In the last few years, reputable news sources have been reporting that consumption of shark fin soup in china has fallen an estimated 70%-90%. How has a dish so prevalent in China’s history just one day stop being eaten? The answer has many parts as to why the drop of shark fin soup consumption and are as follows, western shaming of Chinese tradition, environmental thought changing in China and finally the influx of different foods now available to the average Chinese person due to increased wealth. In an attempt to offer a better understanding of the dish and how it became part of Chinese cuisine, I will first give a detailed description of the dish and how it is prepared and served, offer a history on its origins and finally how the dish has changed over time.

How The Dish Is Prepared

To begin let’s talk about how the dish is prepared and what tastes is can be compared to. The typical way to prepare shark fin soup in China is by using a thickened broth, usually made up of ham or chicken as a base. The fins themselves are hardly ever eaten fresh, but rather dried for weeks at a time and either placed into the bowl whole or more likely , in pieces. The primary goal of adding the shark fins to the soup is not for the taste, but rather for the texture. In fact many have admitted that on a taste basis, the actual fin adds no benefit other than a purely symbolic one. Many chefs who advocate for the removal of shark fins from the soup, offer alternatives that can attain the same textural effect. Prices can be anywhere from five dollar to thousands of dollars depending on what shark fins were used. The most common way to prepare the fins is by skinning them, slightly cooking them, letting them sit to dry and finally bleaching them for a more desirable color. Another method is not skinning them and leaving them to dry in the sun to create a type of jerky. Shark fins are also available already wet, canned or frozen. The fin itself needs to be softened before it can be eaten, so most of the ways it is prepared address that problem. The type of broth differs from restaurant to restaurant and tends to be relatively secretive. Some recipes online cited the use of different wines, soy sauces, sesame seed oil and even corn starch. The broth may change to fit different types of pallets, but ultimately the main ingredients for the dish have stayed the same.

History Of Shark Fin Soup

Legend says that the history of shark fin soup began when a Sung dynasty emperor added shark fins to his soup as a symbolic gesture in order to exemplify his power to his fellow nobleman, which started a traditional for the wealthy and respected for years to come. Historians actually believe the history of shark fin soup dates back to the Ming dynasty some 600 years later when it started to be served at an emperor’s table as a new dish. Almost overnight, the dish began to be consumed as a way to show the wealth and power of an individual due to the high cost of the fins at that time. The Chinese believed the fins had power beyond just taste and could aid problems in the bedroom, to problems of aging. This lead not only to sales of the soup, but also to many homeopathic shops keeping the fins in stock. All this increase demand for shark fins made way for the capture and killing of endless amounts of sharks. Eventually the idea of consuming the delicacy at weddings came to fruition because of what the dish represented. At a Chinese wedding, the soup usually represents respect or wealth and is paired with three other types of symbolic dishes including abalone, sea cucumbers and fish maw, each symbolizing other qualities. In the past years, with China’s new found wealth and raising salaries, a new class of people have started to eat the delicacy leading to higher and higher demands for the fins. The history of shark fin soup spans almost 600 years which is a main reason why the decline in the consumption is extraordinary.

It is estimated that around 70 million sharks a year are killed for their fins through the various oceans of the world, but more of them to quench the Chinese hunger for the soup. In addition cruel practices by shark fishing boats, such as finning, which is the practice of removing the fins of the shark and throwing them back in the water to die, only added to environmentalist’s frustration with the Chinese. Even in China finning is an illegal practice, but with almost no legal action taken against those who do it, there isn’t much of a consequence. The sad truth is shark finning is big business and whenever there is the profit to be made big fishing operations are willing to take the risk. The biggest problem with the destruction of millions of sharks a year is primarily the impact such a drastic change could have on ocean ecosystems. Due to sharks being the oceans apex predator, an overpopulation of other species could occur which ultimately could lead to undoable damage to the oceans plant life and ocean life. The primary goal for organizations against catching sharks for their fins is to increase regulation on the fisherman and traders of the product, or if possible to make the product illegal all together. Overall, level headed environmentalists seek to ban or at least limit the process in order to keep the ocean safe and resourceful from human beings for future generations.

Western Shaming

So why has the consumption fallen 70%-90% in the last few years? First let’s delve into the idea of western shaming of Chinese tradition. For the past thousand years, history has been written almost completely with a Eurocentric view of the world and what is considered foreign or different. Somewhere along the line most of the world has adopted to this notion that the western world’s practices are the “right” ones while those in the east practice pagan old traditions that need to be updated. China isn’t the only place that suffers from this type of thinking, but other countries’ practices like Japan’s whaling or South Korea’s consumption of dog suffer as well. The world looks down upon these types of culinary practices despite them having just as much tradition as say the French croissant. Multiple times in the past the United Nations has singled out China for their consumption of shark alluding to the idea that consumption of shark is a barbaric practice. In fact the amount of shark fin protests in 2013 went into the hundreds with mostly western environmentalists crying out for change and showing disapproval by the consumption of shark fins. As one of the few prosperous countries in the world, China has to always compete against its western counterparts and slowly they seem to be assimilating western ideas into their culture as well.

Increase In Chinese Environmentalism

Next we have the changing thought of environmentalism within China in the recent years due to heavy amounts of pollution and smog. With the strong and quick growth of China into one of the world’s biggest industrial powers, shortcuts have been taken especially in respect to pollution. In fact in the last 30 years lung cancer in china from pollution has increased 465% and the Chinese are furious. Various protests against pollution and how the government handles it have propped up all over China’s provinces, with the biggest ones especially in Beijing. 16 out of 20 of the world most polluted cities reside within China and the average person is aware of that. This environmentalist spirit felt between the Chinese masses has spelt over into other types of environmental activism like preserving China’s wildlife and green lands and into ideas like protection of the ocean life. Massive campaigns over the last year have been running in China for diners to stop eating shark fins and informing them of the danger it poses for the ocean’s ecosystem. Even famous Chinese stars, like ex-NBA player Yao Ming have signed up and made statements condemning the consumption of shark fins. By far the most active portion of the Chinese are the youths, who realize they and their children will have to live in a future China ripe with disease if nothing is changed. Overall in the last 20-30 years of China’s extraordinary growth, the environment had not been considered, but now with the slowing of growth and the rampant pollution problems people are taking action and calling for a change.

Influx Of New Foods In China

The last reason for consumption of shark fin soup declining is the influx of new and different foods within China that are available to the average person. With the recent rise of China’s economy, the standards of living and wages of the average person has risen about 8% a year for the last ten years. With larger incomes for the average Chinese person rising, the types of foods available to them raises as well. Twenty years ago, the food available to the Chinese was limited and mostly from East Asia, because it would not have been profitable to import from other countries around the globe, but now that is not the case. Where in the past the average Chinese might eat rice for every meal, diets are changing to mimic other countries like the United States for example, where choice is on every corner. In China today, you see franchising, imported goods from all over the world and a younger generation looking to branch out their diets. Where in the past it was a sign of wealth to eat shark fin soup, now perhaps going to a nice Italian restaurant is just as symbolic. This is a sign of globalization in China as well, as it becomes more internationally involved, the choices to the average Chinese consumer changes. Choice is perhaps one of the most important factors in what someone eats and now the average Chinese have the availability to choose whatever dish they desire.

In an ever expanding country like China, it is possible we see more changes like this in the coming years as it becomes more and more international. Whether or not the decline continues only time will tell, but for now the shark population in the waters around China can breathe easy.