Saving Sharks?

Below is a newsarticle from Yahoo News.

Fake fins eye saving sharks, Chinese wallets

A Japanese company is launching fake shark fins in China, hoping to tap a market as prices for real ones rise amid concerns the species is being hunted to extinction.

Shark fin is considered one of the highest-end delicacies in Chinese cuisine and also fetches high prices in select Japanese restaurants.

Nikko Yuba Seizo Co. a Japanese food-processing company, said it had developed artificial shark fins made out of pork gelatin. Its top executives returned Friday from a two-day trip to China to introduce the products.

"Shark fin prices have been rising constantly in recent years due to a fall in the volume traded, so we decided to develop an artificial fin," said Tadashi Kozuka, a top official of the company which also trades real shark fins imported from Indonesia, Brazil and elsewhere.

"We visited Shanghai and Dalian -- big cities where wealthy Chinese people live -- to seek trading partners. I guess fins sell well among rich people," he said.

But he said the artificial version would also appeal to Chinese who would not be able to afford the real fins, which are served as a luxury at weddings and other important occasions.

Kozuka said the company had long queues of customers when it first presented its product in China at a trade fair in June in the southern city of Guangzhou.

The price of the gelatin-made fin costs only one-tenth of the real one, or about 1,500 yen (15 dollars) per kilogram when sold wholesale, he said.

Controversy over China's appetite for shark's fin rose last year when the country's most famous sports personality, basketball star Yao Ming, called for a boycott of the dish to save the fish from extinction. Some species of shark are now endangered.

Environmentalists have campaigned to stop "finning," when fishermen catch sharks and cut off their fins before throwing the carcasses back into the sea. The practice is blamed for preventing an accurate picture of shark numbers.

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Would introducing substitutes really save the sharks? I feel the company that is doing this, while it might have good intentions, may have completely missed the point.

Shark's fins is not just a simple delicacy. It's cultural roots run deep. Has anyone wondered why Shark's fins soup always comes as a second dish at banquets after the cold dish? That's because in Ben Cao Gang Mu (Historical Chinese Medicine Encyclopedia written by Li Shizhen) it's said to stimulate appetite. The Chinese have used shark fins in shark-fin soup, considered a delicacy, since the Han Dynasty over 2200 years ago. There are records of both the Song Dynasty (960–1279) and the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911) using shark-fin soup as a banquet staple. In the Ming Dynasty, it became an imperial privilege to consume sharks fin's soup.

Chinese gastronomical culture is largely influenced by what the emperors ate, which the commoners could not afford, and its passed on to this day. Shark's fins soup is one example, as are bird's nest soup, and abalone dishes. To the Chinese, to be able to have these for a meal is considered a status elevation, and something to be proud of, to show off. No matter if these things have absolutely no taste, or nutritional value. By the way, Shark's fin's were never used because of they are particularly tasty. In fact, they are completely tasteless, or might taste like ammonia if not treated properly. Shark's fins were added to soup (besides their appetising and aphrodesiac properties) because they gave the soup a great consistency supposedly unmatched by other additives. Nothing but the best for the emperor right? That's probably how the dish became a status symbol.

Chinese Culture is such that when presented with such luxury, even if one did not appreciate it, they must learn, or at least pretend to. It's not considered a good omen to have a kid say he hates shark's fins soup because superstitious parents may take it to mean that the child is destined to live a "coolie's life" and so will never appreciate luxury. Hence this dish, as a result of its imperial status, must be served at Chinese events, otherwise the host will be frowned upon as a stingy person, and he will lose "face". Many Chinese would rather die than be in that situation.

Therefore to them, substitute Shark's fins is not an option. True, poorer people might take up that option as a substitute (better than nothing), but it is the current market now that's decimating Shark populations. It's like proposing to your girlfriend with a 50cent lollipop ring instead of a 5 thousand dollar princess cut diamond ring. Nonetheless, it is a good thing to have, just that maybe, it arrived a bit too early. People must be educated to develop an aversion to eating shark's fins. Which is a formidable task, considering in China, your pet dog might end up in a claypot.

Guess Who's Coming?

I really excited and am trying to keep myself from gushing... Jane Goodall will be coming to our humble little island!!! Here are the details:

Act for Earth!

Dress up as your favourite endangered plant or animal and advocate for our wild habitats!
Get your kids dressed up too!

Parade from Jacob Ballas Children's Garden to Palm Valley for picnic and performances!
See Dr Jane Goodall in person with her chimpanzee mascot, Mr H.

