Forbidden city for shark's fin delicacy

The Rolls-Royce of the sea is her shark's fin, the pricey pice de rsistance of traditional Chinese banquets. "No shark's fin soup, you're cheap," said Li, summing up the prevailing ethos toward the steamy glutinous broth, for centuries a symbol of virility, wealth and power.

But in a move that has infuriated Li and others in this community, a bill recently introduced in the California legislature would ban the sale and possession of sharks' fins, including the serving of shark's fin soup.

Down the rickety alleyways and produce-laden byways of San Francisco's Chinatown, some see the proposed law as a cultural assault - a sort of Chinese Exclusion Act in a bowl.

Similar to a measure passed in Hawaii, the bill seeks to curtail shark finning, a brutal, bloody practice of the global trade in which the fins are typically hacked off a live shark, leaving it to die slowly as it sinks to the bottom of the sea.

In Hawaii, restaurants have until 30 June to cook or dispose of their fin inventories, and penalties for possession will be severe, with fines of 3,100 to 9,300 for a first offence.

Scientists say that despite the apparent cruelty there is growing international demand for shark's fin soup, especially popular with China's expanding middle class. As the once-ceremonial dish becomes more accessible, up to 73 million sharks are being killed a year.

The bill is attracting a motley group of supporters, including the state's sport and commercial fishermen's associations, aquariums, chefs, scientists and numerous environmental groups.

But the politics of soup has also highlighted a generational divide between eco-conscious children and their tradition-bound elders.

Charles Phan, the 48-year-old executive chef of the widely acclaimed restaurant the Slated Door, was weaned on the soup, cooked by his Chinese mother in Vietnam. But he has come out in favour of the fin ban, much to the chagrin of many Asian colleagues.

"The real message is not to eat the soup," he said. "Times have changed. When the ocean is decimated, you just can't afford to eat it," he said.

Although federal law prohibits bringing sharks ashore without fins attached, a loophole permits importing fins, which come primarily from China and Mexico, said John McCosker, chairman of the aquatic biology department at the California Academy of Sciences.Sharks like the great white are slow to reproduce and can take up to 15 years to mature, making farming virtually impossible.

Scientists say that as many as 90 per cent of sharks in the world's open oceans have disappeared. "They're among the ocean's most vulnerable animals," McCosker said. "The whole food web suffers when you take out the top-level predator."

Much to the consternation of some in the Chinese community, the proposed legislation in California was co-sponsored in the Assembly by Paul Fong, a Silicon Valley Democrat who grew up with shark's fin soup and spoke Cantonese at home.

"It's a horrific scene," he said of finning. "Being environmentally conscious, I took the scientists' side."

On the other side, State Senator Leland Yee, who is running for mayor of San Francisco, said the ban went too far, outlawing fins even from legally caught sharks.

"The practice of shark's fin soup has been in our culture for thousands of years," he said. "There ought to be a way to find a balance between the environment and preserving culture and heritage."

Shark fins come in varying grades, priced accordingly, with the thick caudal, or tail, fin, the most expensive. It can sell for nearly 500 for a 1.6-pound bag or 200 for a taffeta-ribboned gift pack.

At the R&G Lounge, a leading Chinatown restaurant, Kinson Wong, 58, defends the slippery delicacy.

"People come to America to enjoy the freedom, including what's on the plate," said Wong, who serves a double-boiled shark's fin soup for 9.30 a cup.

Eliminating shark's fin soup, he said, would cost waiters tips and cost the restaurant profits.

Li of Chung Chou City is irate about the bill, predicting a domino effect in Chinatown. "If the government stops shark fin, next will be the fish stomach," she said.

The tempest in a soup pot represents a seismic shift. Like many young people born in the Bay Area, Frank Wong, Kinson Wong's 31-year-old son, has mixed feelings about shark's fin, a fixture of his youth. "It's not as big a deal for me as it is for my parents," he said.

Even the elder Mr Wong admitted he might not recommend a lavish banquet with shark's fin soup when his son gets married.

"I suggest to him, don't have a banquet - keep the money," Wong said.