On Saturday, May 15, 2021 at 11:45:29 PM UTC-10, Ophelia wrote:
> On 15/05/2021 22:53, dsi1 wrote:
> > On Saturday, May 15, 2021 at 4:16:53 AM UTC-10, Ophelia wrote:
> >> On 15/05/2021 13:38, Gary wrote:
> >>> Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> >>>> A TV program on Nat Geo, To Catch a Smuggler showed some fins going
> >>>> through customs illegally. They can go for $500 a pound.
> >>>
> >>> I saw that episode. I also previously watched a documentary showing
> >>> asian fishermen harvesting those shark fins.
> >>>
> >>> They catch the sharks, cut off all the fins then toss the still alive
> >>> shark back into the ocean. Without their fins, they can't swim or hunt
> >>> so they sink to the bottom and just lay there until they die.
> >>>
> >> ======
> >>
> >> That is appalling(( I hope they suffer the same fate!!!
> >
> > Shark fin soup is not popular on this rock. The Hawaiians viewed sharks and other creatures as forms that their gods might take. They sometimes regarded sharks as a family god or the spirits of their ancestors that would appear to offer help or protection. Generally speaking, killing a shark was considered kapu. Killing and eating the spirit of your ancestors would be a very bad thing.
> ====
>
> I can see that!!

A lot of the locals on this rock are of Hawaiian/Chinese ancestry. Culturally, they get conflicted sometimes. The Hawaiian part says to respect/protect/preserve the sharks. The Chinese part says that eating shark fin soup will bring good luck, and screw the Hawaiians!
In the end, Hawaii became the first state in the union to ban the possession, sale, and trade of shark fin. The state will probably pass a law soon making it illegal to kill a shark in our waters.
The shark fin is composed mostly of cartilage, which is that soft stuff one finds in the ends of chicken bones. The Chinese love that stuff! Why? I don't know. I have seen shark fin soup when I was a kid. The whole thing just gave me the willies. Ditto for bird nest soup which is made from dried bird saliva. Given the choice, I'd probably opt for the shark fin. Luckily, that probably won't ever happen - thank god!