Disney Cruelly Cuts the Fins Off of Sharks for Money (Paul Watson)

[Guest guest]

Disney Cruelly Cuts the Fins Off of Sharks for Money

 

Commentary by Paul Watson

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

 

 

Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck Feast on Shark Fin Soup

in Hong Kong

 

Good old Uncle Walt must be turning over in his grave.

Michael Eisner has made it plain that everything

Disney has stood for has been a fraud. The bottom line

is money.

 

Money, money, and more money, and they don’t seem to

care how they get the money.

 

Screw Bambi, the real spirit of Disney is symbolized

more by Cruella DeVille than by Snow White or

Tinkerbell.

 

If the price is right, Eisner will serve any creature

on a plate.

 

The Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel is hosting Chinese

banquet wedding receptions starting at HK$11,457

(US$1,472) a table. The most expensive package is

HK$15,857 (US$2,080) per table.

 

Although Disney claims to be environmentally friendly,

the Disneyland Hotel is serving – shark fin soup for

elite guests.

 

A bowl of shark fin soup averages US$400 in Hong Kong.

 

 

Shark populations are crashing worldwide because of

both the legal and the illegal trade in shark fins.

The sharks are captured on linglines, the fins are

sliced off, and then the sharks (many still alive) are

tossed back into the ocean. This is a worldwide

problem. Shark fins are making their way to Asia from

Central and South America, from Africa and from India.

There is no safe place for a shark in the world’s

oceans because of this trade.

 

Yet Disney public relations manager Esther Wong, said

in a prepared statement, " Hong Kong Disneyland takes

environmental stewardship very seriously but we are

equally sensitive to the local cultures.” It is

customary for Chinese restaurants and 5-star hotels to

serve shark fin soup in Hong Kong as the dish is

considered as an integral part of Chinese banquets.''

 

In other words environmental stewardship means little

to Disney and maintaining the five stars takes

precedence. Apparently to earn five stars, a

restaurant must contribute towards making sharks

extinct. The eating of shark fin soup is considered a

sign of affluence in Hong Kong, and not serving it at

a wedding banquet is considered to be a “loss of

face.”

 

Hong Kong has refused to sign any international

conservation treaty that opposes the trade in shark

fin. Shark fin soup is legal in Hong Kong but the

official Disney policy, found on its Web site, states

the company will " work to identify issues that may not

yet be identified in the law, but could result in

adverse environmental effects.''

 

A 2004 survey by The International Union for the

Conservation of Nature found that out of 262 shark

species around the world, 56 were endangered. The

National Geographic Society reported in 2003 that

50-85 percent of the world's shark fin trade came

through Hong Kong. China exports 4,000 tons of the

fins a year, according to a Toronto Globe and Mail

report.

 

Shark fins are big business in Hong Kong, both legally

and illegally. A paper by Peter Gastrow, of the

Organized Crime and Corruption Programme with the

Institute for Security Studies in South Africa, said

in a 2001 report that Hong Kong triads have been

linked to the shark fin trade in South Africa.

 

The Hong Kong Tourist Board is also encouraging the

shark fin trade. A letter from Selina Chow, the

chairman of the board, on July 11, 2002 wrote in an

email to Tristan Green, a Hong Kong diving club

member, " Shark fin is a legal product in Hong Kong and

it would be untenable for us to discriminate against

shops or restaurants offering this product by refusing

to list them in our publicity.''

 

All over the world the Sea Shepherd Conservation

Society is encountering and seizing longlines and

driftnets that target sharks. We have documented the

slaughter of sharks in the National Parks of the

Galapagos, the Costa Rican National Park of Cocos

Island, and the Colombian National Park of Malpelo

Island.

 

These beautiful and ecologically-beneficial creatures

are being systematically destroyed and for what – so

people can demonstrate that they have wealth, so they

can impress their friends and family. This is not a

cultural tradition; it is an exercise in environmental

arrogance and a demonstration of ecological ignorance.

 

 

The people who order shark fin soup are contributing

to the demise of hundreds of species of sharks, and

for Disneyland Hotels to be contributing to this

diminishment is a disgrace.

 

Posted on www.seashepherd.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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