Shark Finning

What is Shark Finning?

Shark finning is the practice of removing the fins from a captured shark, and discarding the animal at sea, still living or dead. Often, sharks are captured as bycatch- as an untargeted animal- in the tuna and swordfish industry. In the past, live sharks were released, but the high value and increased market for shark fins is creating huge incentive for fishermen to take the fins and discard the animal, leaving room in the ship’s hold for the more valuable meat of the tuna or swordfish. Shark finning is wasteful, inhumane and unsustainable.

Sea Stewards is taking a stand against Unsustainable Shark Fishing

Finning and harvesting sharks for fins and meat is proving unsustainable. There is no reputable source for shark fins and consumers have no method of determining if their soup is from a managed fishery or from a high seas shark finning operation.  Therefore Sea Stewards believes that all shark fin products should be declared illegal to stem the tide of illegally finned sharks and give shark populations a chance to recover.  We are sponsors and supporters of AB 376, the State Bill to ban the sale of shark fin. As of 2012 sales of new shark fin is prohibited in California and existing stocks must be sold by July 2013.  file:///Users/sharkfilms/Desktop/SeaStewards%20/California%20ab_376_bill_20110214_introduced.pdf 

Go to our Shark Sanctuary page and learn more.

Go here to sign a fin free pledge and learn more.  Download the finning brochure.  Scroll to the bottom for Restaurants in San Francisco who serve shark fin soup.

Sea Stewards Director David McGuire on Shark Finning 

Finning FAQS

Is Shark Finning Illegal? 

Since 2000 several countries have adopted laws within their waters to ban this practice. A few, such as the United States and Australia, have successfully enforced these new laws, yet even we have loopholes allowing fins to be detached from the body and transported in some areas.  These loopholes can lead to a misrepresentation of species captured, smuggling of fins, and more sharks killed than actually reported. The ICCAT and the West PAC; member commissions of Atlantic and Pacific pelagic fisheries have banned shark finning in their tuna and swordfish longline fleets.  This is a good start but difficult to enforce against smugglers or poachers.  Although over 100 species are listed by the IUCN as endangered or threatened, only a few species are protected from illegal trade by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES). However, small boats and nations who do not recognize CITES or other treaties are actively shark finning with impunity.  Given the 2010 denial by CITES nations to protect Great Hammerhead and other threatened sharks, the only real protections will be national efforts to regulate fisheries, and local efforts to limit consumption and stopping the fin trade.

Can Shark Fins be Sold Legally?

Currently there are very few regulations on the sale of shark fins. In 2010 the state of Hawaii recently set a precedent by passing a law to make the sale and possession of shark fins illegal. However shark fins can be sold legally in countries that have adopted anti- finning agreements and regulations such as the US. These agreements require the shark carcass to arrive at the dock with the shark, or if severed, on an agreed fin to body ratio. In some regions like the EU, this ratio is so high that it allows more sharks to be captured than reported by the actual fin weight. Most shark fins go to Hong Kong for processing, and can return as a dried product with no known source of where that shark lived or died, if it was legally harvested or finned on the high seas.   Once it is in the market or in the bowl, most consumers will not know where the fin came from, or if it was harvested legally or illegally.  In 2012 the California Shark Conservation Bill, a law championed by Sea Stewards has taken effect that will make possession, trade and sale of fins illegal.  Sea Stewards is leveraging this precedent to do the same in other states like Texas and the entire nation.

What Sharks are Protected?

The United Nations Convention on the Trade of Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES) lists the whale shark, basking shark, and great white shark as species that are threatened with extinction. These laws regulate the trade and transport of listed species across country lines by countries that recognize the treaty. To date,169 countries have agreed to be legally bound by CITES. Nearly twice as many nations had teams in the World Cup.  The International Union for Conservation of Nature has designated Red List status to nearly 100 species of sharks.  A recent report finds that over 25% of North East Atlantic sharks, rays and skates are threatened with extinction. 
In 2006 investigators performed DNA testing on wholesale shark fin distributors, discovering the fins of the few protected species in Hong Kong, Singapore and here in the US. In 2010 Sea Stewards,w working with the Hamilton Lab at the California Academy of Sciences sequenced 17 species of sharks from shark fins bought in San Francisco Chinatown, including endangered hammerhead sharks. Once the fin is dried and treated, the species is nearly unidentifiable.  The protections in place are not strong enough, or broad enough to protect sharks.

