A recent news item notes that the National Palace Museum in Taipei has decided to remove shark's fin soup from all of the menus in its Silk Palace Restaurant, a step in the right direction toward ensuring that the much-maligned shark will not be needlessly slaughtered simply to provide ingredients for a soup that are easily substituted by other materials that are easier to obtain and are not harmful to the ocean environment.

The Silk Palace Restaurant is a very upscale restaurant which opened earlier this year within one of the world's outstanding collections of art, a place visited each year by hundreds of thousands of people from around the globe. The move came as the result of urging by the Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan (EAST) and Humane Society International (HSI), and was made in the face of pressures coming from two directions: first, the growing realization that the populations of many species of sharks are in danger from overfishing and the practice of 'finning'; and second, growing demand from the public for a food item which has been a symbol of wealth and prestige for thousands of years in China.

What's this shark's fin doing in my soup?

Shark's fin soup is a highly prized delicacy made using the fins of a variety of sharks. It has reportedly been a part of Chinese cuisine since the 4th century BC in Southern China, according to one source. For the longest part of its history, however, it was a very exclusive dish, reserved for the elite and often only the emperor.

Shark's fin soup is regularly served up today in Chinese restaurants, during Chinese New Year celebrations, in wedding banquets and other events. Shark's fin has a slippery, glutinous texture that yields a thick soup without the use of corn starch. It is regarded as a tonic food and even as an aphrodisiac by some, and many Chinese believe that eating shark's fin strengthens the internal organs and helps to retard aging. The Compendium of Materia Medica notes that it is good at strengthening the waist, supplementing vital energy, nourishing the blood, invigorating kidney and lung functions and improving digestion. Modern nutritionists find that it is rich in protein, and the large amount of gelatin in shark's fin can help to promote the growth of cartilage

Shark's fin boasts a smooth, appealing texture, but does not itself bring much flavor to the table. The taste comes from its ability to soak up flavors from other foods, much like tofu or taro does. Thus it is usually cooked in a broth rich in ingredients like ham, chicken or shiitake mushrooms. Why then the ruckus over a dish that is relatively uncommon and bland to boot?

The tempest in a soup bowl has been stirred up in recent years largely due to the rise of China, and economic prosperity which has put shark's fin soup in the reach of many newly-rich Chinese. Many of these nouveau riche order dishes like shark's fin soup just to prove that they can live as well as the nobles of old. It is a sign that they have 'made it' economically and socially, and it is often a way of honoring business associates or clients. While consumption of shark's fin soup has held steady or even declined in places like Taiwan and Hong Kong, this has more than been offset by huge increases in consumption in China.

More consumption means greater demand, and greater demand means higher prices. This has led to huge increases in the incidence of 'finning', which is the process of catching a shark (whether intentionally or as a by-catch by tuna fishers, for example) and cutting off the fins, then tossing the still-alive fish back into the ocean. Fishing boats follow this procedure because they can make a lot more money off the shark's fins than off the rest of the shark, which offers relatively poor-quality meat.

This is a practice which has been documented in many places around the world, including a number of wildlife sanctuaries and in areas where it is prohibited. Finning leaves the shark unable to move after it is dropped back into the water, and since sharks must move to grab oxygen from water passing over its gills, the finless sharks quickly suffocate and are eaten by other fish or animals. This means the death of an apex predator which ordinarily serves to eliminate many diseased and genetically-defective animals and thus helps stabilize fish populations. This is compounded by the fact that female sharks produce only one pup a year and the young shark may take up to fifteen years to reach maturity.

More than the RDA of mercury

There are other reasons to shy away from shark's fin. As an apex predator, sharks eat many animals which have high levels of mercury, which becomes more concentrated as it moves up the food chain. In April a Taiwanese woman who claims to have eaten shark's fin soup once a weak was diagnosed with mercury poisoning. Rebecca Chen Chih-hsiao, a consultant for the environmental group WildAid Asia, notes that shark fin contains 85 percent protein, but once the protein is combined with mercury the two substances become very difficult to separate.

Another potential danger with shark's fins is that many food processors bleach the fins to make them whiter and more attractive to consumers. This is a problem that has also been encountered with other light-colored foodstuffs like tofu in Taiwan.

Many people have already begun to shy away from the pricey delicacy, which can cost anywhere from several hundred NT dollars to more than NT$10,000. In China, basketball superstar Yao Ming publicly declared that he would no longer eat shark's fin soup, earning him quick criticism from the restaurant and catering industry. In addition, it probably did not help that shark's fin soup was later served at Yao Ming's wedding dinner.

