Disney Cruelly Cuts the Fins Off of Sharks for Money

Disney Cruelly Cuts the Fins Off of Sharks for Money

Commentary by Paul Watson
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society


Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck Feast on Shark Fin Soup
in Hong Kong

Good old Uncle Walt must be turning over in his grave.
Michael Eisner has made it plain that everything
Disney has stood for has been a fraud. The bottom line
is money.

Money, money, and more money, and they don't seem to
care how they get the money.

Screw Bambi, the real spirit of Disney is symbolized
more by Cruella DeVille than by Snow White or
Tinkerbell.

If the price is right, Eisner will serve any creature
on a plate.

The Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel is hosting Chinese
banquet wedding receptions starting at HK$11,457
(US$1,472) a table. The most expensive package is
HK$15,857 (US$2,080) per table.

Although Disney claims to be environmentally friendly,
the Disneyland Hotel is serving - shark fin soup for
elite guests.

A bowl of shark fin soup averages US$400 in Hong Kong.


Shark populations are crashing worldwide because of
both the legal and the illegal trade in shark fins.
The sharks are captured on linglines, the fins are
sliced off, and then the sharks (many still alive) are
tossed back into the ocean. This is a worldwide
problem. Shark fins are making their way to Asia from
Central and South America, from Africa and from India.
There is no safe place for a shark in the world's
oceans because of this trade.

Yet Disney public relations manager Esther Wong, said
in a prepared statement, "Hong Kong Disneyland takes
environmental stewardship very seriously but we are
equally sensitive to the local cultures." It is
customary for Chinese restaurants and 5-star hotels to
serve shark fin soup in Hong Kong as the dish is
considered as an integral part of Chinese banquets.''

In other words environmental stewardship means little
to Disney and maintaining the five stars takes
precedence. Apparently to earn five stars, a
restaurant must contribute towards making sharks
extinct. The eating of shark fin soup is considered a
sign of affluence in Hong Kong, and not serving it at
a wedding banquet is considered to be a "loss of
face."

Hong Kong has refused to sign any international
conservation treaty that opposes the trade in shark
fin. Shark fin soup is legal in Hong Kong but the
official Disney policy, found on its Web site, states
the company will "work to identify issues that may not
yet be identified in the law, but could result in
adverse environmental effects.''

A 2004 survey by The International Union for the
Conservation of Nature found that out of 262 shark
species around the world, 56 were endangered. The
National Geographic Society reported in 2003 that
50-85 percent of the world's shark fin trade came
through Hong Kong. China exports 4,000 tons of the
fins a year, according to a Toronto Globe and Mail
report.

Shark fins are big business in Hong Kong, both legally
and illegally. A paper by Peter Gastrow, of the
Organized Crime and Corruption Programme with the
Institute for Security Studies in South Africa, said
in a 2001 report that Hong Kong triads have been
linked to the shark fin trade in South Africa.

The Hong Kong Tourist Board is also encouraging the
shark fin trade. A letter from Selina Chow, the
chairman of the board, on July 11, 2002 wrote in an
email to Tristan Green, a Hong Kong diving club
member, "Shark fin is a legal product in Hong Kong and
it would be untenable for us to discriminate against
shops or restaurants offering this product by refusing
to list them in our publicity.''

All over the world the Sea Shepherd Conservation
Society is encountering and seizing longlines and
driftnets that target sharks. We have documented the
slaughter of sharks in the National Parks of the
Galapagos, the Costa Rican National Park of Cocos
Island, and the Colombian National Park of Malpelo
Island.

These beautiful and ecologically-beneficial creatures
are being systematically destroyed and for what - so
people can demonstrate that they have wealth, so they
can impress their friends and family. This is not a
cultural tradition; it is an exercise in environmental
arrogance and a demonstration of ecological ignorance.


The people who order shark fin soup are contributing
to the demise of hundreds of species of sharks, and
for Disneyland Hotels to be contributing to this
diminishment is a disgrace.

