Hong Kong- A hospital group that is Hong Kong's oldest and largest charitable organization has become the latest group to ban shark-fin soup from banquets, a newspaper reported Monday. The Tung Wah Group of Hospitals said it had decided to stop serving what is considered one of the most prized Chinese delicacies over concern about the world's declining shark population, the Standard said.
Shark fin has now been replaced by bird's nest or other Chinese-style soups.
Environmentalists estimates that millions of sharks are killed each month by finning, the process by which the fins of the shark are sliced off and the creature is left to die.
The Tung Wah group said it holds about 30 banquets a year for fund-raising and charity galas, and with up to 35 tables on each occasion, shark-fin soup can be a pricey dish because it typically costs up to 4,000 Hong Kong dollars (513 US dollars) per table.
Both Hong Kong Disneyland and the University of Hong Kong dropped shark-fin soup from their menus in 2005, but the Hong Kong government has so far refused requests from environmentalists to scrap the dish from banquets for visiting dignitaries.
