Inhumane practice or cherished Chinese cultural tradition?
Article Source: msnbc.com
from:msnbc.comProposed shark fin ban makes waves in San Fran
Seeded on Sat May 7, 2011 12:25 AM EDT (msnbc.com)
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Why not require the fishing vessels to haul in the entire shark? Encourage the utilization of the whole carcass rather than wastefully pushing it over board. True Shark meat isn't as valuable, but the fine harvesting is just plan wasteful. Perhaps have state employees go out and inspect the vessels to make sure they aren't just cutting the fin and dumping. It would allow the fishermen to still have a business, the Asian population keeps their traditions and it would satisfy San Fran by being a more human killing method (rather than just letting them bleed out in the ocean).
Nothing is wasted in nature...those carcasses dumped back into the ocean is not wasted...it feeds other sharks and countless other sea creatures...removing things from the marine eco-system that is not likely to be used is more irresponsible that dumping it overboard
What is being "wasted" is the life of an animal that is often thrown back into the water while still alive and which, unable to swim without its fins, dies a slow death - all for a product that nobody needs and only a few people want. Too many cruel and inhumane practices have been justified because "it's our culture," whether it's shark finning, bullfighting, dogfighting, cockfighting, or any number of other brutalities that seem to always involve trapped animals. Foot binding was once a "cherished Chinese tradition" but the Chinese seem to be doing just fine without it - and I think their cuisine will survive without the fins of an animal that is far more valuable to the ocean ecology than it is to a few selfish palates!
you are nothing but a PETA follower. PETA kills and is just as bad as anyone who has done something inhumane to animals, but yet you still donate money to PETA so they can keep on killing all your unwanted pets.
Peggy
do you even understand what culture is...and what it means to virtually every human population on this planet
Mr.PheaNiques-0000001,
Do you even understand what an apex predator is, and what it means to LITERALLY every human population on this planet if they are wiped out? Do you have any idea what will happen to the ecosystem of the ocean, and thus to US if shark finning continues? There is not an infinite supply of sharks. The practice of shark finning is cruel and dangerous not only to the sharks but to the entire world.
Nature is a balance, a beautiful dance between death and rebirth. We, as human beings, constantly disrupt that balance and threaten our own lives with our gluttony and our uncaring attitude toward how we treat this world that we live on. Fools like you who believe an outdated, outmoded, and uneccessary "cultural" thing like shark fin soup is important are the ones who are the most dangerous, the most reckless, and the most uncaring.
Wake up, fool. When it comes to the survival of a species, culture and cultural cuisine is not important, at all.
Mr. Pheaniques is continueing his string of uneducated, stir the pot posts... Never a brain cell wasted. Guess you think it is ok to shoot an elephant, cut off his tusks and ship back to Asia cause it is "tradition".. even though it has been proven over and over that ivory does NOT make a man get a woodie... Same goes for when they hook a tube up to a caged bear and drain it's bile.. So many "culture" things from Asia are simply worthless in reality, but terribly cruel. They are the main reason for poaching in Africa.
As one already said... culture ways does NOT mean it can continue forever. Just as slavery was our "culture"... as was black hangings...
State employee inspecting fishing? Get a clue. Like California does not have enough money issues already. They are legally restricted since this is mostly a coast guard or customs issue. Even if was it was illegally federally to sell shark fin they do not have a right to enforce it... or we will soon find out since this is point being argued by arizona about states rights to enforce immigration laws.
Shark fin is mostly imported frozen from asian countries. Very little is caught in US waters that would be subject to us fishing laws.
It will most likely do little to protect sharks. A large number of sharks are caught as a byproduct of tuna or swordfish fishing. The fishermen will kill the sharks because they compete with their target catch. Most are fatally wounded just in the capture process, since they are hauled on deck by being impaled with a large metal hook on a pole. It will be more a matter of do people eat the fin or do other things in the ocean. It is unlikely US based fishing vessels even waste their time to cut the fin off.
I never had shark fin soup. I have had shark before though. fried and smoked the fried was excellent . sweet and the texture of a good steak.
As a resident of San Francisco, this is just another embarrassing chapter of the out of control, liberal Board of Supervisors focusing on matters of little significance to governing the City. Get the damn budget balanced and keep the streets clean and safe. Stick with the primary task they were elected to do which they are currently not doing.
