Asian soup peril menaces bionic shark Worrying news for evil billionaires today, as pioneering research by top boffins – in which a large hammerhead shark was augmented with high technology – reveals that large, endangered elasmobranches suitable for the in-lair pool disposal of troublesome government operatives may soon be even harder to get hold of. The new …
Seems to me we've been tracking Selachimorpha (and indeed, various ocean-going mammals, which some of them enjoy dining on) for several tens of decades ...
"In this episode, my son Phillipe and I will pilot the mini-sub as we track the Great White thru' the caverns of my nose" ...
...with too much disposable income. In a world with not enough sustainable agricultural technology or "communism" to maintain a healthy population, balancing it's own needs with the needs of other species (aka biodiversity).
Sharks fin soup is not the start I suspect (See Cod populations), and Russia's near miss with the wheat crop of 2010 as yet another warning shot across the bows for the (increasingly fat and/or populous) human race.
There are simply too many of us to keep eating the way we do. We need to change and strictly manage what we eat, and/or how many of us are doing the eating, or improve the technology to give better yields with less environmental impact. If we do it now - while it's only a relatively small problem - we won't have to resort to some Soylent Green style future.
Depressing picture, but hey - it's Monday.
Roll on the denialist downvotes, while I pop out to the pub for a nice, juicy New Zealand steak and chips with shark fin soup for starters, rounded off with a 'massive-food-miles' 4-corners-of-the-world fruit salad covered in genetically-modified cream.
It is very simple to gather sharks fins.
(1) Catch shark;
(2) Slash all fins off body and store;
(3) Toss finless but living shark in to water to die;
(4) Take boat back to harbour and sell to Chinese food markets.
This slaughter is such a waste - the whole body is discarded just to secure the fins. This happens tens of millions of times each year.
Very short-sighted. I bet most non-connoisseur Westerners couldn't tell the difference between 'cellophane' (clear noodles) and real shark fin soup. They now also sell gelatin as imitation sharks fin soup.
Have a look at: < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWPoSr76ub4 >.
I beg to differ! Shark meat is delicious! I buy it by preference over crap like snapper or cod.
Also, I think anyone caught in our (Australian) waters harvesting shark fins and heaving the rest of the shark over the side should have their boat sunk by the navy, with the fishermen left on it as it sinks.
Shark meat is DELICIOUS......
If it were not for the FAKT that the flesh of any remaining life form from the ocean has to be considered from the standpoint of the RDIDS or the Recommended Daily Intake of Deadly Shit, such as mercurial compounds, pesticides, fungicides, deadicides; and the mafia industrial waste with the midnight dumping and ship sinking etc, etc., etc., etc., etc.,
AND the decreasing shark population
I'd eat deep fried shark in batter by the kilo on a daily basis....
I rather like shark steaks, depending on the model of course, and never could distinguish between shark fin soup and gelatin based versions but then I don't really like it that much to actually pay for it myself. The way I look at it is rendered connective tissue is rendered connective tissue and once isolated can be flavored with anything, it doesn't matter if it's bonito flakes or lamb or chicken and I'd bet most people couldn't tell the difference regardless of where the thickener came from. That said, I imagine it's like buying rabbit, you want to make sure the feet and/or head is still on it to make sure you aren't just getting charged a premium for the stray tabby down the block.
Now then, the mention of Humbolt squid has given me a wonderful idea for dinner. Thanks Peter Clarke 1, I'll have the bar fender hold an ale for you.
Can't say, I don't eat protestants. I will say that shark, particularly mako, is occasionally sold as swordfish by less than honorable fishmongers and restaurants. That said, I'm sure Ms. Bee would want me to tell you probably shouldn't eat either shark or swordfish due to the high levels of mercury. Besides, most of them are caught on long lines now and aren't the freshest thing going.
"stunt eaters"... precious. Oh goody, bangers and mash... again.
apocalypse is coming, eco-rapture hysterics. People have got to make a living, and no doubt a susbsistence living fishing for hammerheads. The alternative being ... no paying work?
As a greenie I am ashamed of and tired of all those devilish and pure/natural/organic types and the damage they do to economies, food supply and public attitudes.
Anyway, what's a few bowls of soup when soft headed 'natural health' ****s are wolfing down shark cartilage under the illusion it protects against cancer?
... where I feel that sinking whalers and other ruthless ocean poachers (slowly, with sufficient time for the crew to abandon the ship, of course) is the only way to stop them.
The economic damage should keep them off the waters at least for a while, and when they return, repeat.
There seems no way to either talk reason into those people or enforce fishing limits that many states do not recognize as binding for them anyways.
There is IMHO no right for any certain delicacy in any culture if obtaining it robs the rest of the planet of something altogether.
And I for one do regard the diversity of species as a wealth worth protecting. The only force entitled to wipe out a species is a higher one, whatever you may call it- nature herself if you like.
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