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Group launches 'love shark' campaign in Taiwan - CNA ENGLISH NEWS
Group launches 'love shark' campaign in Taiwan
2011/06/08 19:04:41
Taipei, June 8 (CNA) A Taiwanese environmental group on Wednesday, World Ocean Day, launched a "love shark" campaign that is aimed at protecting the ocean's ecosystem by discouraging the consumption of shark products.
As part of the campaign, couples should remove shark fin soup from their wedding menus and the general public should stop buying shark products, the Society of Wilderness urged at a press conference.
Citing data from Greenpeace International, secretary-general of the group Lai Jung-hsiao, said that as many as 40 million to 70 million sharks are killed for their fins each year. In the Pacific Ocean alone, 1 million sharks per year are left to die after their fins have been removed, Lai said.
There are nearly 400 species of sharks worldwide, with some 111 of them facing the threat of extinction, he said.
On the surface, it may seem that the reduction of shark populations has little to do with human lives, but sharks are a crucial part of the marine food chain, he said.
In the absence of sharks, their prey would flourish which could be disastrous for life at the bottom of the food chain, he explained. In turn, humans would pay the price of the drastic changes in the marine ecology, he added.
As part of efforts to protect the world's largest living fish species, the endangered whale shark, Taiwan in 2008 imposed regulations against hunting the shark or selling its products, Lai noted. However, some restaurants still serve whale shark fin soup as a delicacy, especially at wedding banquets, he said.
In addition to its efforts to discourage people from eating shark products, the Society of Wilderness will also hold a three-month film festival across Taiwan from June 11 to Sep. 30 to raise awareness of marine ecosystem protection.
The group also plans to set up a database to track the consumption of shark products in Taiwan and their import sources.
Allen Chen, a research fellow at Academia Sinica's Biodiversity Research Center, Academic Sinica, said Taiwan should set a limit on its volume of imported shark meat and toughen its laws against the sale of whale shark products.
International trade in whale shark meat is strictly controlled by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Whale shark fishing is banned not only in Taiwan, but also in other countries including the Maldives and the Philippines. (By Hermia Lin) ENDITEM /pc
Group launches 'love shark' campaign in Taiwan
2011/06/08 19:04:41
Taipei, June 8 (CNA) A Taiwanese environmental group on Wednesday, World Ocean Day, launched a "love shark" campaign that is aimed at protecting the ocean's ecosystem by discouraging the consumption of shark products.
As part of the campaign, couples should remove shark fin soup from their wedding menus and the general public should stop buying shark products, the Society of Wilderness urged at a press conference.
Citing data from Greenpeace International, secretary-general of the group Lai Jung-hsiao, said that as many as 40 million to 70 million sharks are killed for their fins each year. In the Pacific Ocean alone, 1 million sharks per year are left to die after their fins have been removed, Lai said.
There are nearly 400 species of sharks worldwide, with some 111 of them facing the threat of extinction, he said.
On the surface, it may seem that the reduction of shark populations has little to do with human lives, but sharks are a crucial part of the marine food chain, he said.
In the absence of sharks, their prey would flourish which could be disastrous for life at the bottom of the food chain, he explained. In turn, humans would pay the price of the drastic changes in the marine ecology, he added.
As part of efforts to protect the world's largest living fish species, the endangered whale shark, Taiwan in 2008 imposed regulations against hunting the shark or selling its products, Lai noted. However, some restaurants still serve whale shark fin soup as a delicacy, especially at wedding banquets, he said.
In addition to its efforts to discourage people from eating shark products, the Society of Wilderness will also hold a three-month film festival across Taiwan from June 11 to Sep. 30 to raise awareness of marine ecosystem protection.
The group also plans to set up a database to track the consumption of shark products in Taiwan and their import sources.
Allen Chen, a research fellow at Academia Sinica's Biodiversity Research Center, Academic Sinica, said Taiwan should set a limit on its volume of imported shark meat and toughen its laws against the sale of whale shark products.
International trade in whale shark meat is strictly controlled by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Whale shark fishing is banned not only in Taiwan, but also in other countries including the Maldives and the Philippines. (By Hermia Lin) ENDITEM /pc
