California Law Aims To Remove Shark Fin Soup From Restaurant Menus

California lawmakers will vote next week on a law that would ban shark fin soup from restaurant menus and fish shops.

The law came about after it was revealed to the general public that sharks fins were being cut off while the rest of their bodies were being thrown back into the ocean.

Under the California Shark Protection Act there would be a statewide ban on the possession, sale or trade of shark fins, some of which can sell for $600 a pound.

Some opponents of the bill say it unfairly targets Chinese Americans who find the soup to be an observed delicacy, while supporters say the bill in necessary to protect sharks which some groups believe are becoming closer to extinction at rapid rates.

One San Francisco restaurant owner tells CNN:

“I think for the ban to be culturally blind it has to ban all the products that have to do with sharks, shark meat, shark oil.”

In the meantime Assembly member Mike Eng is against the bill because he says lawmakers decided to shove the law down the Chinese communities throats instead of educating them about why the bill should be enacted.

Regardless of “cultural” acceptance of a practice, animals close to extinction should be protected, I personally see no issue with banning the practice, especially considering the extreme negative effects ecosystems have endured when animals at the top of the food chain are eradicated.

Do you think the practice of cutting off shark fins and discarding of their bodies in the ocean should be outlawed?