A delicacy falling off menus of Hong Kong

HONG KONG - When Steven Leung and Sylvia Cheung wed in this southern Chinese financial center recently, they lavished their guests with one sumptuous dish after another - bird nest soup, lobster, abalone.

One traditional dish was missing from the 13-course Cantonese banquet: shark fin soup.

"I saw the cruelty in shark slaughtering in online videos," Leung said, referring to the practice of hacking off the fins of sharks, then throwing them back. "The way the fish is dumped back into the water - it is just inhumane."

Shark fins are vastly more profitable to sell in Asian markets than shark meat.

The Hong Kong couple are part of a growing grassroots movement in this global hub of shark fin consumption to remove the staple of gourmet Chinese cuisine from menus.

"Shark fin is not a necessity at banquets, as long as guests are well-treated and there is good food," Cheung said. "We have great substitutes for the soup that are equally as prestigious and exquisite."

For centuries, shark fin, usually served in a soup, has been a coveted delicacy in Chinese cooking, extolled for its supposed ability to boost sexual potency, enhance skin quality, increase one's energy (or "chi"), prevent heart diseases, and lower cholesterol.

It is an especially cherished menu item in wealthy Hong Kong, a pricey status symbol for its status-conscious people. Depending on the quantity and the quality of the fin in the soup, the dish can cost from $10 to $150 a bowl.

"Hong Kong is the Grand Central Station in the shark fin trade," said Canadian filmmaker Rob Stewart, who chronicled the shark-hunting industry in the 2007 documentary Sharkwater.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature estimates that the former British colony handles from 50 percent to 80 percent of the global shark fin trade. Hong Kong was the world's top importer of shark fin in 2007, taking in 10,209 metric tons, or a total value of $276.7 million, according to the latest figures from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

However, activists such as Stewart are making an impression on younger Hong Kongers such as the Leungs by exposing the gruesome toll taken by the dining habits of their parents.

As many as 73 million sharks are killed annually for their fins, according to a 2006 study - based on a statistical analysis of the shark fin trade - by fisheries expert Shelley Clarke, a visiting researcher at London's Imperial College.

Shark populations have plummeted from overfishing, with nearly a third of open ocean sharks facing extinction, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

In April, Hawaii banned the sale and possession of shark fin. The campaign is now gaining ground in Hong Kong.

Computer engineer Clement Lee set up a Facebook group in March urging locals to cut their gift money to newlyweds by 30 percent if they serve shark fin soup at their wedding banquets. The group has 18,000 supporters.

Since June, the Hong Kong environmental group Green Sense has signed up 182 primary and secondary schools for their "Sharks We Care" campaign, with the schools pledging not to serve shark fin at banquets and activities.

Responding to the new consciousness, local restaurants are offering shark-fin-free menus. Chinese restaurant chain L.H. Group said the response had been positive.

Shark fin traders also are noticing the shift in attitudes.

"Our shark fin business has dropped considerably," said Mak Ching-Po, chairman of the Hong Kong Dried Seafood and Grocery Merchants Association. He would not give an exact figure.

Still, outside observers say conservation activists are waging a tough battle against a deep-rooted tradition.

"Some restaurants may boycott shark fin," Hong Kong Chefs Association chairman Andreas Muller said, "but there are others who will continue. It's a custom, same as eating sausage in Germany."

It also is unclear whether the newfound awareness in Hong Kong will filter through to mainland China, where increasingly affluent residents are developing a taste for expensive dining.