Chinese food restaurants in Hawaii had better start looking for delicacies other than shark fin soup to treat their 80th birthday guests and out of town VIPs to come July 1, 2011. In an attempt to take a stand against the overfishing and extinction of sharks, Hawaii passed legislation last week that will ban the possession of the fins.
Many shark conservation activists are excited about the new legislation and hope that it will inspire other states or federal action.
“This is enormously important for the conservation of sharks,” Marie Levine, founder and director of the Shark Research Institute, told the AP.
But not everyone is so pleased. Hawaii’s Chinese community—which accounts for roughly 13 percent of the state’s population—is outraged. For many, shark fin is considered not only a delicacy, but also an important aspect of the Chinese cultural tradition.
Johnson Choi, president of the Hong Kong China Hawaii Chamber of Commerce, doesn’t think that the possession shark fin ought to be a legal issue.
“Shark fins are part of food culture—Chinese have had food culture for over 5,000 years,” said Choi.
Some restaurant owners, however, aren’t too concerned about the ban. The biggest market for shark fin, according to them, comes from Japanese tourists wanting to eat it for much cheaper than at home.
The bill was signed after Hawaii lawmakers heard testimony that 89 million sharks per year were being killed for the their fins.
[Via: AP]
[Photo via: abakedcreation]