Well what do you expect from SF. Happy Meals, Circumcision and now shark fins....They are going after the big stuff it seems to me.
Right on!, Peggy.
Hmm, didn't we ban Whaling for a variety of reasons? Whales provided many cultures with meat, oil, etc. We are finding out that sharks, contrary to TV and movies, are valuable to our ecosystem. If they are going to be harvested, then use the whole shark, not just the fins. Frankly, I'm surprised the Asians don't have 'shark farms' where they raise them just for this reason. Perhaps someone could come up with a shark fin flavored tofu???
Is San Francisco a sovereign nation? Anyways I volunteer to eat the rest of the shark. They're delicious. We should never be cruel to our food.
Tradition...An excuse not to change. Once the shark population collapses and the ripples are felt throughout the ecosystem, it will no longer be profiling but a world-wide tragedy.
shark fishing should stop period. i don't give a damn if they use the whole thing sharks are here for a reason. And if we're not careful they will become extinct. Stop the fishing for at least a few years so the numbers can come back up (sharks breed very slowly) if we don't allow them to mature and reproduce then we are doing them a grave injustice. like it or not sharks are required by this earth to survive. The earth has kept them around for 400 million years if they weren't necessary mother nature would have gotten rid of them along time ago.
ok adam enough time on the computer go outside and play football or something.
For anyone who thinks this is a petty, liberal agenda, ridiculous proposal, I challenge you to watch the movie 'Sharkwater' and come away with any conclusion except that the shark populations of our oceans deserve protection...if only to save US!
As 'silvershadows' points out, sharks are the top predator in the sea. For millennia, they have controlled the ecosystem of the ocean by hunting smaller sharks, fish, rays, and skates. As we've decimated the shark population, we've seen overgrowths in these other animals which normally feed on bivalves like oysters, clams and scallops, thus severely reducing the population of bivalves that feed on photoplankton. Bivalves are a natural filtration system for the ocean. With the decline in scallops, clams and other bivalves, this filtration system is disappearing. As a result, coastal areas could experience additional uncontrolled algal blooms and dead zones. And that ultimately affects all of us on land.
You can read more here: http://na.oceana.org/sites/default/files/o/fileadmin/oceana/uploads/Sharks/Predators_as_Prey_FINAL_FINAL.pdf
And I strongly urge you to put 'Sharkwater' in your Netflix queue. Not only is the documentary informative and interesting, it also includes some stunning underwater photography of sharks.
hey it's my day off and i'm not obese i weigh 150 lbs and am 5 feet 9 inches tall i've played sports all my life if i want to spend a whole day talking about something i'm passionate about who the @!$%# are you to judge me retired coast guard?
Peter Parker, I have just added "Sharkwater" to my NetFlix queue - and thank you very much for the suggestion. I also appreciate so much the thought you have put into this issue and the intelligence of your post!
Ok, retired, that's enough time on the computer. Time to pull your head out your ass and think for once!
Slavery used to be a cherished cultural tradition, too. All traditions need to be periodically reexamined; some of them are fundamentally misguided or obsolete and need to end. This is one such.
The exact same thing I was thinking while reading this. I can't understand why some one would pay $80.00 dollars for a bowl of soup anyways....Do the Right thing San Francisco and California and ban it now and for good.
But critics of the proposed ban say the consumption of shark fins is a cherished cultural tradition.
Agreed, the Chinese used to think various rare animal parts would make your wang bigger too.
(Sad part is some people still believe this nonsense)
((Am Chinese))
Are you saying that tiger eyeballs won't give me a rock hard diamond cutter?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qr8DKqKgwK0&feature=related
They will,but with tiger eyeballs on your breath you won't be able to do anything with it.
I think they can make imitation shark fin out of soybeans.. kinda tastes like chicken
Racial profiling? To what end? Seriously, is Chinatown going to collapse if sharkfin soup is banned? Why must we continue to wipe out species for traditional status symbols.
Here, let me offer a solution to this issue: Continue to let fishermen harvest shark fins as they have, with one exception. For each fin taken, the fisherman must feed the shark one of his hands. The price of the soup goes through the roof and continues to be a "traditional" status symbol, AND we have a limit on culling sharks.