How are Shark Fins Used?

Shark fins are used to make shark fin soup, a delicacy once prepared exclusively for the Chinese emperors and nobility. The cartilage from the fin is carefully dried and prepared, and used as an ingredient in a soup flavored with seafood or chicken broth and herbs. The process of preparation makes this dish very costly, as much as $100.00 a bowl, and is commonly served at banquets and weddings. The serving of the dish is considered very prestigious and even propitious.
Dried shark fin is the most expensive seafood product by weight, and is creating huge incentive for fishermen to hunt sharks, solely for their fins.

Who Eats Shark Fin Soup?

Although Chinese and Japanese primarily consume the dish, the consumption is increasing in western societies with affluent consumers, Asian and non-Asian.
80% of the dried fin market is brokered through Hong Kong and the east is the primary market for shark fin.

Shark Fin Soup is Associated with Asian Cultural Celebrations. Is This an Attack on Asian Culture?
No. This is an attack on an unsustainable fishing practice. The cultural associations are modern, associated with prestige. The problem is simple economics: increasing affluence creates increased demand. This demand is exceeding the supply, which is creating a positive feedback loop, making the shark fins more difficult to obtain, and increasing the price, making the dish more expensive, increasing the prestige. This in turn motivates fishermen to obtain shark fins from a steadily diminishing source of sharks. We cannot produce another population of sharks to satisfy this market.
Many countries have had practices associated with their cultures that were recognized as harmful or unethical and were stopped to protect wildlife. We need to change consumer’s minds that it is prestigious to eat shark fin soup. Some chefs like Kin Lui of Tataki just say no tho shark fin soup.

Doesn’t Shark Cartilage Cure Cancer?

It has been falsely assumed that sharks do not get cancer. This has lead to the medicinal use of shark cartilage to treat some cancers or reduce tumor growth. Although sharks have a low incidence of cancer, tumors and cancer have been identified in sharks. A study published in the Journal Cancer by Dr. Ostrander et al. of Johns Hopkins University titled Shark Cartilage, Cancer and the Growing Threat of Pseudoscience indicates that the promotion of crude shark cartilage extracts as a cure for cancer has contributed to at least two significant negative outcomes: a dramatic decline in shark populations and a diversion of patients from effective cancer treatments.

What Sharks are killed for their fins?

Any shark is fair game, but some species are more prized than others. The large fins of Whale Sharks, Basking Sharks are coveted. Ironically, these species are among the most threatened. Pelagic species such as Blue sharks, Oceanic White tip are common, however, several illegal fisheries such as those that target the Galapagos and other remote islands will capture reef sharks and hammerhead sharks.

By nature, sharks are difficult to study and good fisheries data are hard to obtain. The practice of finning, which is mostly an unreported practice is robbing scientists of population and capture data. Many pelagic shark species are widespread and do not school. Many larger sharks travel vast distances alone. Most large sharks have late onset of fertility (decades) give birth to few young and have long gestation periods, making them very vulnerable to overfishing. Therefore, it is very difficult to arrive at a sustainable number.  This is why most commercial shark fisheries collapse economically.
With accurate population numbers, a good understanding of the target shark’s biology, and accurate reporting of animals captured, a sustainable fishery might be achieved. Until that is achieved and it can be enforced, then the source of fins must stop and fins made illegal.

A more viable alternative is  to use a substitute product such as soy and rice noodles. San Francisco Chef Kin Lui on Sustainable Alternatives

Isn't Shark Fin Soup Healthy?

