Persuasive entry on 19 May 2021
In the contemporary world, humans have grown accustomed to slaughtering animals for their flesh as meals. Shark fin soup is a truly popular example of this habit. According to The Guardian in 2011, DNA analysis showed that 40% of shark fins auctioned in Hong Kong already come from 14 species — all of which appear on the International Union for the Conservation of Endangered Species in nature. The argument of whether we should ban restaurants from serving shark fin soup has been a hot topic for ages up to this point, and in this essay, I would like to point out three benefits of banning restaurants from serving shark fin soup entirely, and why it is the right thing to do.
The first reason why I believe that we should ban restaurants from serving shark fin soup is that sharks keep our oceans healthy. It is known that sharks keep the fish stocks healthy and keep the marine ecosystems alive. They even keep coral reefs alive as they help balance the ocean food chain. According to experts from the popular documentary about the conspiracies of marine life, Seaspiracy, sharks are the key to the survival of our oceans and other species as well, and the slaughter of sharks has caused other unlikely species to die out with them. Without sharks, our oceans would be turned into swamps, and they would be ruined forever. Sharks are Apex predators, and they are at the very top of the food chain. If they go extinct because of us, their prey (which they call ‘Level Two’ predators), may overpopulate. When level two predators overpopulate and wipe out the population of ‘level three’ creatures, they may go extinct as well because they will not have anything to eat. This trend will continue downwards. So the Apex predators, including sharks, are essential to the way how the food chain works underwater. Over 73 million sharks were killed, and they have lost up to 80 to 90% of their population in just the last few decades, which is just insane. As we have noticed the decline of the healthiness of our oceans in the past few years, it has become obvious that we must do something, probably a ban on serving the endangered species to try to slow down the process of human activities wiping the marine life of hundreds of thousands of species as a whole.
Another argument in favour of banning restaurants from serving shark fin soup as a whole is that the practice of slaughtering sharks for their fins is unethical, cruel and inhumane. Most sharks are finned when they are still alive, and 98% of all the finned sharks are wasted by being dumped back into the sea. This practice is extremely inhumane, especially when they are finned painfully alive. On average, sharks kill 10 people per year. However, 11,000 to 30,000 sharks are killed by humans per hour on average. That is mindblowing when factoring in the fact that over half of the sharks killed were killed as bycatch from commercial fishing fleets. This means over 50 million sharks every year are caught in nets this way. Shark fin soup has no nutritional benefits at all, and it does not taste much, but at the same time, we are slaughtering them as a luxurious item on the menu. Some experts would even say it is hazardous to our health when heavy metals from water pollution are present. In the long run, killing sharks for their fins would be an unsustainable fishing practice, when the slaughter of sharks gives us no benefits in return, plus bringing immense pain to the endangered species. Hence banning shark fin soup also discourages this kind of cruelty happening in the sea every day, and from an ethical standpoint, this is the way to go.
Last but not least, a total ban on serving shark fin soup will raise the awareness of the public of just how disastrous shark finning is to marine life and sharks themselves. Not much public attention would be raised when only a few restaurants stop serving the endangered species. However, if a total ban takes place, it will raise public awareness significantly, which may impose stress on the restaurants to take the dish off their shelves, just like when the total ban on the ivory trade took place. If the elephants’ tusks deserved a total ban, why is shark fin soup not banned already? The consumption of shark fin soup has always been a must-eat dish in Chinese banquets, as it is a Chinese tradition and culture. A total ban may then educate people that the disadvantages of consuming the species outweigh the traditional advantages, and further encourage them to give up this unethical and cruel tradition. More people will then know about the disadvantages of shark finning, and more public criticism will be created towards the serving of shark fin soup in other places, including mainland China, and Asia as a whole, which will help to spread the message worldwide.
To conclude, shark fin soup is hazardous to marine life, the marine food chain, the ocean ecosystems and even our lives. This cruel, inhumane and unethical practice of shark finning must be stopped to save our beautiful oceans. Stopping shark finning not only saves the lives of sharks but other sea creatures as well, no matter whether they are common or rare. By raising the awareness of the public about this issue, it is believed that more marine lives will be saved as the message has been spread. Therefore, a total ban on serving shark fin soup, in my opinion, is definitely worth considering.
(941 words)
Identification of Shark Species Composition and Proportion in the Hong Kong Shark Fin Market Based on Molecular Genetics and Trade Records
2. Facts on Seaspiracy Website
3. Disrupt News Website
4. Seaspiracy on Netflix