New Shark Slap at Disney

June 13, 2005

Release from:
By Doug Crets and Sylvia Hui
The Standard

Green group rejects claims that fins can be harvested from farms.

Disney's pledge that it will source its shark fin from "reliable and responsible suppliers'' is impossible to achieve, says a green group.

The company is working to salvage its environmentally friendly image that took a beating last month when it was revealed it will serve shark's fin soup when Hong Kong Disneyland opens September 12.

Representatives of WWF, formerly known as the World Wildlife Fund, said the idea of sustainable shark fins is illusory because there is no way to determine how fins are harvested.

The entertainment giant's official line is that Disneyland will only source fins from farm-raised sharks and those caught from well-regulated sources where entire remains of fish are used.

But Hong Kong WWF spokesman Clarus Chu said it is impossible to tell where a shark fin comes from or whether fishermen in areas where "finning'' is banned have exploited legal loopholes.

"There is no regulation of the identity of sharks or their locations,'' said Chu. Disney was not available for comment.

Green groups have long called for a ban on finning - the practice of harvesting only the fins and throwing the rest of the shark back into the ocean.

``That's exactly why finning is being banned. It's a waste of resources,'' he said.

The only agreement regulating the shark fin trade is the voluntary Food and Agriculture Organization's International Plan of Action for the Conservation and Protection of Sharks, which Hong Kong does not recognize because China is not a signatory, Chu said.

According to conservationists, shark farms do not exist and fishermen skirt the law by harvesting the fins at sea and taking them into ports not governed by regulations. The only precise way to pinpoint their origin is through DNA testing, according the Chu.

``Currently, yes, it's very difficult - almost impossible. And we are asking [Disney] to go for a certified and well-managed fishery. If you can't find it, stop serving the dish altogether, and wait till you can find it. It's simple,'' he said.

Environmentalists worldwide have conducted a heated campaign against shark finning.

Disney executives have been deluged with e-mail appeals, with most arguing that the demand for shark's fin soup in Asia has led directly to the global decline in shark populations.

Other than stressing it will only source shark fins from ``reliable and responsible suppliers'' that adhere to relevant international treaties, Disney last week said the dish will be taken off the banquet menus but will remain available to customers who request it. Conservationists have called this hypocritical and cynical because Disney regularly gives money to Asian organizations that work to protect and preserve ecology.

In the United States, a WWF education program called the Windows on the Wild is sponsored by the company.

Disney has also said it will distribute pamphlets designed by local organization Green Power to educate consumers of the environmental impact of shark finning.

Hong Kong is a hub in the global trade of shark fins. In 2003, more than 10,000 tonnes of dried shark fin were imported to the territory, accounting for about 50 percent of the world's trade. Some of these were re-exported.

Shark's fin soup is also popular in Japan, Singapore and other parts of China.

The US Senate banned shark finning in all US coastal waters in 2000.

The international plan of action prohibits the taking of threatened shark species and targets fishermen who do not use the entire shark, suggesting countries provide the means to regulate ``un-utilized'' sharks.

Most sharks are migratory, so banning their slaughter in one ocean area does not protect them everywhere or allow them to breed successfully, since most sharks breed in one section of the ocean and travel to others.

Sixty shark species are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources list of those endangered. It is estimated that of the 400 or more species, 185 are near extinction.

However, according to 2001 data compiled by the organization and available on its Web site ``Bite Back,'' some of the most endangered come from areas that shark fin sellers to Hong Kong trade from.

According to the site, Hong Kong imports shark fins from 125 countries and exports them to 75. Conservationists say little of that trade comes directly from Hong Kong waters.

Local and international environmentalists have launched a campaign taking Disney to task for avoiding the conservation issue in Hong Kong, accusing the company of setting double standards by promoting marine protection in the United States but not doing so in Asia.

Disney has received support from legislator Tommy Cheung, chairman of the Hong Kong Catering Industry Association, who doubts whether sharks are a threatened species.

But environmentalists seem to have a more potent force on their side: children. Recently more than 500 students at the English Schools Foundation drew up a petition calling for a boycott of Disneyland until shark fins are taken off the menu completely.

Paul Bayne, a biology teacher at West Island School, told The Standard that students took up the issue on their own accord when they learned that Disney would be serving the dish.

Bayne, a diver with the South China Dive Club who receives regular e-mails from a diverse gathering of environmentalists who are bringing the case against Disney, said he had shown the e-mails to students, but they had been presented without bias.

The students now have plans to take their petition campaign to other schools in Hong Kong.

In fact, in recent weeks, children from the lower forms at West Island School have come up with their own arguments against the trade in fins.