Three Meals: Year of the Ox, Jan. 21
I’m writing to tell you how disappointed and angry I was when I read your recommendation for the “Super Star Asian Cuisine” restaurant. The first sentence of your article stated that the restaurant will be serving shark fin soup on Sunday to celebrate the new year. Surely you are aware of the horrendous damage that is being done to the world’s shark populations by fisherman who cut off only the fins of these magnificent creatures and throw them back to suffer and die.
According to the website, more than 100 million sharks a year are being killed for their cartilage and fins. ALL species of sharks are now in danger of becoming extinct in our lifetime. Please don’t encourage anyone to eat at restaurants that still serve this dish. I understand that it is a Chinese tradition, but we need to outlaw the eating of severely endangered species. We cannot control what happens in China, but we can stop this barbaric practice from being encouraged here in the U.S.
Sharon Williams
We asked the owners of Super Star Asian Cuisine about their sources and they say they rarely serve shark fin soup, but that when they buy the fins, they are removed after the rest of the meat has been harvested. David Siu says they do not buy fins that come from sharks that are thrown back to die.
Shark, which is at historically low populations worldwide, is listed as a fish to avoid on Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch, and the Environmental Defense Fund has issued a health advisory for all sharks (including dogfish) due to elevated levels of mercury.
The Shark Conservation Act introduced in the current congressional session would require sharks caught in all U.S. waters to be landed whole with their fins attached.
