March 25, 2010 | 7 The Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) this week
decided not to create any new international trade restrictions
to protect five endangered shark species, all of which are
highly prized for their use in the Chinese delicacy known as
shark fin soup, or, as I call it, “extinction in a bowl.” Shark
fin soup is particularly unappetizing dish to conservationists,
as shark “finning” remains one of the most controversial hunting
or fishing activities in the world. Sharks are caught, their
fins are chopped off, and the bodies (which are not prized) are
dumped back into the ocean—often alive, where they suffer a
horrible death. The sharks that were denied protection include
three endangered hammerhead sharks (scalloped, great and
smooth), the oceanic whitetip and the spiny dogfish. The CITES
proposal would have added the species to CITES’ Appendix II,
which places very strict import and export restrictions on
species which would be threatened with