About sharks

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A recent study published in the US Journal of Science predicted the collapse of the entire marine ecosystem by 2048. That date is well within our lifetimes. While individuals may wield little power over global fishing and trawling industries, we can make daily decisions that add up to a powerful economic force that can halt the over-exploitation of our oceans. In particular, individuals have the ability to prevent the unnecessary decimation of shark stocks by refusing to order and eat shark’s fin soup.

Why shark fins will not be on our wedding dinner menu...

Did you know?

There is no ‘special taste’ to shark’s fin soup. Its flavour comes from the chicken stock that it is cooked in. There is no nutritional value to shark’s fin soup either.

That's not all we found out...

Shark finning is a cruel process. Live sharks are hauled on board a ship, their fins are sliced off and the rest of the shark is often thrown back to sea, still alive but left to drown and die a slow and painful death. This technique helps to preserve precious freezer space for only the most valuable part of the shark – its fin.

Importance of sharks in our world

Sharks are apex predators and a cornerstone species in the marine ecosystem. Their demise would kick start a domino effect which could result in the depletion of other fish species and changes in marine species composition and diversity. This imbalance in the marine ecosystem, which will then affect our future ability to depend on the sea as a source of food.

Sharks such as hammerheads, thresher sharks and whale sharks are valuable tourist attractions, attracting divers to an area and providing an incentive to protect their habitat and in doing so protecting many other species and important ecosystems.

Though they've been around for more than 400 million years, they are at greater risk ...

The World Conservation Union says 65 out of 373 known shark species are threatened.

The demand for shark’s fin soup has sky-rocketed as a result of growing affluence in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.

Since fins are a high value, low volume product and easier to handle and store than shark meat, some fisheries, often illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU), target sharks in order to retain the fins and discard the meat. A practice that is extremely wasteful and is inhumane if finning occurs while the shark is still alive.

Changes in fishing technology over the last 30 years and increased economic development have lead to increased numbers of sharks being caught.

Recent research based on an investigation of shark fins sold at auction in Hong Kong (which is the world's largest fin market) has estimated annual shark catches to be between 26 million and 73 million sharks with the species most at risk being the blue shark, hammerheads and silky sharks. These figures are much higher than official records of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) the discrepancy being due unreported catches of sharks by unregulated (IUU) fisheries.

Sharks are highly vulnerable to overexploitation due to their longevity, late maturity and slow reproduction rates.

Bless people with good health instead of...

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Hong Kong Consumer Council have released warnings related to levels of contamination in shark products.

The US FDA warns that mercury levels in shark meat are high enough to harm the nervous system of unborn babies. Shark fin sold in Hong Kong and tested in the US were found to contain 5.84 parts per million (ppm) of mercury. Hong Kong’s maximum permitted level of mercury contamination in foodstuffs in 0.5ppm.

What people can do to Make a Difference

Due to limited available data on shark fishing intensities there are uncertainties with regard to the current conservation status of many species of shark.

Consumers of shark’s fin soup cannot know for sure whether by buying shark’s fin they are contributing to the extinction of shark species or whether the shark fin they are eating was taken from the shark while it was still alive. Thus we urge you to refrain from the consumption of shark’s fin and help us inform others:

REFUSE the next bowl of shark’s fin soup offered to you and explain to your friends and family why you have decided to do so.

GET IN TOUCH with stories of how you chose to not serve shark’s fin soup at your wedding and how you overcame any repercussions of your decision.

SEND US recipes for alternatives to shark’s fin soup.

SPONSOR the printing of wedding cards to contribute to our goal of increasing awareness about the shark and its plight.

Sources of facts, photos and figures:

Photo by Bruce McCoubrey, www.wildaid.org

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) (2006) - Conservation and management of sharks - Trade-Related Threats to Sharks (AC22 Doc. 17.3) Available online: http://www.cites.org

Clarke, Shelley C., McAllister, Murdoch K., Milner -Gulland, E. J., Kirkwood, G. P., Michielsens, Catherine G.J., Agnew, David J., Pikitch, Ellen K., Nakano, Hideki & Shivji, Mahmood S. (2006) Global estimates of shark catches using trade records from commercial markets. Ecology Letters 9 (10), 1115-1126. doi: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2006.00968.x