California is one of the most racist state in the union. They know that the Asian population will not put up a fuss about the ban, and the politicians in Sacramento really don't care about traditions of Asians. Asians are the only minority that have succeeded in optain the American dream, they seldom cause trouble, very few are on any kind of state or federal assistance, they all do well in school and go on to college, a good majority of them are professionals, the only thing they as for is let them enjoy one luxury. Asians do not ask for much, they work hard, pay their taxes and don't make waves, why can't the state allow them this one pleasure. I don't thinking banning shark fin in California will do anything to put a dent in the over fishing because of China. China used 10 times as many sharks are they do in California, so California can ban the practice but it will not save the species. Its just like air polutants, California can do all it wants, but China put out 10 times more polutants.
Wow, first you argue that California is racist, then you argue that Asians "don't ask for much" and should be allowed "one pleasure" - which sounds as if you are speaking very patronizingly about some subservient group!
The practice of shark finning needs to be banned because it is cruel in and of itself, not with reference to anyone's culture. Just because another country continues its inhumane practices is not much of a reason for America to continue the same practices! It's not a game of chicken where we wait for the other country to stop being cruel first.
Popo, have you watched fishermen when they obtain shark fins? They cut off the shark's dorsal, tail and side fins and then throw the rest of the living shark back into the ocean to drown. This is a waste!! They may not "ask for much" but they WASTE A LOT!!!
pretty soon peggy is going to thailand and try to ban cat soup there too. what a PETA crock that she is.
Chris, could you be any more moronic? While I don't like PETA-as they act like a terrorist organization, if more people thought like you, there wouldn't be any Bald Eagles left, Ivory would be available everywhere, and more than likely, there would be far fewer animals left in the world. And just so you know, I think of PETA as People Eating Tasty Animals, but, just because it(shark fin soup) is a "Tradition" doesn't mean it should always be. The U.S. has worked for years to stop Japan from there almost complete elimination of the Great Whales, but I guess you think, who cares about some dumb whale right.....like I said, Moron....
Is that popo or dodo? Whichever it is, you have to start somewhere and I applaud California for not only recognizing the problem, but actually doing something about it. The same goes for the "air pollution" you mentioned. They recognized there's a problem, and even though it may not eliminate it, at least they're trying to curtail it. Your logic is of "allowing one luxury" is absurd to put it as nicely as I can.
Any cruel, unsustainable culture is on the way to history's Dumpster.
Mr.PheaNiques-0000001, you're not considering the likelihood that less sharks would be taken from the ocean if their entire body is required. Regarless, the status quo of taking out 73 million sharks is impacting the ecosystem; something needs to change.
Blizzard....here is what you are not considering...in the very near future, if the human population continues to increase at its current rate....we are going to need to systematically remove every predator species from the Sea and Land, just to feed ourselves
The health of any ecosystem depends on both predator and prey to keep it healthy.
yes PJ...humans will replace all other predators
Mr.PheaNiques-0000001
You need to start with BIO101 and go from there. Clearly you have no clue about how this planet functions.
...humans would only replace all other predators for a VERY limited time. The earth is not a Chinese sweatshop; it is far more complicated than that.
SteveYo
not only is replacing a top predator, "relatively" easy...in the next 20-25 years as our population doubles again it will be a necessity
Mr. PheaNiques, if we follow your methods, we won't have to worry about the population doubling, because we will no longer have a sustainable planet and nature will have finished with US. The saddest part is that you don't seem to have any respect for or feeling for any of the many beauties or wonders of this world, or of the web of life that sustains us. That web, as SteveYo pointed out, is far more complicated than you understand.
Peggy, he probably kicks his neighbors dog too. Unreal. People with his sick way of thinking are usually demented in more ways than one.
@ bryan,peggy,silver,wives
I normally try to discuss issues civilly, with out name calling our pointing out imbeciles when they post, and discuss the facts of issues...but for you terds, I'm going to make an exception....
Take off your hemp under ware and wash them once a month, and add a little protein into your diet to reverse your brain atrophy...