Not so in Taiwan, where former President Chen Shui-bian's daughter refused to have shark's fin on her wedding dinner menu, opting instead for oyster soup. Her father has also put in a word for the sharks, appearing in a promotional video urging the public not to eat shark's fin. Director Ang Lee has filmed a similar message, but otherwise celebrities from Taiwan have failed to follow the lead of celebrities like Jackie Chan, Tony Leung, Stefani Sun and Chinese swimmer Li Ting. 'Crocodile Hunter' Steve Irwin, the Australian who was killed by a manta ray while filming a program, was known to walk out of Chinese restaurants if he spotted shark's fin on the menu.

Another area of support for resistance to shark's fin comes from an unlikely source - the chefs who have to prepare it. One chef at the Grand Hotel in Taipei was asked which dish in an elaborate official dinner was the most difficult to prepare. "The shark's fin", he quickly responded. "It must be kept dry until three days before the dinner. Then it is boiled for eight hours and rinsed in cold running water, to take out the fishy smell. Then it is cooked again with ginger and scallion and placed in a stock made from Yunnan ham, pork and chicken. ...It took three days to prepare, but the guests consumed it in less than ten minutes."

Consider the alternatives

It's not like people don't have any other choice. Mung bean vermicelli is commonly used to stand in for shark's fin in many places, although the substitute may have its own share of problems. Wang Chia-chuan, who works for a restaurant in Taichung notes that the worldwide movement to save the sharks is having an effect and that the supply of shark's fins has dwindled in recent years. Wang says that faux fins made from mung bean starch gel, fish skin and gelatin are often bleached, meaning that well-meaning diners who want to avoid eating shark's fin may be endangering their own health by doing so. A safer alternative may to switch to dishes that offer similar textures or tastes, like abalone or onion soup, rather than going for shark's fin mimics.

A lot of cooking aficionados have turned to dishes which are cheaper, easier to buy and a lot more fun to prepare. One good example is shark's fin squash and crab meat broth. This recipe utilizes shark's fin squash, which is spaghetti squash by another name. The flesh of the squash resembles strands of shark's fin, earning it the alternative name. It is cooked with crab meat and chicken broth as well as egg, and flavored with Hua Tiao wine, garlic, brandy, vinegar, sesame oil and other seasonings, then tempered with corn flour.

Help is on the way

What else can be done to stop the practice of eating shark's fin soup and help save the 'king of the ocean'? The first step is to continue signing up celebrities and stars in entertainment and sports to speak out against the delicacy. Secondly, a sustained, directed program of education in Taiwan's schools is needed to reverse years of misunderstanding that began somewhere about the time of the release of Steven Spielberg's wildly popular but also wildly misinformed 'Jaws'. Third, there are many dynamic organizations which are working to extend bans on shark's fin soup as part of their conservation and animal protection activities. Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan (EAST), Humane Society International (HSI), Live Conservation Association (LCA) and Singapore's Sea Shepherd are some of the groups spearheading the drive to outlaw shark's fin. They are constantly in contact with everyone from government officials to restaurant owners to fishing organizations to ensure that sharks get a fair shake.

For example, EAST has countered the claims of the Council of Agriculture that Taiwan's fishing boats catch only large sharks and that they utilize the whole body rather than just the fins, so they are not harming shark populations to any serious extent. EAST points out, however, that there are ample photographs of piles of shark fins in Taiwan's fishing ports, including many places selling young shark fins. In addition, Taiwan imported 1720 tons of shark fins between 2005 and 2007.

Educational efforts carried out by these and other organizations include printing and placing bilingual table tents on restaurant tables to inform diners of the downside of shark's fin soup. They are readily willing to speak in schools, community centers and many other places where both young and old can be educated about the role that shark play in the ocean environment.

The downside for Taiwan in the shark's fin controversy is very clear. Environmental groups like Greenpeace have clashed frequently with boats in Taiwan's fishing fleet, incidents which are usually widely publicized. The media have also picked up on the shark's fin controversy, as seen in the week-long visit by Lisa Ling on behalf of CNN's AC360°. Ling reported that they witnessed fishing boats in Kaohsiung unloading "hundreds of sharks and thousands of fins" onto the docks. She also visited a restaurant where every table ordered shark's fin soup and even saw shark's fin products in a gas station mini-mart.

Obviously the problem of shark's fin soup is not going to go away soon, and much more work on the part of activists, educators and governments will be needed. I remember the first time I encountered a real shark. I was working on the Gulf Coast and walked on to a fishing jetty where someone had hooked a six-foot long hammerhead and just tossed it onto the wooden planks. A young boy, maybe ten years old, was methodically plunging a penknife into the skin of the shark. I asked him why he was stabbing a dead shark, and his response was simply to shrug his shoulders and look away. That seems to be the response of many people to the shark's fin controversy today, but with education and laws that are effective and enforced, sharks will be able to hold on to their rightfl place as 'kings of the ocean'.