Shark-fin soup was always a luxury dish in China, a sign of wealth and privilege. Unfortunately for the sharks, it’s become a status symbol for China’s skyrocketing middle class, fueling an insane market. The group WildAid estimates 100 million sharks are killed per year for their fins, which can sell for $500 a pound, so there’s serious motivation for impoverished fishermen to hunt down sharks.

Banning the harvest would be impossible - there are too many fishermen, the money is too good, and there are too many millions of miles of open ocean to catch sharks in. Which is why WildAid’s campaign is instead taking aim at the hearts and minds - as well as stomachs - of those Chinese diners. Yao Ming, the Chinese NBA all-star, has lent his celebrity status to the cause via billboards and commercials, and it seems to be working. Social pressure works well in the land of Confucius, and the vast majority of those who have seen the billboards say they’re going to rethink shark-fin soup.

Last year, WildAid had 200 billboards in Beijing for 3 months. In a survey, 19% of Beijingers responding remembered having seen the boards and 82% of those people said they would stop or reduce their consumption of shark fin soup.

More info from Stop Shark Finning,

Every year tens of millions of sharks die a slow death because of finning… the inhumane practice of hacking off the shark’s fins and throwing its still living body back into the sea. The sharks either starve to death, are eaten alive by other fish, or drown (if they are not in constant movement their gills cannot extract oxygen from the water)... Not only is the finning of sharks barbaric, but their indiscriminate slaughter at an unsustainable rate is pushing many species to the brink of extinction. Since the 1970s the populations of several species have been decimated by over 95%.

What can you do right now?

One option: For $100, you can buy one of those high-impact billboards, a partnership between WildAid and Shark Savers.  You can do it instantly on the Shark Savers website via credit card or Paypal.

You can join Shark Savers on Facebook and Twitter, the WildAid Facebook Group
There’s also this Facebook Group.

And you can also sign a petition to ban the slaughter of sharks in the Bahamas.

You can wear the anti-finning messag on a t-shirt.

And you can share the video around…