On the topic of Shark Fin Soup again... these images might change your attitude =o
- Thread starter LKD
- Start date
The Chinese aren't the only ones doing stupid things. Us Canadians and Americans take our genetically modified cows and pigs, grind them up into small bits and stuff it into a wrapper. Then we wonder why we are fat, have high cholesterol and develop cancer. On top of that, we wonder why ground beef and pork gets recalled from the grocery store.
but we don't chop their snouts off, then throw them in a pile to let bleed or suffocate to death...
when they hunt sharks that is essentially what they do... chop the 3 fins off, then throw them back to let them bleed out and sink, essentially drowning...
at the VERY least... if you're going to hunt shark, use the whole shark...
Yes, American and Canadian corporate farms are much more humane. Thousands of animals on drugs, being fed genetically modified feed which contains chemicals they were not meant to eat, and in crowded buildings. Go look up what a 'cannulated' cow to see what I mean. I'm not a vegan or vegetarian, but we shouldn't be so quick to shake our heads at shark fin soup especially when we're not treating our animals that much better.
I absolutely agree that it is a huge waste to chop just the fins off and throw the rest of the animal into the sea, but us North Americans do the same thing when we throw away perfectly good food.
ya, i get your points too... but at least these populations are farmed and are not at risk of extinction...
the sharks live in the wild and we have absolutely no idea how many are out there, or how close we are to losing them...
and i absolutely hate wasting food too... it's a waste of money and resources... that's why i shop small and often, i never keep much in my fridge
You have to be trolling... did you really just say that chopping the fins off a shark and then leaving it to drown equates to throwing away perfectly good food, like tossing an unfinished Big Mac on the trash?
That's just plain sick. So by your logic beating a puppy to death with baseball bat would be ruining a perfectly good bat?
Both the Chinese and North American culture are wasteful in this regard and I'm definitely not suggesting what you just said above. I'm not even sure why you would even say such a thing especially in the wake of current events?!
I'm just trying to make the point that all cultures (Chinese, North American, etc) are wasteful and 'sick', but in different ways. The Chinese are definitely wasteful and sick for only taking the fins and throwing away the rest. We're also just as sick for using so many resources and energy into fattening up animals only to throw away food later on.
Again, my point is that we should not be so quick to point fingers at the Chinese when we're not a whole lot better at treating our animals. Yes we are 'farming' them, but we've also fundamentally changed how cows and pigs live by feeding them things i.e. corn that they never were meant to eat in the first place to increase milk and meat yield. We're also crowding thousands of them in buildings, attaching machines to them to extract milk, etc. This is part of the reason for mad cow disease and tainted beef. I would also call that 'sick' too
Go visit a corporate pig or beef farm and slaughterhouse to see how 'wonderful' us North Americans treat animals.
I was actually just thinking about that movie. The real thing is more educational IMO.
i used to have pet rabbits as a child...
my father was also a butcher...
yup... rabbit stew every autumn
Shark fin trade 'victim of anti-Chinese conspiracy', say traders
Criticism from Western-led green groups has slashed industry by 50 per cent in past year
Saturday, 05 January, 2013, 12:00am
Shark fin traders in Hong Kong blasted an "anti-Chinese conspiracy" by environmentalists, whose constant bombardment of criticism they say is killing their business.
"The whole industry has recorded a [sales] decrease of 50 per cent on last year," Shark Fin Trade Merchants Association chairman Ho Siu-chai said. "[The decline] is mainly due to the omnipresent advocacy by green groups."
Ho said his industry was being targeted by an anti-Chinese conspiracy led by "Western" environmental groups. "They always blame us for cutting off fins and dumping carcasses at sea. This is not true and is distorted," he said.
The strong hostility to the trade has seen about 30 per cent of shark fin shops close down in recent years, Ho estimated, adding that some traders had been forced to sell other dried seafood, such as abalone and scallops.
Ho's shop Siu Fung Shark Marine Products is at the western end of Des Voeux Road in Sai Ying Pun where rows of musty shops sell a vast array of dried food, from mushrooms to seahorses.
It is also a hub for the global shark fin trade, taking about half the world's total fin harvest, says environmental group WWF.
Veteran trader Kwong Hung-kwan, owner of Shark's Fin City in Sheung Wan, said Hong Kong had become an entrepot for the product. "Nowadays, Hongkongers consume about 10 per cent of our imports," he said. "The rest is shipped to China, the US, Canada and Malaysia for Chinese there to consume."
Census and Statistics Department figures show that shark fin imports have reduced from 10,292 tonnes in 2011 to 3,087 tonnes last year, up to November.
Fins now mainly come from the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Indonesia and Taiwan.
"It's getting more difficult to do business in the city because of the conservationists," Kwong said. "That's why traders now import less."
Environmentalists have campaigned against the trade in fins - an expensive staple at weddings and banquets - saying the harvesting methods are cruel and that shark populations have declined dramatically as a result.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature says a third of all shark species are threatened with extinction.
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/...de-victim-anti-chinese-conspiracy-say-traders
