No (Shark Fin) Soup for You!

Shark fin soup may disappear from menus soon in New York. According to a February 21 New York Times article, legislation recently introduced in that state would prohibit the sale, trade, possession, or distribution of shark fins. It would allow the environmental conservation department to issue permits for possessing shark fins for bona fide scientific research or educational purposes. California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington have passed similar bans. The article reports that up to 73 million sharks are killed each year for shark fin soup and some shark species face extinction. Shark fishing has also faced criticism for the practice of “finning” where a fisherman removes the shark’s fin but discards the rest of the body.