The great (white) debate

Shark finning divisive issue 10

A few days ago I came across this post by Doctor Mark Hyman touting the medicinal properties of food. During his recent trip to China, the doctor was "treated" to the "delicacy" of shark fin soup, which he claims can help ease arthritis and possibly fight cancer.

Oceana responded to his post, pointing out that shark fin soup can actually be detrimental to health, but I thought many of you would appreciate hearing the full story, as shark finning has been popping up in the news lately.

See:

As for the nutritional argument, there is scant scientific evidence, if any, that shark fin soup has any nutritional benefits whatsoever (however, there is ample evidence that finning millions of sharks is not good for sharks ...). The drying, bleaching, and lengthy cooking process the fins go through before ending up in a soup bowl remove any nutritional benefits that would have existed in the first place.

These cooking methods also reduce the water content of the fin, concentrating numerous heavy metals, including mercury. The FDA has a mercury warning for shark meat -- and shark fins are high in mercury too.

In short, just say No to shark fin soup. Yao did.

Andrew Sharpless is the CEO of Oceana, the world’s largest international nonprofit dedicated to ocean conservation. Visit www.oceana.org.

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  1. caniscandida Posted 5:15 pm
    13 Nov 2006

    "powerful medicine"Right, Andrew.
    Dr. Hyman, who apparently cannot write a sentence without starting a new paragraph, wrote:

    <<

    Even dessert was healing.  A warm, barely sweet longhan soup with lotus seeds and quail eggs was soothing and nourishing.  

    >>
    Hmmm.  Maybe.  But I think I would order the rice pudding.  Or the spumone.  The healing qualities of classic Mediterranean desserts ought not to be underestimated.

    Chickens are our cousins!

    So are other sensitive animals!

    Enough is enough!

    No more factory farms!

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  2. mihan's avatar

    mihan Posted 3:53 am
    14 Nov 2006

    What kind of doctor?Please tell me Dr. Hyman is not a gynecologist.

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  3. jscorse Posted 5:16 am
    14 Nov 2006

    ths slaughter of sharksfor soup is wreaking havoc on ecosystems and also unusually cruel (yes, my animal welfare side again)- sharks have their fins cut while they're alive and they are often then tossed back into the sea bleading and they drown- it's an abomination that serves mostly wealthy people and has no medicinal properties that can't be achieved through other means
    J.S.

    J.S.



    htt://voicesofreason.info

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  4. atreyger Posted 5:31 am
    14 Nov 2006

    for once i agreewith j.s.,

    that's not right.

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  5. jscorse Posted 6:07 am
    14 Nov 2006

    wow- some agreement..between these different sides of the environmental movement!! that wasn't so hard- see, ethics do matter and we all have them- thanks atreyger
    J.S.

    J.S.



    htt://voicesofreason.info

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  6. caniscandida Posted 7:28 am
    14 Nov 2006

    ethical bemusementThis question came up: Do the shark fishermen who haul up sharks, chop off their fins, then throw them back still living, believe they are doing something ethically better than simply keeping them on their boats and letting them die there?  Or, is it that they have no further use for sharks, so they just want to clear them off their decks?

    Chickens are our cousins!

    So are other sensitive animals!

    Enough is enough!

    No more factory farms!

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  7. Jason D Scorse's avatar

    Jason D Scorse Posted 12:14 pm
    14 Nov 2006

    or is the process unethical from the start?

    J.S. teaches environmental economics and blogs at http://www.voicesofreason.info.

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  8. Biodiversivist's avatar

    Biodiversivist Posted 12:25 pm
    14 Nov 2006

    Good one MihanDr. Hyman is an idiot, that is for sure.

    In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Help acquire and protect ecological hotspots, give to a conservation organization: http://www.saveourbiodiversity.com

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  9. swozniak Posted 3:02 pm
    14 Nov 2006

    Here's an actionHere's an action to take if you'd like to see fewer sharks killed for food purposes. I think we're killing off all the biodiversity at an alarming rate, and that it's not being checked because we're not paying attention. We need sharks.

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  10. bookerly Posted 8:30 pm
    15 Nov 2006

    Sighted t-shirts

      I don't know if it is a trend, but a ray of hope.  I have seen a number of young Chinese wearing t-shirts with a shark and a slash through the fin, putting out the no-shark fin message.
      There is also a vegetarian alternative (looks and tastes like I dunno what, but ain't seafood).
      And I hear good news from my veggie friends who are organizing chapters at universities!
    patrick

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