At first I thought, shark fin doesn't sound like any Brazilian cuisine. Then I read, Is there still no regulation over there? These are stupid numbers.
At first I thought, shark fin doesn't sound like any Brazilian cuisine. Then I read,
The seized fins, reportedly destined for illegal export to Asia...
Is there still no regulation over there? These are stupid numbers.
There's some regulation in China, but little or no enforcement. While I can't speak to how they're going about "shark finning" specifically, I've read that shark fin soup remains a popular, and...
Exemplary
There's some regulation in China, but little or no enforcement. While I can't speak to how they're going about "shark finning" specifically, I've read that shark fin soup remains a popular, and not particularly expensive, delicacy. And like with other things, shops are selling manta ray fins as shark fins, both duping their customers and keeping costs for shark fin soup down. I imagine that also helps to keep shark fin products accessible to the public and therefore in-demand.
The Chinese government's support of a vast international fishing program, sending fishing boats outside their own territorial waters or traditional seas, is a real problem for understanding the rate of over-fishing around the world. They're even fishing right off the Galapagos Islands and in other non-territorial waters.
The Chinese are not only using foreign labor in their tuna fleets to give them plausible deniability for illegal fishing practices (banned gear, shark finning on registered tuna fishing vessels), they're even sending prisoners serving hard labor sentences on multi-year fishing boats to work instead of being in a mine or labor camp. So was/is Thailand.
Of course, China isn't the only country sending fishing fleets abroad or into disputed waters. It's a problem that many countries are contributing to. China's fishing fleets are just a frightening mess of humanitarian problems and highlight the problem of over-fishing. Considering how important fish products are as a source of food and nutrition, it's no wonder that China's sending armed coast guard ships to protect their fishing fleets, though I wonder if they're also playing prison warden to the crews. This is a humanitarian disaster that more and more people are concerned will contribute to a food crisis for third-world Asian and South American countries.
Edit: Also worth adding is that the UK just adopted a law banning import or export of shark fins (in any form), which they had been legally exporting to Spain, who was legally exporting to Asia. The reduction in legal drivers of shark fin supply should have a positive impact on shark populations (and therefore fish populations) in the near term, even if it doesn't immediately dent demand in Asia.
At first I thought, shark fin doesn't sound like any Brazilian cuisine. Then I read,
Is there still no regulation over there? These are stupid numbers.
There's some regulation in China, but little or no enforcement. While I can't speak to how they're going about "shark finning" specifically, I've read that shark fin soup remains a popular, and not particularly expensive, delicacy. And like with other things, shops are selling manta ray fins as shark fins, both duping their customers and keeping costs for shark fin soup down. I imagine that also helps to keep shark fin products accessible to the public and therefore in-demand.
The Chinese government's support of a vast international fishing program, sending fishing boats outside their own territorial waters or traditional seas, is a real problem for understanding the rate of over-fishing around the world. They're even fishing right off the Galapagos Islands and in other non-territorial waters.
The Chinese are not only using foreign labor in their tuna fleets to give them plausible deniability for illegal fishing practices (banned gear, shark finning on registered tuna fishing vessels), they're even sending prisoners serving hard labor sentences on multi-year fishing boats to work instead of being in a mine or labor camp. So was/is Thailand.
Of course, China isn't the only country sending fishing fleets abroad or into disputed waters. It's a problem that many countries are contributing to. China's fishing fleets are just a frightening mess of humanitarian problems and highlight the problem of over-fishing. Considering how important fish products are as a source of food and nutrition, it's no wonder that China's sending armed coast guard ships to protect their fishing fleets, though I wonder if they're also playing prison warden to the crews. This is a humanitarian disaster that more and more people are concerned will contribute to a food crisis for third-world Asian and South American countries.
Edit: Also worth adding is that the UK just adopted a law banning import or export of shark fins (in any form), which they had been legally exporting to Spain, who was legally exporting to Asia. The reduction in legal drivers of shark fin supply should have a positive impact on shark populations (and therefore fish populations) in the near term, even if it doesn't immediately dent demand in Asia.
Good post. Thank you OP