This has nothing to do with ecology or in-humane treatment...this is nothing than 1 more of a thousand attempts by brain dead humans trying to force your screwed up sense of morality on everybody else
I love nature and all animals...except for brain dead libtard environuts
Here are a few things that I think is in-humane and immoral
Putting fisherman out of business who are trying to provide for themselve and their families
Putting California Farmers out of Business because there are some minnows living in a delta that they are not allowed to irrigate their farms
that there are millions of starving African children, because a bunch of hypocrits, complaining that they should not take advantage of their resources
Next time I go fishing, I'm going carve your names into the hide of a shark before I throw it back.....
If you had half the brain that evolution or god should have givin you, you would understand what I said is a fact
And I'll bet my 8 dogs, 4 cats, 2 rabbits, and turtle are treated better than your children in the dumpster behind the clinic
ROTFLMAO..Not sure about the rest of you..but i LOVE this guy Great post i voted it up one.
PhiaNiques, it is so very obvious that you do NOT try to discuss anything civilly as you resort almost immediately to name-calling on the most childish level (hemp underwear? seriously?) and insults that you cannot even spell correctly. But you are very predictable, and you no doubt sit around hugging yourself about your cleverness in using insults rather than logic to make your points. For the record, "turd" is spelled with a "u." Get it right if you are going to hurl it.
For the rest, you show no understanding of the issues but only an ability to parrot extreme anti-environmental talking points. You are not well read on the issues or you would know that health of the Delta smelt (not minnow) is connected with the health of the watershed and thus does affect farmers' long term livelihoods, that children are starving in Africa because people failed to protect and replenish natural resources, and that many otherwise callous people "love" their own animals but suffer from a terrible deficit of compassion toward others.
Most of us are posting here because we genuinely care about the issue. Some of us actually learn from each other. But your mind and heart are closed.
I always thought the people of San Fran. was fishy. HUMMMMM.
The thing about shark fishing is they do not have a size limit. Any shark, any size will do. They are completely oblivious that if they kill females, there is no chance of reproducing. If they kill the males, again you have the same problem. Then they kill the young ones.
Where do you draw the line? They do not care is what it is. There isn't a line for them. I say good for the removal of shark fin soup. If they want it so bad, they can go back to China and get it.
Yes, other sea creatures feed off the shark after it has been thrown into the water. But that is not the point. They kill too many of them and there isn't a limit.
Besides, it is absolutely disgusting how they fish these beautiful creatures. They catch them, slice off the fin, throw the shark back into the water where it dies a slow death.
I think American fishermmen kill sharks and sell them as meat. I have seen many east coast restaurants will shark on the menu. Has this been banned?
While they're at it, ban "traditional medicine" made from endangered species, or whose trade is endangering species. No one has the right to wipe out a life form for what they think is a sex aid or a "cure" for something that has other, probably more effective, treatments.
I so agree Rhea. It is that pathetic old adage, "Well, we've always done it this way" mentality. So, just because you have always done it that way, doesn't mean that it is right, just like the end of slavery in the 1800's, they did it for centuries, didn't make it right.
You know there are a lot of food options in this country. No one HAS to eat shark fins or else they will starve. Besides, it is a cruel way to obtain food. It is just unnecessary no matter what culture you are talking about or what old and tired traditions you are trying to follow.
I guess its a good idea but alot of people like shark fin and other untraditional American foods. What message are we sending by not letting others enjoy and fit in with this Country. Its tough on people knowing that there homeland allows these foods to be eaten and that they are eating it without problem. I never got to try it, so now I feel left out. I'd think asians will cry about this. We might lose some people who want to love our Country and others might not want to live here. These types of changes could alter asians from coming here for like 10 years.
Really....?
good they overpopulated their lands and now want to come here and do the same. and bring their barbaric "traditions" with them I have no problem with the asian culture, in fact i think it's quite beautiful with the exception of their barbaric ways when it comes to certain animals. this is a stupid and senseless tradition.
If their home lands were so wonderful then "WHY" do we have millions of people of "ALL races creeds and colors" flocking to out shores??
Bye!! You don't like it here, then move!! And, take about 100 thousand others with your mentality with you.
Bunch of PETA scheming worshipers in here. lets get this straight. PETA really stands for People Eating Tasty Animals. Why are you all so concern about this when you should be concern about how to fix our nation's real problems. Dambn PETA lovers, have nothing better to do.