Posted on www.seashepherd.org

Disney Cruelly Cuts the Fins Off of Sharks for Money

Commentary by Paul Watson
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society


Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck Feast on Shark Fin Soup
in Hong Kong

Good old Uncle Walt must be turning over in his grave.
Michael Eisner has made it plain that everything
Disney has stood for has been a fraud. The bottom line
is money.

Money, money, and more money, and they don't seem to
care how they get the money.

Screw Bambi, the real spirit of Disney is symbolized
more by Cruella DeVille than by Snow White or
Tinkerbell.

If the price is right, Eisner will serve any creature
on a plate.

The Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel is hosting Chinese
banquet wedding receptions starting at HK$11,457
(US$1,472) a table. The most expensive package is
HK$15,857 (US$2,080) per table.

Although Disney claims to be environmentally friendly,
the Disneyland Hotel is serving - shark fin soup for
elite guests.

A bowl of shark fin soup averages US$400 in Hong Kong.


Shark populations are crashing worldwide because of
both the legal and the illegal trade in shark fins.
The sharks are captured on linglines, the fins are
sliced off, and then the sharks (many still alive) are
tossed back into the ocean. This is a worldwide
problem. Shark fins are making their way to Asia from
Central and South America, from Africa and from India.
There is no safe place for a shark in the world's
oceans because of this trade.

Yet Disney public relations manager Esther Wong, said
in a prepared statement, "Hong Kong Disneyland takes
environmental stewardship very seriously but we are
equally sensitive to the local cultures." It is
customary for Chinese restaurants and 5-star hotels to
serve shark fin soup in Hong Kong as the dish is
considered as an integral part of Chinese banquets.''

In other words environmental stewardship means little
to Disney and maintaining the five stars takes
precedence. Apparently to earn five stars, a
restaurant must contribute towards making sharks
extinct. The eating of shark fin soup is considered a
sign of affluence in Hong Kong, and not serving it at
a wedding banquet is considered to be a "loss of
face."

Hong Kong has refused to sign any international
conservation treaty that opposes the trade in shark
fin. Shark fin soup is legal in Hong Kong but the
official Disney policy, found on its Web site, states
the company will "work to identify issues that may not
yet be identified in the law, but could result in
adverse environmental effects.''

A 2004 survey by The International Union for the
Conservation of Nature found that out of 262 shark
species around the world, 56 were endangered. The
National Geographic Society reported in 2003 that
50-85 percent of the world's shark fin trade came
through Hong Kong. China exports 4,000 tons of the
fins a year, according to a Toronto Globe and Mail
report.

Shark fins are big business in Hong Kong, both legally
and illegally. A paper by Peter Gastrow, of the
Organized Crime and Corruption Programme with the
Institute for Security Studies in South Africa, said
in a 2001 report that Hong Kong triads have been
linked to the shark fin trade in South Africa.

The Hong Kong Tourist Board is also encouraging the
shark fin trade. A letter from Selina Chow, the
chairman of the board, on July 11, 2002 wrote in an
email to Tristan Green, a Hong Kong diving club
member, "Shark fin is a legal product in Hong Kong and
it would be untenable for us to discriminate against
shops or restaurants offering this product by refusing
to list them in our publicity.''

All over the world the Sea Shepherd Conservation
Society is encountering and seizing longlines and
driftnets that target sharks. We have documented the
slaughter of sharks in the National Parks of the
Galapagos, the Costa Rican National Park of Cocos
Island, and the Colombian National Park of Malpelo
Island.

These beautiful and ecologically-beneficial creatures
are being systematically destroyed and for what - so
people can demonstrate that they have wealth, so they
can impress their friends and family. This is not a
cultural tradition; it is an exercise in environmental
arrogance and a demonstration of ecological ignorance.


The people who order shark fin soup are contributing
to the demise of hundreds of species of sharks, and
for Disneyland Hotels to be contributing to this
diminishment is a disgrace.

Posted on www.seashepherd.org