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Feb

2012

The Online Citizen » The Shark Fin debate

Two NGOs for shark conservation, Shark Savers and Project: FIN, protested against Singapore’s unwillingness to ban shark fin products, at the Animal Welfare Symposium last Saturday.
Project: FIN founder Jennifer Lee quoting a WildAid letter in her question to Minister K Shanmugam and the panel at the end of the symposium, protested against trade interests behind the ‘marine life experts’ Hank Jenkins and Dr. Giam Choo Hoo, exposing their conflicts of interest with wildlife trade.

theonlinecitizen.com/...the-shark-fin-debate

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Sharks Finning Funding Activism Research Sustainability

The WildAid letter said:

“Having known Dr. Giam for some time, I don't think he would claim to be a "marine life expert." He is a former vet who was in charge of the bureaucratic aspects of wildlife import and export in Singapore. I believe he still serves on the board of a reptile skin trading company and has served on a CITES committee where he was a tireless advocate against restrictions or controls on trade in threatened and endangered species.

"You would need to ask him who pays his expenses and consultancy now. Whenever I’ve asked him, he wouldn't tell.

"To my knowledge, Dr. Giam has never conducted any original research on sharks of any kind nor has he visited any of the shark fisheries to which he refers. At one point, I offered for my colleague, who had done such research, to make him better informed on sharks, and his response was, "Oh no, she knows too much.

"Similarly, Hank Jenkins is not a "marine life expert." I believe his expertise is in crocodile farming. He too has been a strong advocate for trade in wildlife and endangered species, such as "farming" tigers.

They are, of course, like the shark fin traders they represent, entitled to their opinions, but to suggest they are experts in sharks or marine life is misleading.”
The main reasons tackling the illegal wildlife trade is ineffective may be due to the fact that the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), being a political organisation which uses economic trade as a tool to tackle the illegal wildlife trade, has conflicting trade and conservation interests, Professor Oakley noted.

Sep

2011

Shark fin soup faces extinction in California - CNN.com

Critics of the bill say it unfairly singles out the Chinese community. The bill only restricts the sale of shark fins, which are used almost exclusively in Chinese cuisine. The bill does not apply to other shark products like oil or meat.

edition.cnn.com/...index.html

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Sharks Animal Finning United States Discrimination

Critics of the bill say it unfairly singles out the Chinese community. The bill only restricts the sale of shark fins, which are used almost exclusively in Chinese cuisine. The bill does not apply to other shark products like oil or meat.

"I think for the ban to be culturally blind it has to ban all the products that have to do with sharks, shark meat, shark oil," says Vicky Ching, the owner of Ming's Restaurant in San Francisco.
Not all lawmakers support the legislation. Assemblymember Mike Eng said there was a lack of dialogue with the Chinese community before the bill was introduced.

"Give our community the opportunity to realize how bad it is to request shark's fin at a restaurant. That has not been done. Instead what we have is legislation that's been, that's going to be forced down our throats," Eng said. "I don't think that's reasonable, I don't think that's going to lead to better conduct and I don't think that's necessary."