Politician Takes on Shark-fin Soup in Restaurants

Sharks would only swim in the oceans and not soup, if state Assemblyman Paul Fong has anything to do with it.

Fong (D-Mountain View) and Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) figuratively jumped into shark-infested waters when they announced that they had introduced Assembly Bill 376 aimed to make it illegal to possess, sell, trade or distribute shark fins in California. They announced it at a press conference at San Francisco's California Academy of Sciences on Feb. 14. The bill was referred to the Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee Thursday.

“Current laws that ban the practice of shark finning are insufficient when we have species of sharks depleted up to 90 percent,” Fong said in a statement. “The demand for shark fin is growing, and the worldwide shark population is depleting to extinction rates. I say it is time to remove shark fin from the menu.”

Shark fin soup is considered a delicacy and associated with wealth in many Asian-American cultures, however, and has support from another powerful Chinese-American in the state Legislature.

State Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) opposes the move to criminalize the fin trade, calling it an assault on Asian-American culture.

In a statement, Yee said the bill "is the wrong approach and an unfair attack on Asian culture and cuisine."

Fong, a native of China, quickly dismissed the cultural argument. He said the legislation has been motivated by the practice of "shark finning," in which sharks of any species are caught, their marketable fins cut off and the less-valued remains of the still-living fish discarded.

In Mountain View and Palo Alto, where many Los Altans go to dine at Chinese restaurants, the Hong Kong Restaurant at 2650 W. El Camino Real and Fu Lam Mum at 155 Castro St., and Ming's at 1700 Embarcadero Road serve shark fin soup. Barry Luu, a waiter at Hong Kong, said that if shark fins were banned, people would get used to it.

"Many people in China are heavy smokers, and restaurant owners at the beginning thought that if there was no smoking in restaurants, they could lose business," said Liu. "Now everyone is under the law, and so no one complains."

Liu, who described the shark fin as tasteless, chewy and gummy, added that what people really enjoyed was the soup.

At Hong Kong Restaurant, shark fin soup as an appetizer costs $25.50 per person and as high as $308 for a table of 10. At Fu Lam Mum, an individual serving costs $38, a whole rack of shark fin costs $180, and for a table of 10, the cheapest price for a wedding banquet, it's $438.