Shark fin is highly coveted in some global gastronomic circles as both a natural aphrodisiac and a seasoning that rivals even MSG: though shark fin cartilage is relatively flavorless on its own, many an online cache of chinese recipes credits the shark fin with the power to bring forth unprecedented levels of deliciousness from the ingredients with which it is stewed.
The legitimacy of these claims—dubious as they may sound to this ETA—seem to be supported by a persistent demand for shark products: the annual trade in shark parts is worth an estimated $310,000,000; fins represent about seven percent of the yearly catch by volume, but generate nearly half of the shark market profit each year. There is, however, something of a hole in the statistics.
Shark finning is the process by which a shark is caught on the high seas, reeled onto the deck of an industrial fishing vessel and relieved, via a few decisive chops of a machete, of its fins; note the shark is still alive and, you might imagine, a bit confused. This shark-turned-shark-log is then rolled—or slipped, rather, in a slick of its own ooze—back into the watery depths from whence it came.
Sworn protector of the natural world that it is, Indonesia hauls in more sharks each year than any other country in the world.
