The Ethics of Eating Shark Fin
Shark fin is a delicious food item that is constantly under fire from environmentalists and animal "rights" groups.
Is it wrong to eat shark fin? Is it more wrong to ban this delicacy?
- If finning is allowed to continue, we will still have shark fin for many years.
- If finning is banned then shark fin will cease to exist as food immediately.
It seems to me that (1) is clearly preferable. At least we will get to eat shark fin for a while.
posted by Peter P @ 8:18 AM
9 Comments:
Forget ethics, shark fin and swallow's nests just aren't tasty. So it's not comparable to veal or foie gras or caviar. You can get a similar texture by substituting sweet potato starch noodles.
For something far more luxurious, I recommend cuddling up on the sofa with homemade chocolate truffles (http://www.cookingforengineers.com/recipe.php?id=195&title=Chocolate+Truffles), a universal remote control and a large recently fed cat.
Shark fin has no taste by itself, but it has good texture and it can absorb flavor when cooked correctly.
Yeah, I've had some decently cooked sharkfin soup and it's quite good. But I think there's a way to get the "taste" and texture of sharkfin without harming sharks.
I agree. It would be one thing is shark fins were a lucrative side product of shark fishing, but it's appalling when sharks are overfished merely to satisfy the vanity of Asian businessmen. The reality is that many of these people couldn't tell the difference between sharkfins and bean vermicelli in any case.
I'm much much more comfortable eating foie gras or veal or even dairy/eggs (ironic that conventional vegetarians continue to consume animal products with the greatest amount of cruelty to the animals) than depleting natural fisheries like sharks - essentially for the vanity of a few.
I find finning such an appalingly wasteful practice. At least eat the rest of the beast.
I do not oppose requiring fishermen to keep entire sharks on their boats. This should slow things down a bit.
Peter P,
The most ideal way to make sure there's enough food of all kind for Peter P is not to allow for unrestrained predation. It's to reduce the number of competing mouths for the world's bluefins and sturgeon and matsutake mushrooms, etc.
Since your preference seems to go towards oriental favorites, the obvious solution is to eradicate majority of the population of East Asia.
Since your preference seems to go towards oriental favorites, the obvious solution is to eradicate majority of the population of East Asia.
I am shocked.
I believe in freedom. So it is best to have less regulation. If I have to compete with other food lovers, so be it.
Sorry, one joke too far? I was hoping to roll out my foodie terrorist storyline.
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