Well, Chris, why aren't you on a site fixing our real problems instead of following this discussion? No one mentioned PETA before you, and you have added nothing to the debate but insults.
chris-3025243-------thanks for the reminder----i neglected to send in my yearly contribution to peta----ok --done-----i sleep better knowing i put my money where my mouth is. killing an animal for it's fins and sending it to its death is just plain vicious. would not want to know anyone capable of such brutality. goooooooooooooo peta------
Come on sharks are not any good. They just eat a lot of fish and a human now and then. Kill off the sharks and we will have more fish for us. In addition, it may make surfing safer. Save a surfer, eat a shark.
Larry, do you surf? Because most serious surfers have a far better understanding of the value of sharks in the ocean ecology and reverence for life than you demonstrate.
I surf Peggy not as much as i would like too and i agree with larry.
Sharks like alligators are animals and are predators at the Top of the food chain only not the very tip top liberals seem to forget that man is the ultimate predator thank GOD...yeah i know no one believes in GOD anymore.
less sharks more fish more fish less hungry people less hungry people less liberal charities taking up TV space .
Actually the last statement was wrong there will always be liberal charities taking up TV space just like there will always be liberals no matter what else happens in the world.
Hey but i can dream can't i ?
I believe that a compromise can be had. cut off the right pectoral fin of the shark and the shark will live swimming in a counterclockwise motion. we will be able to track the shark, and the Chinese will get their soup.
The city of do as I say, ignore what I do. True liberal city. All San Franciscans must be proud.
There are a lot of cultural traditions that are prohibited by law. To go to the extreme, no matter how cherished wife-burning is in your native land, we won't permit it here. (A real thing, if you don't already know, where when a man dies his wife is murdered so she can continue to serve him in the afterlife.)
On one hand, this is a barbarous practice. Cutting off the fin and just tossing the shark back in the ocean to die? When the fin isn't even an essential ingredient to the soup? That's just... ridiculous.
On the other hand, the sharks aren't endangered. People are still allowed to catch, kill, and eat them. Just now instead of keeping the fin and tossing the body, they need to do the opposite. It makes little difference to the shark, honestly, because either way it's dead. One way it bleeds to death in the ocean, the other way it suffocates slowly on the boat.
Is it better if they bring in the whole shark to sell?
It's about time someone came out with this I have been into sharks since i was a little kid mainly because my brother really liked them and he got me liking them too since then I have collected over 200 books and magazines and anything else that has to do with sharks they are my favorite animal. i saw those videos or some just like them along time ago i agree with the guy that said for each fin cut off let the sharks take their hand i'm a little more cruel then that i would if i could take every single one of those fisherman and cutoff all their limbs and throw them in the water and see how long they last now don't get me wrong i'm not a violent person but when i see a culture (and yes it is a culture thing no other culture does this) almost wipe out an entire species so these men can have their shark fin soup cuz they think it will make their tiny penises work better then yes i get upset and i know some one out there is going to say well we slaughter cows how is that different well it's different because at least when we kill a cow we use or try to use all of it we don't just cut off it's legs and throw the rest away and nobody and yes POPO i mean you probably doesn't have any idea or any facts about sharks at all do you know that sharks mature very slowly like humans imagine killing all the little girls in this country before they reach puberty what do think will happen to the future population of this country? or any country for that matter it will cease to exist well guess what thats what's happening to the shark population And one thing for all you people opposed to the ban I'm from Washington state and if i could i would move to california just to vote on this and Larry and Chris what do you think will happen when all the sharks are gone? you can surf the beaches in safety? no you won't because if all the sharks are gone the populations of other species will grow out of control sharks are the number 1 predator in the sea they keep populations of other animals down how much surfing do you think you can do if 1,000,000 seals line the beaches of california (knowing jerks like you guys you'll probably ask for the killing of them too) or imagine 100,000,000 jellyfish are at the beaches how much surfing could you do then? see people need to realize that sharks are the most misunderstood animal on earth (thanks to Jaws) they are a vital part of this world and don't forget they have been around for 400 million years don't you think if they weren't a vital part of this earth mother nature would have wiped them along time ago? or for you religous people don't you think God would have but no God and Mother nature have kept them around for that long because they are a necessary part of this world taking them out for a soup will only hurt this world including the Asian world immensly i urge people including Asian americans (I'm hispanic incase you want to say something about cultures) to think about what i have said sharks are beautiful Creatures please grab a book or look online for information and you too will see that please stop the senseless killings just for a bowl of soup look past your traditions and see what you are doing to our ONLY home If sharks go so will the oceanic eco-system please i beg you. (oh and last thing i'm a shark attack survivor and i still feel this way)
I have no "liking" for a shark, BUT none of our creatures need to be tortured. We should also be careful with Mother Earth's delicate balance. Once the balance is off, other reactions will happen...and it might not be so good for humans.
