Shark fin soup (or shark's fin soup) is a popular soup item of Chinese cuisine usually served at special occasions such as weddings and banquets, or as a luxury item in Chinese culture.
The shark fins provide texture while the taste comes from the other soup ingredients. There is controversy over the practice of shark finning. Consumption of shark fin soup has risen dramatically with the middle class becoming more affluent. Finning is named as a primary contributing factor in the global decline of many shark species. Fishing fleets catch around 70 million sharks a year as of 2010.
As their income levels have increased, Chinese communities around the world are showing a greater demand for shark fins This increase in demand, combined with the importance of this top predator in the ocean, has the potential to significantly alter oceanic ecosystems.
Contents
1 Customs
2 Preparation
3 Taste
4 Nutritional value and health issues
5 Market
6 Sustainability
7 See also
8 References
9 Further reading
10 External links
CustomsShark fin soup dates back to China's Ming Dynasty. The popularity of shark fin soup rose in the late 18th and early 19th centuries as standards of living began to improve. The delicacy was coveted by emperors because it was rare, delicious, and required elaborate preparation. Holding both culinary and symbolic significance, the dish is popular at important occasions such as weddings, banquets, and important business deals. It symbolizes wealth, power, prestige and honor. This staple of gourmet Chinese cuisine is a show of respect, honor, and appreciation to the guests.
PreparationGenuine shark fin soup or stew is made with shark fins obtained from any of a variety of shark species. Raw shark fins are processed by first removing the skin, trimming them to shape, and thoroughly drying them. Hydrogen peroxide may be used before drying to make their colour more appealing.
Shark fins are the cartilaginous pectoral and dorsal fins of a shark. Sharks' fins are sold in two forms: frozen and dried. Both need to be softened before they can be used to prepare soup. The frozen form is ready to use, as it has been prepared and therefore only requires about an hour or two of soaking.
There are two types of the dried form, skinned (shredded) and whole, which requires more preparation.
TasteIn shark fin soup, the fins themselves are virtually tasteless. The taste comes from the soup, while the fins are valued for their texture. Keith Bradsher of The New York Times describes it as a "chewy, sinewy, stringy" texture. Krista Mahr of TIME called it "somewhere between chewy and crunchy." Dave Lieberman of OC Weekly wrote that it is a "snappy, gelatinous texture." Westerners reaction to eating shark fin soup for the first time is that it has almost no taste. However, texture is prized as much as taste in Asian cuisine.
Nutritional value and health issuesChinese culture has lauded shark fins' alleged properties to boost sexual potency, enhance skin quality, increase one's qi or energy, prevent heart disease, and lower cholesterol.
Vitamin content of typical shark fin soup is much less than that of typical vegetable soup, containing almost no vitamin A. However, it contains slightly more iron, zinc, riboflavin, and phosphorus than normal vegetable soup.
There are apparently false claims that shark fins prevent cancer. No scientific proof supports these claims; at least one study has shown shark cartilage to be of no value in cancer treatment.
If consumed in extremely large quantities, shark fin soup may cause sterility in men due to mercury content. The FDA recommends pregnant women and young children avoid eating shark fins.
Market
Shark fins and other shark parts for sale in a Chinese pharmacy
Shark fins stewShark fin soup is a popular delicacy in China, and is eaten in Chinese restaurants around the world. Peter Knights, executive director of WildAid, said in 2001 that the shark fin trade more than doubled in the prior 15 years.
A survey carried out in China in 2006 by WildAid and the Chinese Wildlife Conservation Association found that 35% of participants said they had consumed shark fin soup in the last year, while 83% of participants in an online survey conducted by the World Wide Fund for Nature, said that they had consumed shark fin soup at some time.
In Hong Kong restaurants, where the market has traditionally been strong, demand from Hong Kong natives has reportedly dropped, but this has been more than balanced by an increase in demand from the Chinese mainland, as the economic growth of China has put this expensive delicacy within the reach of a growing middle class.
Based on information gathered from the Hong Kong trade in fins, the market is estimated to be growing by 5% a year. The high price of the soup means it is often used as a way to impress guests or at celebrations, Fifty-eight percent of those questioned in the WWF survey said they ate the soup at a celebration or gathering.
While fins from many shark species are used in the trade, certain shark species have been identified over the centuries as supplying the tastiest and most succulent fins. The shark-like rays (the shovelnose rays and sawfishes) are known to supply the highest quality fin—the "caviar" of shark fin. As observed by one of the leading treatises on shark trade, " from the white-spotted guitarfish (Rhynchobatus spp.) are considered to be most valuable. The preferred shark species for fins are tiger, mako, sawfish, sandbar, bull, hammerhead, blacktip, porbeagle, blue and thresher sharks."
Fins from the critically endangered sawfishes (family Pristidae) "are highly favored in Asian markets and are some of the most valuable shark fins." Sawfishes are now protected under the highest protection level of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), Appendix I, but given the great volume of the shark fin trade, and as detached shark fins are difficult to identify, it is unlikely that CITES protection will prevent highly valued sawfish fins from entering the trade.
A third of all fins imported to Hong Kong come from Europe. Spain is by far the largest supplier, providing between 2,000 and 5,000 metric tonnes a year. Norway supplies 39 metric tonnes, but Britain, France, Portugal and Italy are also major suppliers.
Hong Kong handles at least 50% and possibly up to 80% of the world trade in shark fin, with the major suppliers being Europe, Taiwan, Indonesia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, United States, Yemen, India, Japan, and Mexico.
SustainabilitySee also: Shark finning
Some researchers believed that from 1996 to 2000, 26 to 73 million sharks were traded yearly. The annual median for the period was 38 million, nearly four times more than the UN estimates, but considerably lower than those of many conservationists. The total was 70 million in 2010. Shark fins are a billion dollar industry.
Major declines in shark populations have been recorded in recent years—some species have been depleted by over 90% over the past 20–30 years, with a population decline of 70% not being unusual. Only a small amount of the shark is actually kept. In a process called finning, the fins are cut from living sharks. After the fins have been cut off, the remainder of the fish, which is often still alive, is thrown back into the sea. When returned to the ocean, the finless shark is unable to swim, and sinks to the ocean bottom and dies a slow death.
The 2007 documentary Sharkwater exposes the abuse in shark-finning industry and the damage it is causing to the ocean's ecosystems. It also uncovers government corruption supporting the industry.
According to a 2010 BBC report, demand for shark fin soup in Asia has been blamed for the illegal killing of nearly 300,000 sharks off Brazil since 2009.
"We don't think that banning the soup is the answer," said Knights. "This isn't a question of stopping a tradition. It may even be a question of keeping a tradition going." What's needed, he says, is "a huge increase in consumer awareness," particularly among Asians.
“禁翅案”现转机：市长福特明确反对