Even in Europe shark's fin soup is eaten. The barbarity of the methods used in obtaining the fins can hardly be surpassed. They are cut from the living creatures, which are then tossed back in the water. Sharks reach sexual maturity only when 10-12 years old. Unlike other fish they do not pump thousands of eggs into the water.
Some species bear living offspring only every three to five years.
Alarmed scientists have drawn up lists of endangered species. Most at risk is the great white, which has been placed under protection in South Africa and North America. Everybody wants to rescue the rainforests and the whales, says Dr Thomas Hueter, a university scientist in Sarasota, Florida, but we should not draw a line between good and bad, beautiful and ugly. If we destroy the ecosystem of the ocean we shall have to face the consequences, and sharks play a vital role in keeping the seas healthy by ridding them of sick and injured fish and other creatures. Usually I am against fish-feeding as an attraction for divers and photographers.