My own Shark Week

(source)

I know it's not shark week or anything but this shouldn't be talked about only during shark week. Something needs to be done. I want to be a part of something, anything, to help stop this.


I just watched in horror a video of Gordon Ramsay's show on shark-finning. I couldn't do much but just burst into tears, shamelessly. I didn't want to finish watching it but I forced myself. I have already stopped eating shark's fin soup for many years (I'm gonna guess around 10) and even now when they tell me "Oh, it's fake, it's just crab meat. There's no shark's fin in this soup, really", I respectfully decline.
What I didn't realize is that in China/Taiwan/Hong Kong/China towns around the world, there are restaurants who serve real shark's fin soup for a fortune. And people pay with mouths wide open.
I don't know for sure but Ramsay says the shark's fin soup doesn't taste special at all. There's no real taste. What you're probably tasting is the soup and the shark's fin could be just a piece of any other meat or just plain noodles for all you know.
The worst part is when Ramsay (invading personal space, I have to admit) asked the customers about the inhumane practice of shark-finning, they just plainly said they did not understand the situation. Basically, they just admitted on television that they were a couple of ignorant people. But in this case I have to say ignorance is not bliss.
There are shops out there who are selling thousands of sharks' fins. Thousands.
These sharks, even baby sharks, are just finned and thrown back to sea to die. Because it's not worth it to have the whole body of the shark. People need to survive and this is how they make their money.
But it's definitely one of the worst ways to earn a living. I cringe watching on video. I can't imagine how Ramsay could just be right there watching them fin these defenseless creatures - alive, their poor bodies are still moving after their fins are cut off - then throw them back into the water, blood-drained and all.
I wish shark-finning would be made illegal. Banned. But then I know, in my heart, that it won't stop this atrocity. Just like drugs. People still get a hold of them. Just like alcohol in the 20s. Moonshine.
I'm very afraid shark's fin soup is going to be another 'moonshine'. My idealistic side is hoping this can be stopped and forgotten forever. To hell with tradition and what-not. Your ancestors are dead and gone. Deal with it. Create new traditions and memories for goodness' sake. Damn.
Please stop eating shark's fin soup. I'm feeling bad enough that I'm finding it hard to give up fish and chicken sometimes.
I'm feeling mighty useless right now.

peace+love