still a lot but if we really do that it’ll be a huge step for humanity to revive naturally.