For more information and to register, http://wildlifeparade.wordpress.com/

To find out more about Dr. Jane Goodall and her work, check out http://www.janegoodall.org/

Date and Time : Friday, 2 November 2007 (Parade - 4pm)
Venue : Singapore Botanic Gardens (Parade - Jacob Ballas Children's Garden, Singapore Botanic Gardens)
Price : Free Admission
Agenda : To create a better awareness about our fragile earth and her endangered wildlife


On a different note, after my rant yesterday, it turns out that there are plans to build eco-passages joining BTNR and CCNR! Hooray!

Society Leaders and Conservation

Up until now, we've got a bunch of people passionately working to arrest the climate change and biodiversity crises that the world is facing. And they're all the same faces, mostly from the scientific world. However, slowly but surely, more and more people are awakening to the idea that something may have gone horribly haywire. Incredibily, "more and more" does not seem to include the so-called "upper echelons" of our society.

Here what everyone should do. Find one nice day to hang around outside parliament house on a day where parliament is sitting. Take down the makes and models of every minister's vehicle that enters the parliament house. Then go to http://www.epa.gov/emissweb/ to check out the efficiency, air pollution scores and emission levels of their vehicles. Our leaders are probably among the most polluting individuals in the country! Never mind the flashy businessmen with their tank-like Mercedes, we're talking about a country's leaders. They are supposed to set the examples. You might also notice that Singapore isn't actually very vocal when it comes to the environment. We keep quiet about shark's fins, their petrol guzzling vehicles, the fact that Singapore is a hub of illegal wildlife trafficking, the usurping of Khatib Bongsu and their incredibly stupid decision to cut an expressway through Bukit Timah, the huge ecological catastrophes that our society contributes too. At the same time, tiny ant steps that they take when its convenient are trumpetted like we just saved the world from impending disaster.

Let's move away from the politicians. Besides, if they did restrict shark's fins and tighten fuel efficiency rules whole industries would fold and they would lose their votes and according to them, when we stop voting for them, the country would go under. (Incidentally, that might happen if the ice caps continue to melt) So let's take a look at the religious people. After all, Ataturk once said,"Religion is an important institution. A nation without religion cannot survive."

No wait, I don't see anything. Big fat nothing. The major religions have not done anything significant to address any of these worldly problems. And I wonder why not. We have church congregations spending millions in building new churches with (Horrors!) air-conditioning. How about passing the hat / bag around for money for say, replanting our forests or funding environmental campaigns instead of nodding knowingly at the perceived accuracies of some obsure armageddon prophecy? Do religious leaders even know the severity of climate change?

The conservation movement, in all honesty is not moving fast enough. Dengue is moving to Europe. The Arctic ice-cap has a path melted through it. But people are still more interesting in asking gods and priests for 4D numbers. And they get there in their Lexus / Mercedes / BMW SUVs.

Blog for the Environment

On October 15th, bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind - the environment. Every blogger will post about the environment in their own way and relating to their own topic. Our aim is to get everyone talking towards a better future.

Blog Action Day is about MASS participation. That means we need you! Here are 3 ways to participate:

1)Post on your blog relating to the environment on Blog Action Day
2)Donate your day’s earnings to an environmental charity
3)Promote Blog Action Day around the web

Go to http://blogactionday.org/commit to become part of the voice for the environment~

ACRES Events Update

Show the world that “Animals Matter To Me”! 5th to 7th October
Venue: The Atrium @ Orchard (Beside Plaza Singapura), 60B Orchard Road map
Day/Time: Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 10pm daily
To mark World Animal Day, Acres will be celebrating Singaporeans' support for animal protection efforts by holding a 3-day animal-themed festival. There will be a photographic exhibition, music, dance, children's activities and a large array of educational exhibits on animal protection issues, along with the opportunity for everyone to find out how they can help make the world a better place for the animals we share it with.

More importantly, we aim to collect 4, 000 signatures for the global “Animals Matter to Me” campaign in support of a Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare to be endorsed by governments of the world. This is a call to everyone, worldwide, to recognise all animals as sentient beings, that they can feel pain and can suffer and that we have a responsibility to put an end to cruelty around the world.

Please drop by and show your support, and show the world that animals matter to you!

Volunteers are needed to help with this event. If you are interested please contact charlene@acres.org.sg


By the way, October 4th every year is World Animal Day, if you didn't already know.