Animal Rights Groups Help Inspire Hong Kong Shark Fin Soup Ban

Over the years, groups ranging from the World Wildlife Foundation to Wildaid, The Humane Society International and Save Our Seas have mounted campaigns designed to raise awareness about the process of “finning”, or capturing sharks in bulk and cutting their fins off for consumption.

Chinese restaurants and pharmacies have long marketed cartilage-based shark fin soup as a cure-all that prevents everything from impotence to cancer, but its popularity has also led to a shortage in the world’s shark population that spurred animal rights groups to take action.

While the soup remains a popular delicacy at weddings, the campaigns of groups like WWF Hong Kong seem to be working.

Last year the Chinese government announced to plans to stop serving shark fin soup at official ceremonies, while earlier