SHARKS IN THE SEAS, NOT IN THE SOUP (WWF)

When the buying stops the killing can too

Video
A short video about shark fin soup made by Wild Aid: Click on the a:

Shark Fin Soup Add

More short videos by Wild Aid: YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AViMMoURgs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rL0KHEVLMY&feature=relmfu http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7dcxm84iO0&feature=relmfu http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7oaTCBuI2g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xVaPZbDyvM

ORGANIZATIONS:
Here are some organisations that help shark fin soup Shark Trust (UK) Shark Savers (US) Wild Aid-Website: Stop Shark Finnig S.P.C.A W.W.F Green Peace

WEBSITES
Wild Aid:

Website:

online form WildAid China

No. 1-2-11 Qijiayuan Diplomatic Compound No. 9 Jianwai Street Chaoyang District Beijing, China Post Code: 100600 Telephone: (8610)8532-2002 Fax: (8610)8532-4611 http://www.wildaid.org/sayno http://wildaid.org/sharks

Sustainable Waters
Or click

(Link)

Shark Fin Soup

Peninsula Hotel (Dining department, e-mail form)

Shark Angels
Website: shark angels Email:
angels@sharkangels.org

SPCA
SPCA Phone: 2802 0501- General Enquiries

WWF
Phone 1: 2526 1011 Phone 2: 2845 2734

Wan Chai Adress: Asian House, 1 Hennessy Road, Wanchai,

Shark Water
Website: http://www.sharkwater.com/savesharks.php Shark Savers (There are no good reasons to eat shark fin.)

Also from sharks savers http://www.sharksavers.org/en/learn-more/shark-fin-soup-is-not-healthy.html (Mercury poisoning in shark fin soup.) http://www.sharksavers.org/en/learn-more/sharks-are-important.html (Sharks are important) http://www.sharksavers.org/en/learn-more/sharks-are-being-driven-to-extinction.html (Extinction of sharks is bad) Shark fin soup is bad for your health, is not really that old a tradition and the fishermen dont even get much money. It is actually to add texture and is a decoration, not for food or taste. Sharks cant be farmed because they dont reproduce fast enough. Finning is cruel as the fins are hacked off when the shark is still alive, then it is tossed into the sea where it cant move, so it ends up having a slow and painful death. This is a short answer to Should I eat shark fin soup in Hong Kong http://gohongkong.about.com/od/wheretoeatinhk/f/sharkfinsoup.h tm

http://en.wiki pedia.org/wiki/ Shark_fin_sou p 1. It is considered the eight treasured seafood in China

2. The fin only gives texture while other ingredients give all of the taste-usually chicken strips 3. Shark fin soup started in the Ming Dynasty 4. It represents honor & wealth

1. Shark is very unhealthy to eat because it has a lot of (metal) mercury. 2. People pay US $100 for one bowl of shark fin soup, in other words they are paying to kill a shark. 3. People colour the fins with bleach to make them look attractive so people would buy the soup

http://gohongkong.about.com/od/wheretoe atinhk/f/sharkfinsoup.htm I got: 1. The sharks are an extremely important part of the oceanic food chain. 2. Major groups have stopped serving shark fin soup at their restaurants but some still sell it.

Common Excuses For Not Stopping Shark Fin Soup 1.Sharks are harmful to humans.Were better off without them. 2. We live on land, who cares about what happens to the oceans.

3. If you ban the trade in shark fins , it will lead to black market trade. 4. Only rich people can afford it so its not such a big problem.5. Its hypocritical to ban shark fin soup and not other types of meat like chicken or cow. 6. Shark fin soup is a part of Chinese culture and it shouldnt be interfered with. 7. Banning shark fins is bad for businesses (eg. fishermen, restaurant owners etc.) 8. Why dont you ban fishing for the whole shark. 9. Why are you picking on the chinese culture when shark cartilage is good for your health HISTORY OF SHARK FINNING: Shark finning started in the Ming dynasty because the emperor wanted to impress his guests (totally pointless).Now it is a worldwide issue. People say serving shark fin soup is a sign of respect. The extinction of sharks could unstable the ecosystem.scuba divers and surfers get hurt because their invading shark territory. Is it this website?

Shark Savers

The thing about all these excuses are that they are either mean or not true. Shark fin soup gives lots of money in business so people will not want to stop. Actually, it kind of Hollywoods and directors/writers faults for making movies like Jaws. Now humans are all scared of sharks so they think its good to kill them. Thats a good point but it is very rare to get harmed by a shark. They just see the top layer of a sharks life, they dont look deep down and understand about shark fin soup, or they do know but are still making the movie. Because with the movie they can earn a fortune.

Two soups not one...

