Shark Fin Ban Still Alive

“Hopefully we can work with all parties,” said Rep. Karamatsu.  “We’ve scheduled a hearing Tuesday afternoon at two o’clock.”

Although the practice of removing a shark’s fins while discarding the rest of the fish is illegal in Hawaiian waters, wholesalers import tons of shark fins into Hawaii every year.

The shark fins are used in shark fin soup, a Chinese delicacy that can sell for as much as $55 a bowl.

“Hawaii is sort of the distribution point in the Pacific,” said Stefanie Brindle, president of Shark Allies, an environmental group lobbying in favor of the shark fin ban.

Environmental activist Carroll Cox first shed light on the sale of shark fins in Hawaii from the Marshall Islands nearly two years ago when he videotaped a wholesaler conducting business out of Pier 34.

After Cox’s extensive investigation Brindle’s group conducted its own probe, this time using undercover cameras with actor/activist Hann Es Jaenicke posing as a restaurateur.

In the German documentary “Wildlife Underground: Sharks” Jaenicke can be seen entering a storage room at Pier 34 that the wholesaler says is filled with three to four tons of dried shark fins.

“One shark only one piece,” the unidentified wholesaler says at one point in the video in broken English and a thick Chinese accent. “One piece stand for one shark.”

The Humane Society of the United States is closely tracking the progress of the proposed ban in Hawaii, saying the island state would be seen as a global leader in the protection of sharks if the bill passes.

“With these massive loopholes (in the law) there are particular species that are really on the verge of collapse if not extinction,” said Inga Gibson, Hawaii State Director of the U.S. Humane Society.   

“This measure is so critical,” she added, “not only to protect Hawaii's sharks and our ocean ecosystems, but the world's population of sharks.”

CULTURAL SENSITIVITIES

While many consider the practice of shark fining cruel and inhumane, others say shark fin soup is part of the Asian culture.

"Especially Chinese,” said David Ho, owner of Kirin Restaurant in Moiliili, which features shark fin soup on its menu. 

“They (the Chinese) don't think eating shark fin is a sin,” Ho said emphatically.  “If they ban shark fishing they should ban say big fish fishing too.”  

Karamatsu says after a meeting with House leaders Thursday, members of the Judiciary Committee will likely try to find some sort of compromise on the proposed ban.

“Maybe we look at the (shark) fins that come in has to be attached (to the rest of the fish),” he said. 

Karamatsu believes those strongly in favor of the continued consumption of shark fin are not always the most vocal.

“So we want to see how we can address their concerns as well,” he said.

However the bottom line for environmentalists lies in the health of the oceans’ ecosystems, which Gibson says relies on a healthy shark population.

“As their populations decline it affects all other species and the entire ocean's ecosystem.”