Shark tails

I sat alone, inhaling the earthy aromas of fresh ginseng spiked with boiled dungeon crab, my nervous foot tapping the ground in sync with my rapid heart rate. She came over to me, and carelessly scribbled my order down after I pointed to it on the laminated pages of the menu, before I ordered a giant glass of Pinto Grigio to drink my nerves close to a coma.

My waitress confirmed what I said: ‘One order of the small shark fin soup with chicken, yes?’ I nodded in agreement, my eyes darting around the restaurant in paranoia before I mumbled something that was meant to sound like a ‘yes.’

She returned to give me a deep, short porcelain spoon, a pair of plastic chopsticks wrapped in a white paper napkin and placed the bowl in front of me’ along with my wine, smiling at me to expose her crooked smile before she sat down a few tables closer to the kitchen to peel apart bok choy leaves.

As I tucked into the broth and pulled the spoon closer to my face, tiny straws of dorsal fin hung over the edge of my utensil like the legs of some Frankenstein-esque science experiment gone awry. I closed my eyes, brought the spoon to my face and swallowed.

For only $12, I was eating shark fin soup, one of the most controversial foodstuffs available in the world because of the method of procuring the shark fins. Fishermen capture the shark, slice off its dorsal fin and sometimes its tail (if the demand is high enough), and throw the remainder of the carcass back into the ocean. The shark is unable to swim without these parts, and sinks to the bottom of the ocean to die a slow death, usually by starvation or from being attacked by other animals.

The United States has laws against shark finning in its waters: those who do not comply are sentenced jail time and heavy fines, as well as loss of fishing license. However, there are loopholes that allow fishermen to intercept fins in international waters from fishermen from nations that allow shark finning.

‘The practice is abhorrent ‘-‘- to remove fins and then throw a fish overboard is inhumane and absolutely unacceptable,” National Fisheries Institute director Gavin Gibbons said.

The NFI, an organization that educates the pescavore public about sustainable fish-eating practices. Advocates of fish consumption, NFI has information on their website ranging from the health benefits of tuna to recipes for spicy bass tacos. They target corporations as well as the individual about what one can do about changing their diet to change the planet, while condoning the support of domestic fishermen.

U.S. Senator John Kerry agrees, which is what prompted the presidential candidate to propose the passage of S.850, the Shark Conservation Act April 22 of this year.

The bill would amend the current law to improve shark conservation and would make it more difficult and expensive for retailers to procure the fins to serve to their clients, eventually phasing out shark fin soup as a menu option.

Kerry’s bill, if passed, would also make it illegal to transfer any fins from one vessel to another and if fins are aboard a ship that cleans and sections its fish on-site, the fins found are not to exceed five percent of the amount of shark carcass found on the same ship.

This bill basically closes a loophole in the current law, and would eventually cease sales of shark fin on the mainstream market.

But, would people in this country really miss the delicacy that is so highly regarded in China and south Asian countries?

MC Slim JB, the food critic for The Boston Phoenix who refuses to expose his name, age or face to anyone, has his own qualms with the dish. Refusing to be heard on the phone in a paranoid precaution that someone might hear his voice and out his identity, JB responds to online questions, first explaining his experiences with the food in China.

‘ ‘I think shark fin soup is like a lot of luxury goods: the Veblem effect is in full force. It’s expensive mainly because it’s rare, and it is valued primarily because it’s expensive, enabling the diner/host to consumer/entertain extravagantly in a conspicuous manner. If it were as cheap as Pollock, people wouldn’t get excited about it.’

JB is in favor of banning finned shark because he doesn’t really care for it himself and finds it an abominable practice. ‘Finning seems an egregious example of unsustainable harvesting and animal cruelty. And banning it would set up a black market, which would actually heighten its appeal,’ JB said.

After my second glass of the tart Pinot Grigio that recalled memories of punching a bag of franzia, I felt instantly invincible and able to take on the challenge. I was finished rationalizing my actions the same way one might hear a hitman arguing to him over whether he is justified in his work for the mafia.

The shreds of dorsal fin were glutinous and slippery, tasting more like the chicken stock used as a broth than anything from a fish. It shared the same lack of flavor and excitement as broiled jellyfish; I wouldn’t exactly go hunting a 1000-pound carnivorous monster for it.

Sharks are like people in the way they develop, ‘slow-growing and maturing, having small amounts of offspring and typically have internal fertilization with their offspring developed borne directly from the mother,’ Boston Univeristy biology professor Jelle Atema said, explaining that these qualities make farming impossible, as it would be costly just to raise the animals and their offspring before even being able to slice off their dorsal fin.

The merits of shark finning are hard to argue: the practice is unsustainable and unable to be continued for an extended period of time without depleting the world’s shark populations. The end product also just simply doesn’t taste good enough to throw all morals and guilt aside and bury one’s face in a stew of it.