You know that we are stopping shark fin soup right? Wrong. We probably not going to do this soup but I read on wikipedia that there is another soup called buddha jumps over the wall soup. And it has abalone, sea cucumber and most importantly, shark fins. Link to wikipediaBuddha jumps over the wall soup

My Section (Innes)
Ways to help save sharks:
1. Dont eat or buy shark fin soup. Try not to by imitation crab, lobster or shrimp as it could contain shark meat. Shark meat is poisonous, it has very very high level of mercury./ 2. Be aware of what you are buying. Sometimes sellers put shark meat in fish but dont tell you 3. Do not support any restaurant that sells shark or rays. Boycott these restaurants. 4. Tell authorities or a shark-saving organisation if you see someone shark fishing. 5. Try to not eat too much fish/seafood as this is affecting the food web as well (below). 6. Learn more (which we are doing) and teach others/spread awareness (which we will be doing). 7. Dont put on cosmetics on if it has Squalene - shark liver oil. This means a shark died just so that you can have makeup. 8. Dont be quiet. Blog, email, post or tell media outlets (T.V, Twitter, Facebook, National Geographic, Newspapers etc..) to help spread the word. But dont help media outlets that make sharks sound like monsters. 9. Remember to support shark organisations and sign pledges. (From Shark Angels, link here-shark angels) A TIME website that talks about shark fin soup: TIME Stop Shark Finning

Food web:
1. That sharks are important to the sea food web. Without sharks, fish could die out too because sharks hunt out the weak and the sick. This stops the spread of disease. Also, other sea animals would

overpopulate. A type of squid overpopulated their habitat and started going somewhere else. They ended up going near U.S and Alaska and attacking divers. 2. Farming sharks is not like farming chickens, cows or fish. They can reproduce fast, A tuna can lay thousands of eggs. But a shark only lays a few. Fish can also grow up really fast. Female sharks take 12 to 14 years to mature.

Trade

Smaller fish absorb mercury in bodies once eating it. Then other fish eat smaller fish and so on. As sharks are on the top of the food chain, they end up having tons of mercury from other fish. Sharks are at the top of the food chain Sharks mature slow The population of Tiger sharks and Bull sharks has gone down by 90% In 1966 there was 15 species of shark endangered 180 shark species now are endangered Experts thinks that sharks could become extinct in a decade (10 years)

Hawaii was first US state to ban sale of shark fin. Most demand of shark fin soup comes from Asia (mainly Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan) Singapore is second biggest shark fin trading place. HK does 50%-80% of shark fin trade

Shark fin soup itself

mercury

Shark finning is cruel and wasteful(to some people). (Opinion) Shark fin soup is unhealthy, as it contains a lot of arsenic and methylShark fin soup has low nutrient value

Miscellaneous

Sharks are not just killed for soup, there are nets around the beaches. A few thousand Sharks, dolphins, turtles and even some whales get caught in these nets.

Sharks also hunted for medicine and souvenirs

Shark Finning and selling

There is legal and illegal shark finning Shark finning continues because of demand Remains thrown back into sea Most shark finning is done in high seas Estimated 100 or 70 million sharks killed each year Sharks also hunted for medicine and souvenirs Refrigerated warehouses are very common near harbours and ports The shark meat doesnt sell for anything, the fins sell for around $700 per 1kg The rest of the shark isnt normally sold in the market. So sometimes the meat is used as fertilizer or animal feed. *actually most of these notes have been already used in paragraphs below

Ideas to help save the sharks:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Write a complaint/letter to the government. Ask the organisations to give us ideas. Sign the shark pledge. Ask restaurants to stop maybe...
http://www.sharksavers.org/get-involved/ways-you-can-help-save-sharks.html

Maybe we can make a pention and use it at the exhibition. Then people can sign them and promise not to eat or buy Shark Fin Soup.

WildAid replied to our e-mail and they gave us pledges as well, but theirs were written ones, so we print them and people donate and stuff then put them in a box and we send it to WildAid. Ok

The Dangers of mercury in shark fin soup

A bar chart of mercury levels:

Sharks obviously has the highest mercury levels... Shark fin soup is very bad for pregnant moms. The babys brain is not completely grown. The brain is very vulnerable to mercury. If mercury goes into the baby,it could end up having brain damage/mental issues. If an adult drinks it, shark fin soup could damage the central nervous system. For men, the soup could lower sperm count and cause sterility.

Health/Nutrients of shark fin soup:

Shark fin soup has high levels of methyl mercury and arsenic (dangers of mercury above). Shark fin soup is said and praised by chinese culture to enhance skin quality, improve someone's qi or energy and lower the level of cholesterol.

Shark fin soup has very low vitamin value, with almost no vitamin A. But it contains Iron, Zinc, Riboflavin and Phosphorus (If you dont know what these mean, check!) than vegetable soup. There are claims that shark fin soup helps prevent you from getting cancer. However, there is no scientific proof that it does this.

Where are sharks finned the most?

The shark fin trade is really bad. Most of the demand for shark fin soup comes from Asia (mostly from H.K, Singapore and Taiwan). Singapore is the second biggest trading centre but H.K does 50 to 80 percent of the trade. There is a trade going on in Costa Rica. The trade is being run by the Taiwanese Mafia (or you could call them the Taiwanese gangsters). From the trading route chart below (by Oceana) shows that the places that ship the most shark fin soup to H.K are: Singapore, Costa Rica, Taiwan, Spain, Indonesia and U.A.B (United Arab Emirates).