hey "God" why don't you focus on the message and not the grammar. See people like will try to find something negative to say so you can try to discredit what someone is trying to say. If you are so worried about my grammar then you are just a judgemental @!$%# why don'y you go club a baby seal you piece of @!$%# son of a bitch. I have no time for people who will focus on the negative instead of reading what i was trying to say. oh and you want periods? here you go you nature hating son of a bitch........................................................
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Awesome Adam--I'm a HUGE shark fan too! Have been for years, and they are definately the most misunderstood animals within the world. They are a vital part of eco balance and absolutely majestic in nature.
thanks Danielle yes they are.
Yet again the recources of the planet are at risk because of greed, the wild life that should be left wild are being manipulated and purged because of human greed, it will not end we are a parasetic race and we will continue to ravage the earth until it is desolate.
To cut off the fin and toss the shark back into the water for a slow death is a barbaric and wasteful practice that should be banned. Likewise, Canada should stop the brutal seal killings and Denmark the horrible Dolphin killings...
All cultures, through times, have some cruel practices....that we get rid of as civility evolve. Spain is limiting its bullfights...Barcelona is bullfight free....some generations and it will all be gone, thank God.
Also, the animals we keep for meat - can at least be treated with some care and not tortured. Do you know what they do to male baby chickens?
"According to Mercy for Animals, male chicks are of no use to the industry because they can't lay eggs and don't grow large or quickly enough to be raised profitably for meat. That results in the killing of 200 million male chicks a year."
They are dropped alive into a grinding machine!
Here we are year 2011; we can fly to the moon and beyond, we can kill life on Earth several times over, but we cannot find a way to get eggs without dropping 200 million male chickens alive into a grinder. And we are the intelligent creatures on Earth?
Most Chinese don't mind the ban both American born and Chinese mainland born. There are some guys that will get upset about it; I'm sure some cajuns would be put out if you made them stop eating gator... for awhile anyway.
Why can't it be about preserving our ecosystem? Why does it always have to be about culture and money? No wonder this world is going down the crapper. I understand that culture is important, but c'mon. How about this, I'll make my own culture that cuts up shark fin eaters. How's that?
We should ask these people that are proposing this bill if the sharks are going to stop attacking people if we stop eating them.
Maybe we should ask them if sharks are on the endangered species list.
If they're just cutting off the fins and letting the shark go, then where does shark oil come from?
It's funny how all these other products come to being if they are just cutting off the shark fins and letting the sharks go. I'd like to see where these people got their information.
It's bills like these that give liberals a bad name.
More people die from lighting every year than from shark attacks, sharks aren't prowling the ocean looking for humans! Besides when a human is in the ocean, your on their turf, something bites, suck it up you're a land animal, and NOT the top dog in the ocean.
exactly Danielle Robert Karp i take it back i don't like the way you think. What would you do if someone or something came into your home? you would attack it wouldn't you? well guess what? It's like danielle said your in their home what do you expect them to do? and sharks don't go around looking for us to eat we don't have enough fat on us to sustain them thats why they like seals cause they are very fatty. and some people are trying to get them on the endangered species list but not enough is being done to help them. Pretty soon they will all be gone and everyone will soon find out just how much sharks are needed in this world
The big picture here is that these cultures don't know when to stop killing a species - whether it be whales, sharks. dolphins or other fish. Years ago when Jacques Cousteau had a series on TV showing the many different species of fish and mammals that live in the Oceans of the world, he would never divulge the location of where they were filming because if either the Japanese or Chinese fishermen found the location they would fish until nothing was left alive. Just because they can order sushi rolled in gold leaf or get whiffs of pure oxygen at the local pharmacy for $40 a pop doesn't make it part of their culture, it just shows they have the money to buy anything they want.
