Shark Finn Soup Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Shark Finn Soup - Research Paper Example The paper also considers the laws made by various nations to stop shark fin harvesting and how the concerned individuals, groups and institutions can create awareness amongst the masses regarding the cruelty and wastage associated with shark fin harvesting. Keywords Sharks fins, finning, ecology, cruelty, extinction, harvesting Shark Fin Soup There is no denying the fact that Shark Fin Soup happens to be an important constituent of the Chinese cuisine. It is also true that Shark Finn is treated as a luxury item as far as the Chinese cuisine is concerned and is usually served on formal occasions and gatherings like banquets and weddings. Shark Fin is primarily used to add texture to the Chinese soups in combination with a number of other ingredients and spices. As far as the Chinese cuisine is concerned, Shark Finn soup tends to be an ingredient of historical relevance and its history could be traced back to the Ming dynasty (Earth Island Journal 2013, 8). The irony is that though sha rk fin soup involves much cruelty on the part of professional fisherman, with the increase in the income of Chinese population, the demand for the Shark Finn soup has been constantly on the rise. This is indeed worrisome and serious when one takes into consideration the survival and sustainability of the shark species. This is because the shark fins required to make Shark Fin Soup are collected from a range of shark species. Not only Shark Finn Soup is responsible for a decline in the shark populations around the world, the collections of shark fins by the fisherman involves much cruelty as they simply chop off the shark fins from a shark and throw back the rest of the shark in the ocean to die a painful and cruel death. On e big reason why the Chinese like the Shark Fin Soup is because they consider the Shark Fin Soup to be an important part of the Chinese culture. Simply speaking Shark Finn Soup happened to be a culinary delicacy that was earlier afforded by the rich and wealthy o nly (Dukes 2011, 42). In a way the Shark Fin Soup happened to be a symbol of wealth and status. Thereby, to claim that Shark Fin Soup happens to be a food of cultural importance is faulty because most of the Chinese actually speaking did not afford to eat Shark Fin soup. They were simply not in a financial position to buy Shark Fin Soup. Shark Fin Soup happened to be a delicacy that was primarily confined to the rich Chinese families. Thereby, actually speaking the popularity of the Shark Finn Soup is a trend that is of recent origins. This is because with the rise of the economic reforms in China and with the opening up of the Chinese economy, the number of Chinese people who are rich has dramatically increased over the years (Dukes 2011, 42). As Shark Fin Soup carries a snob appeal, many of the newly rich Chinese do prefer to buy and serve Shark Finn Soup because they believe that it adds to their social stature. Yet the bad thing is that those people who like to eat Shark Finn So up are simply not concerned about the cruelty to which the sharks are subjected to, to get their fins. They show no concern for the decreasing shark populations owing to the well established shark fin trade. Every years, millions of sharks are killed around the world so as to harvest the shark fins that constitute an important constituent of the Shark Fin Soup and some other Chinese and East Asian delicacies (Reading 2000, 51). The method resorted to