Interesting(but not to do with shark fin soup)Fact:

Sharks are actually afraid of dolphins! Dolphins are known to fend off a shark when a shark is attacking a human or something. Dolphins seem to try and help the helpless. Video about it here: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=cca_1195401148

Another Interesting Fact:

As you know, only the fins are sold. The rest of the meat, which does not sell for anything, will be used for fertilizer, animal feed or just left on the ground to rot away.

Sharks die when they are finned because sharks breathe when they are swimming and if cant swim they will suffocate. Info about sharks and the food web: http://www.sharksavers.org/en/learn-more/sharks-are-important.html

The food web is very important and if sharks disappear the whole thing will go crazy these are some things that will happen

This is what some people think.

"If seafood is nearly gone, we should kill the sharks so they dont eat what remains."
But they are wrong because this is what will happen

Sharks keep the food web in balance. Without the top level predators, the mid level the system can be thrown out of balance. We have already seen many fish die out because there are no sharks around and the collapse of coral reefs. Sharks also prevent disease outbreaks and keep fish populations healthy by eating the sick and the weak. By targeting the sick and the weak, they also give many other fish a chance to live, which enables these animals to reproduce in greater numbers. Removing sharks will have a very bad impact on the food web and sea life.

There will be a lot of tuna in the ocean (too much) The tuna will eat all the mackerel The tuna will eat all the small fish There will be no small fish to eat the plankton The plankton numbers will grow

They will eat all the smaller life It will go mental Why do people eat shark fin soup? Shark fin soup is usually during important events, like weddings, gatherings, or celebrations. It is expensive, so people don't eat shark fin soup daily unless they are really rich. Shark fin has no distinct flavor, it is flavored mostly by chicken strips. There will be fibers of shark fin in the soup, and that will make it a little fishy. So it's like a fishy chicken soup. As strange as it sounds, it would taste good. wordle_shark_fin_soup

This is the number of shark attacks in the past. year 1997 total attacks 31 fatal attacks 0

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

26 38 52 50 47 40 30 40 39

1 0 1 3 0 1 2 1 0

You are more likely to get struck by lightning, killed by a crocodile, have a fatal fall down the stairs, killed by wasps, drown in your bath or get hit on the head by a falling safe then get killed by a shark.
Sharks are not interested in having humans for breakfast. You are also more likely to be killed in a hunting accident or a collapsing sandpit. In America, the chance of drowning on a beach is 1 in 3.5 million. Your chance of getting attacked by a shark is less than one in 264 million. Sharks are smart and are actually afraid of people. The only reason sharks would attack you is if it mistakes you for a fish or a seal. Sharks usually bite you, do not like the taste and swim away. They also might attack you if you have any shiny jewelry/swimsuits on or if you swim while your

bleeding. Sharks can smell blood in the water from a very long way away and might mistake you for being prey. Another reason sharks might attack is if you are swimming near its territory and could think of you as an intruder. But it is still very rare, experts say that shark attacks only happen to humans about once a year. Parapraphs

Avantika! Okay so these are the answers for my QUESTIONS QUESTIONS 1. How is shark fin used in soup? 2. What are the ingredients? 3. Why do people think shark fin soup is good for them? Or do they think its bad for them? ANSWERS 1. The shark fin is used to provide texture and is also used as a decoration. People bleach the fin to make its look white and pretty, this way people would want to buy it. {Wikipedia} 2. This is a list of the ingredients:
Ingredients

3. This is the survey I took 16

{Girls & Boys separate because the biggest table size was 20 x 20 And we needed 30 x 3} nName First Word Alanna Horrible Reason I think its horrible because they take the sharks fin and throw the shark back in the ocean to die. And you have more chance of being killed by a falling safe than by a shark. Because sharks are a part of our world and killing sharks is just wrong. Because people can easily make the soup taste the same without using actual shark fin. And I think its unfair that so many sharks die each year.

Ally

Disgustin g Unfair

Anisha

Ashlin Emily Jeannie Jinna Leah Lucy Rhys Ghastly Because its terrible how

they kill so many sharks. Roxy Tavishi Zoe Name Ahmed Akshay Fraser Gwen James D. James L. Mathew Nicholas Prakar Rico Zaheu Opinion Reason

______________ ________________________________________ This is some extra info which well need to become experts: Link: Animals Australia {Shark Fin Soup} Author: Susannah Waters Organization: Animals Australia
The Voice For Animals

Published: 17 July, 2011

1. In 2008 10 million kg of shark fins were imported into Hong Kong. 2. Even though so many fins are imported into Hong Kong most of them end up in China, where they are more expensive.

3. Shark Fin Soup can go up to USD 400, HKD 3,106.57 4. A large whale shark pectoral fin can go up to USD 15,000 [HKD 116,495.42] in China. 5.

1. Sustainable Waters Author: Unknown Author Organization: Sea Forever Looking After Our Oceans, Making A

Splash
Published: 16th November 2010

2. The demand for shark fin soup mostly comes from Asian countries. Mainly: Taiwan, China, Singapore & Hong Kong. Email to chinese