In this day and age what do you need whales for that can't be produced from other products. Do you want to eat whale meat & really do they. Just because someone says it's part of their culture doesn't mean everyone has to go along with it.
In the middle east part of their culture is to stone women to death if they are believed to be an adulteress, a thief can have his hand cut off for stealing. Is this how civilized people should act. Killing a species just because someone can afford to have a bowl of soup for $80 is pathetic. Just as bad a believing a Rhino horn is an aphrodisiac (buy some Viagra instead) and don't kill the rhino for it's horn. I'm not a Peta follower or believer but people should use common sense it matters like these.
When will Americans stop eating shark meat? This is a common practice that they need to control on both coasts.
Takenaka, probably once they are all gone you know around the same time asians will also be forced to stop consuming them. Great point lets all argue for the cultural limitations of our species, a circular pursuit leading us nowhere.
It should never be such a cruel,inhumane and unethical way to slaughter the sharks just for their fins. Theirs always fish. EAT CRAB OR LOBSTER! JUST SAY NO TO SHARKFIN SOUP!
Yes Greatwhitey, boiling animals alive is so much more humane. But anyway, it's not the sharks I am concerned about, it's the lettuce. Every year, millions of loettuce plants have their heads chopped off just so we can have salad. How do we know that the lettuce aren't suffering? Think about the anxiety the plant suffers from while sitting in the garden, just waiting to be plucked from the soil, broken into pieces and then drowned in a delicious vinagrette. I say, where does it all stop?
In the meantime, let's all make a donation to People Eating Tasty Animals, and ignore the fact that hundreds of thousands of children are starving today!
Give me a break!
OMG! Safe the lettuce. We have to propose a bill to put lettuce on the endangered list and create preserves for them. OMG!
Just what we need 73 million more sharks in the ocean every year peta and liberals know everything riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight !
Retired coast guard please stop making this a peta or liberal thing. I'm neither i just know that when they are gone this world will change forever remember the old saying "you never appreciate something until it's gone" well one day you will appreciate what sharks have done for this for the past 400 million years. You were probably a scared little girl while you were in the coast guard huh? thats why you joined them and not the Navy or some other branch of the military wasn't it? and i'm going to guess while you were out at sea a shark did something to scare you and all your shipmates laughed and made fun of you didn't they? that's why you don't like sharks huh? come on tell the truth you are a scared little bitch aren't you?
Does your mom know you talk like that?
Macho man Adam ... At 50 i can honestly say i am still afraid at times it keeps you alive i would never want to do law enforcement with anyone who was never afraid.
I actually like shark they taste good.
People Eating Tasty Animals. All GODs creatures have a place next to the green beans .
Even as brilliant as you believe you are i doubt you could wipe out all the sharks in the 7 sea's . Speaking of which can you name them Adam?
why would i want to wipe out all the sharks in the 7 seas? i hope thats a typo if not your probably not as smart as YOU think you are and you want me to name some sharks? ok Here you go well we have The Great white or as it's referred to in some parts of this world as the white pointer, the tiger shark, the bull shark(also known as the zambezi shark) , the angel shark, the grey reef shark, the black reef shark, the great hammerhead shark, the scalloped hammerhead shark, the lemon shark, the basking shark(which is harmless because it feeds on plankton) the whale shark(that too feeds on plankton) the oceanic white tip, the blue shark, the goblin shark, the ragged tooth shark, the dwarf shark (which is smaller than a cat) oh and in case you were talking about the 7 seas do you want what there called now? or what they were called? well here's both Persian Gulf ("Sea of Fars"), the Gulf of Khambhat ("Sea of Larwi"[3]), the Bay of Bengal ("Sea of Harkand"[4]), the Strait of Malacca ("Sea of Kalah"[5]), the Singapore Strait ("Sea of Salahit"[6]), the Gulf of Thailand ("Sea of Kardanj"[5]), and the South China Sea ("Sea of Sanji) i could name some more sharks if you'd like?
Who............................cares?
Thanks for your service brother, welcome home.
Krasna Ludec Viet nam Vet
You should it's our earth without it we all would be dead.