Blog Post #2 - Shark Fin

Public Consultation and Animal Cruelty?

     A huge debate has sparked the anger and uncertainties among people in the City of Calgary involving Shark Fin. The Council has voted 11-3 in favor of banning Shark fin and its product in Calgary. Many people have watched on YouTube “Shark Finning” and it provides a clear image that animal cruelty is extreme and why we should ban shark fin. Years after when the video was made that showed animal cruelty involved in obtaining the shark fin through the illegal finning practices of sharks; people in the City of Calgary have stepped up and joined with many other organizations globally such as wildlife conservations to stop shark fin harvesting.

     Some people are upset by this ban in the City of Calgary because the council has implemented a bylaw to stop the illegal practices of shark finning. The Chinese Community, specifically Chinatown have been devastated by the passing of this bylaw. 

     CalgarySun has released a description of penalties of illegal practices, possession or use of shark fin.

     What people see in this is perhaps an attack on the Chinese Community in Calgary. As well, not only Chinese people are upset, many other ethnic groups are upset and worried because of how this bylaw was passed so quickly and undetected.

     I myself am really interested in this issue for many years already and I actually got to interview with CCMA’s President Ken Lee of Calgary Chinese Merchant Association and he told me and later on CBC news Calgary that,

 “Because of this bylaw, we’re wasting a lot of Tax Payers money just to focus on this issue that should be on a higher level scale which is the Federal Level and not Municipal. Also, when they(the council) were drafting this bylaw and when this bylaw was set in motion, there was no public transparency; they did not consult with anybody at all for at least a few months. This is really hurting key stakeholders and business parties who hold such products like Shark Fin. 

      Shark Fin is mostly served as a Chinese delicacy as a soup and the prices for a small bowl can cost as less as $10 CDN to as much as $200 CDN. I did some research on this issue and many people commented on different site blogs saying that Shark Fin are not safe to eat and others saying it’s really healthy. I guess there are different sides towards this issue. Another two sided argument is that some people are arguing by the fact that sharks are going extinct. Well, there are actually 5 types of sharks that are going to be extinct and are listed as endangered and they are:  Basking shark, Dusky Shark, Scalloped Hammerhead, Whale Shark and Great White Shark, provided by: 

Endangered Sharks 

The term "Finning" is actually illegal and it means capturing sharks and then cutting its fin. Later the shark in thrown back into the ocean. These practices has been prohibited and banned since 1994 by the government of Canada.

So here’s your call, what do you think of this Shark Fin issue relating to the decision made by the Council in the City of Calgary?