Yao Ming aims to quell China's appetite for shark fin
By Agence France-Presse
Fri, Dec 18 2009 at 3:47 AM EST
Photo: ZUMA Press NBA star and Shanghai Sharks owner Yao Ming urged China on Friday to say no to shark fin soup to stop the overfishing of some species amid growing demand for the delicacy.
The Houston Rockets centre who recently bought his hometown's professional team unveiled a television commercial aimed at wealthy Chinese which urges them to stop ordering shark fin soup.
"We have species that need our attention and protection," Yao told reporters at a press conference launching the campaign.
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The television advertisement produced for the San Francisco-based conservation group WildAid shows Yao pushing away a bowl of shark fin soup that is served to him in an upmarket restaurant.
"If you could see how shark fin is made, could you still eat it?" a voice asks as Yao looks at an aquarium in the dining room where a bleeding shark flails after its fin has been cut off.
One by one, sharply dressed diners push their bowls away as Yao says: "When the buying stops, the killing can too."
The ad will air on China Central Television -- the government's main broadcast mouthpiece -- and on screens in government buildings, a WildAid spokeswoman said.
WildAid President Steve Trent told reporters a recent survey in China found that two thirds of respondents did not know shark fin came from sharks.
Shark fin soup, which can cost more than $100 a bowl, is served at weddings and on important occasions to display wealth, but also because it is believed to improve one's health.
However, Trent said a 2007-2008 WildAid study indicated that a quarter of shark fin samples sold at Hong Kong markets were unfit for human consumption.
He added that high mercury levels commonly found in shark fin increased the risk of infertility and brain damage.
Growing demand for shark fin -- driven mainly by Chinese consumers -- had caused populations of some shark species to collapse by as much as 99 percent, WildAid said.
The shellfish industry also is threatened by the dwindling shark numbers, Trent said. Sharks help control populations of certain shellfish predators, which have multiplied wildly.
"With China's leadership, we can save the world's sharks," Trent said. "With Yao's help, this will happen a lot quicker."
Yao, who has been ranked as China's most successful celebrity six years running by Forbes magazine, has been a spokesman for shark preservation since 2006 and bought the Sharks basketball team in July.
"Hopefully in future our kids will learn about sharks not only from our team, but they can still see live sharks in the ocean -- not too close," he told reporters after the news conference.
Copyright 2009 AFP Asian Edition
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Comments(3)
Posted By Brian - Mon, Dec 21 2009 at 3:47 PM ESTThis man is my new hero
And to think that I used to think professional athletes were a bunch of self-absorbed pompous narcissists. Mr. Ming is a breath of fresh air in his field and a class act! Please keep it up, Sir.
Posted By RARC - Sun, Dec 20 2009 at 12:21 PM ESTAlso Applies to the Slaughter of Dolphins
Logic and scientific facts alone will not stop the continued slaughter of sharks any more than it will that of whales and dolphins. Heightened public interest and concern will be achieved by appealing to the heart as well as the head. Please read my blog http://whaleanddolphintalk.blogspot.com/
Time is running out
A lot is being done about securing the future of our great planet regarding the out-let of ozone, combatting hunger and starvation, fighting dieseases and putting an end to poverty.
In the meantime the great Apex Predators of the oceans, which has been around for more than 400 million years, are in dire straits and in great need of the same kind of focus.
Each and every day (year round) more than 40.000 sharks are finned and left to die a horrible death by drowning as only the fins are.... More