Cruelty in a bowl

I read with increasing concern your report, "Soup causes stir - at £108 a bowl" (10 May). Sharks are increasingly endangered animals that are highly susceptible to over-exploitation.

For example In the north-west Atlantic, as a result of by-catch and targeted fishing, the numbers of endangered, tiger, blue and oceanic whitetip shark have dropped by more than 50 per cent, and scalloped hammerhead, white and thresher sharks by more than 75 per cent in the past 15 years.

The same is probably true the world over, given the increasing appetite for shark fin soup. Such a fate is particularly cruel, since the fin is essentially tasteless and added only for status.

Scotland is home to at least 18 species of shark, including the mighty basking shark, which is justly protected in our waters, but extremely vulnerable beyond 12 nautical miles.

One set of fins can fetch 1,500; this is a devastating economic pressure on a slow-growing, late-maturing creature that produces only six pups per litter.

I would discourage consumption of shark fin soup. Your report only served to perpetuate its bogus "elite" status.

May I recommend that your readers visit the Marine Conservation Society website, www.fishonline.org, and peacefully boycott restaurants or stores that stock shark fins or shark fin soup.

They could also help conserve sharks by reporting any basking shark sightings this summer to MCS at www.mcsuk.org.

CALUM DUNCAN

Scottish Officer, MCS

Coates Place

Edinburgh