Shark fin soup has been associated with a variety of benefits from increased virility to longer life.  However, the fin is purely cartilage, the same compound in human, cow and other vertebrates.  Cartilage has no nutritional value.  Any benefit would come from the broth and other ingredients added.  The fact is, shark fins are high in mercury, a know reproductive, developmental toxin and one that can cause permanent nerve and brain damage. The process of treating and drying shark fins can actually concentrate mercury and make the levels higher.  The World Health Organization has tested shark fins and determined some fins to be so high that one bowl of soup would exceed the recommended exposure.  Wild Aid has similarly tested fins for soup and determined that people who consume shark fin soup even occasionally are at risk to high mercury levels.   Shark meat is also high in mercury.  The California State Office of Environmental Health Assessment has tested sharks from the San Francisco Bay and make the recommendation to eat zero portions of sharks from the bay.  We can protect human health and shark populations by avoiding consumption of any shark products.

Support Restaurants like Benu in San Francisco who are developing healthy alternatives to shark fin.  All the flavor and texture without the fin. 

Boycott the Following Local Restaurants, or contact the owners and share this information with them. 

San Francisco Restaurants Serving Shark Fin Soup (list produced with the Animal Welfare Institute)

8 Immortals Seafood Restaurant
1433 Taraval St
San Francisco, CA 94116
(415) 731-5515

888 Seafood Restaurant
8450 Valley Blvd Ste 121
Rosemead, CA 91770-1681
(626) 573-1888

All Season Sushi
524 Castro St
San Francisco, CA 94114
(415) 626-3604

Bay Fung Tong Seafood Tea House
327 Balboa St
San Francisco, CA 94118
(415) 221-8498

Best Panda
4052 Balboa St
San Francisco, CA 94121
(415) 876-3298

Canton Seafood and Dim Sum Restaurant   
655 Folsom Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
(415) 495-3064

Capital Restaurant
839 Clay St
San Francisco, CA 94108
(415) 397-6269

Chinatown Restaurant
700 Washington St
San Francisco, CA 94108
(415) 392-7958

Chuen Hing Restaurant
8450 Garvey Ave #103
Rosemead, CA 91770
(626) 288-2206

Chung King Restaurant
606 Jackson St
San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 986-3899

Dol Ho
808 Pacific Ave
San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 392-2828

Dragon House
5344 Geary Blvd
San Francisco, CA 94121
(415) 751-6545

Dragon River
5045 Geary Blvd
San Francisco, CA 94118
(415) 387-8512

Dragon's City
1033 Taraval St
San Francisco, CA 94116
(415) 681-3838

East Ocean Seafood Restaurant
1713 Webster St
Alameda, CA 94501
(510) 865-3381

Emmy's Restaurant
1923 Ocean Ave
San Francisco, CA 94127
(415) 585-9880

Empress of China
838 Grant Ave
San Francisco, CA 94108
(415) 434-1345

Far East Café Restaurant
631 Grant Ave
San Francisco, CA 94108
(415) 982-3245

Four Seas Restaurant
731 Grant Ave
San Francisco, CA 94108
(415) 989-8188

Fu Lam Mum Restaurant
246 Castro St.
Mountain View, CA
(650) 967-1689

Gold Mountain Restaurant
644 Broadway
San Francisco, CA 94133
415-296-7733

Go Go Cafe Restaurant
1830 Irving St
San Francisco, CA 94122
(415) 661-4289

Gourmet Carousel
1559 Franklin St
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 771-2044

Grand Palace Restaurant
950 Grant Ave
San Francisco, CA 94108
(415) 982-3705

Grant Palace
737 Washington St
San Francisco, CA 94108
(415) 434-4998

Great Eastern Restaurant
649 Jackson St
San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 986-2500

Han Goeng Restaurant
1935 Taraval St
San Francisco, CA 94116
(415) 682-8938

Happy Bakery
2253 Irving St
San Francisco, CA 94122
(415) 661-8261

Happy Garden Restaurant
815 Clement St
San Francisco, CA 94118
(415) 387-4011

Hong Kong Clay Pot
960 Grant Ave
San Francisco, CA 94108
(415) 989-2638

Hong Kong East Ocean Seafood Restaurant
3199 Powell Street
Emeryville, CA 94608
(510) 655-3388

