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They are known as one of the deadliest creatures on Earth.

But according to a shocking new study, great white sharks are also one of the most endangered.
Wildlife experts say there are now fewer than 3,500 great whites left in the oceans, making them rarer than tigers.

Yesterday, marine biologists called for an end to mankind's long battle with sharks and demanded urgent action to prevent them going extinct. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1252237/Great-White-Sha
rks-endangered-tigers-just-3-500-left-oceans.html#ixzz1X58MseRx to the practice itself, it's been around for centuries in China and continues today at pretty hefty volume:

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It is considered a sign of respect to serve shark's fin to guests, and at a certain kind of Cantonese restaurant a grand dinner is barely conceivable without it or one of its sisters in luxury. It cannot be said that most people look forward to the inevitable bowl of shark's fin soup at a wedding banquet — it takes a skillful chef to make it taste like anything at all — but it is expected, like the double-happiness cakes and the red envelopes.

But there is no double happiness in the future of sharks.

As China's middle class continues to grow, the number of aficionados who can afford the delicacy is expanding. To meet accelerating demand, efficient new fishing boats have found ways to catch more sharks — way more sharks, many millions each year. And since there is a larger market for shark fins than for shark meat, some fisherman resort to "finning," a barbaric and wasteful practice in which the fins are hacked off live sharks, after which the bleeding, crippled animals are tossed back into the sea to drown. There is no sustainable source of shark's fin.

By the time a fin is dried, cleaned and sold at market, it is impossible, short of DNA testing, to determine whether it is from an endangered hammerhead or a merely threatened blue shark; from the U.S. coast, where finning is illegal, or from unregulated international waters. It is impossible, even with DNA testing, to tell whether a particular fin is a byproduct of fishing for shark meat, which is legal (although perhaps it shouldn't be), or from a pirate finning operation.

As important as shark's fin is to traditional Cantonese banquet cuisine, we have reached the point where some shark populations have been reduced to 10% of historical levels, and nearly a third of shark species are approaching the point of extinction.

We need sharks: As top-dog predators, they keep the ocean's ecosystems in balance. And we need to stop eating shark's fin, at least until shark populations have had a chance to recuperate. http://articles.latimes.com/2011/aug/07/opinion/la-oe-gold-shark-fin-2
0110807 the legislation in California hasn't passed yet, as your article mentions, and may not (dammit):

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Hawaii, Oregon and Washington state have all enacted laws banning the sale, trade and distribution of shark's fin. In California, which controls an estimated 85% of the U.S. trade in the fins, a bill introduced by Assemblymen Paul Fong (D-Sunnyvale) and Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) would prohibit the sale, consumption or trade of shark's fin. The California Shark Protection Act passed the Assembly, 65 to 8, in May but faces obstacles in the state Senate, where Sen. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance), a member of the Appropriations Committee, which will consider the bill Aug. 15, has said that the ban would unintentionally discriminate against Chinese Americans.

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Sunnyvale and San Rafel are Northern California; Torrance is So. Ca., which pretty much says it all. "discriminate" my ass; money talks! Would be nice if they did it via capitalism, but by then many species might truly be extinct.

I hope the bill passes, given CA is the single largest importer of shark fin in the U.S. I'm sad to hear it's popular Down Under, Magons. We ALL need to come into the 21st century. Yes, that's exactly what's done in finning; the shark dies, but what a horrible way to go. It would be like chopping off your legs and leaving you to die, only you'd die faster from blood loss (I think) than a shark, which eventually drowns. It's unconscionable and makes me sick to think about. I urge you to envision that whenever you're tempted to order it.


Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off