Almost 70 percent of Hongkongers have stopped eating or have consumed less shark fin in the past five years, a new study has found.
The research, conducted jointly by HKU and the Bloom Association, found that 81 percent out of those who said they have eaten less shark fin did so because of environmental concerns.
Over 1,000 Hong Kong residents were interviewed for the survey last year.
A similar 2009 study showed that almost 80 percent found it “acceptable” to exclude shark fin soup from wedding banquet menus.
Most people who reported having eaten shark fin soup in the 2009 study didn’t even order the dish, but ate the soup like sheep simply because it was served as part of set menus.
But only five years later, 92 percent of Hongkongers now find it acceptable to not include shark fin in the wedding banquet.
(You should probably make sure not to invite any of the remaining eight percent to your wedding.)
In fact, the consumption of shark fin at wedding banquets has fallen from 91 percent in 2009 to 72 percent in 2014, while the rate of its consumption at Chinese New Year has dropped from 38 percent to 14 percent.
Though the results are encouraging, Bloom Association chief marine programme co-ordinator Stan Shea says the government still needs to regulate the trade of endangered sharks and rays.
Currently, Hong Kong only has laws on the trade of seven such species, which were agreed upon internationally in 2013.
But the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists 73 species of sharks as vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered.
“As long as endangered species of shark and other marine species are still being traded, review and enforcement of trade regulations are necessary,” Shea said.
Photo: RosieTulips via Flickr