Hong Kong Restaurant
2588 Noriega St
San Francisco, CA 94122
(415) 665-8338

Imperial Palace
818 Washington St
San Francisco, CA 94108
(415) 956-9888

Joy Luck Place
88 East 4th Ave.
San Mateo, CA 94401
(650) 343-6988

Jumbo Seafood Restaurant
1532 Noriega St
San Francisco, CA 94122
(415) 681-1800

Kam's Restaurant
3624 Balboa St
San Francisco, CA 94121
(415) 752-6355

Kan's Restaurant
708 Grant Ave
San Francisco, CA 94108
(415) 362-5267

Kay Cheung Restaurant
615 Jackson St
San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 989-6838

Kirin Restaurant
6135 Geary Blvd
San Francisco, CA 94121
(415) 752-2268

The Kitchen
279 El Camino Real (at La Cruz)
Millbrae, CA
(650) 692-9688

Koi
365 Gellert Blvd.
Daly City, CA 94015
(650) 992-9000

Koi Garden at Dublin
Ulferts Center   
4288 Dublin Blvd Ste 213    
Dublin, CA 94568         
(925) 833-9090    

Lee Hou Restaurant
332 Clement Street
San Francisco, CA 94118
(415) 668-8070

Legendary Palace
708 Franklin Street
Oakland, CA 94607
(510) 663-9188

Lichee Garden Restaurant
1416 Powell St
San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 397-2290

Louie's California Chinese Cuisine
646 Washington St
San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 291-8038

Mayflower Restaurant
6255 Geary Blvd
San Francisco, CA 94121
(415) 387-8338

Ming's Diner
2129 Taraval St
San Francisco, CA 94116
(415) 242-0811

New Asia
772 Pacific Ave
San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 391-6666

New Hing Lung
1556 Noriega St
San Francisco, CA 94122
(415) 661-8860

New Woey Loy Goey Restaurant
699 Jackson St
San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 399-0733

Ocean Restaurant
726 Clement St
San Francisco, CA 94118
(415) 668-8896

Oriental Pearl Restaurant
778 Clay St
San Francisco, CA 94108
(415) 433-1817

Ocean Pearl Restaurant
781 Broadway
San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 397-5799

Parc Hong Kong
5322 Geary Blvd
San Francisco, CA 94121
(415) 668-8998

Pearl City
641 Jackson St
San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 398-8383

Restaurant Peony
388 Ninth Street, Suite 288
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 286-8866

R & G Lounge
631 Kearny St
San Francisco, CA 94108
(415) 982-7877

Sam Woo Restaurant
15333 Culver Drive Ste 720
Irvine, CA 92604
(949) 262-0688

San Wong Restaurant
1682 Post St
San Francisco, CA 94115
(415) 921-1453

Shanghai 1930
133 Steuart St.
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 896-5600
info@shanghai1930.com

South Sea Seafood Village Restaurant
1420 Irving St
San Francisco, CA 94122
(415) 665-8210

Szechuan Second Restaurant
655 Ellis St
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 346-2823

Szechuan Taste Restaurant
917 Taraval St
San Francisco, CA 94116
(415) 681-8383

Taipan Restaurant
560 Waverley St
Palo Alto, CA 94301
(650) 329-9168

Taipei Chinese Restaurant
2666 Ocean Ave
San Francisco, CA 94132
(415) 753-3338

Tian Sing Restaurant
138 Cyril Magnin St
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 398-1338

Tsing Tao Seafood Restaurant
200 Broadway
Oakland, CA
(510) 465-8811

Ton Kiang
5821 Geary Blvd
San Francisco, CA 94121
(415) 387-8273

Tong Palace
933 Clement St
San Francisco, CA 94118
(415) 668-3988

Yan Yan Seafood Restaurant
2241 Judah St
San Francisco, CA 94122
(415) 661-5122

Yank Sing    
101 Spear St.    
San Francisco, CA 94105        
(415) 957-9300                
   
Yank Sing    
49 Stevenson St.    
San Francisco, CA 94105        
(415) 541-4949

Y. Ben House Restaurant
835 Pacific Ave
San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 397-3168

Yet Wah Restaurant
5238 Diamond Heights Blvd
San Francisco, CA 94131
(415) 282-0788