Shark Fin Soup

[Catapult]

So a new item was introduced to us through the patch notes, the food item Shark Fin Soup.

The massive fin of a megalodon, boiled in a rich Far Eastern broth until soft and gelatinous.

Could we please get this re-named, or at least something amended to the flavour text?

While often seen as a delicacy in the East, it is a very controversial dish in the West. This is because of the practice of catching the shark only for its fin and returning the shark to the sea where it subsequently dies a slow and painful death. In the current state, Square Enix risks being considered an endorser of such a controversial dish as a delicacy, rather than holding at least a neutral stance or even acknowledging the controversial nature of the dish.

Options could be to:
- remove the reference to shark fin all together, and simply describe it as a shark broth.
- re-write the flavour text discussing how, due to demand, megalodons used to be harvested solely for the fin. That is, until pressure from the Seedseers of Gridania led to the outlawing of the practice and a requirement that the whole shark be used.
- describe how the practice of finning sharks is outlawed in the Black Shroud, but that hasn't stopped the Ul'dahns from trading in the delicacy.

[Wakabo]

Oh my god who caaaaaaares

[Sessurea]

This is a virtual world.

[EdenArchangel]

Wouldn't eating anything that is part of a living thing offend someone, somewhere?

[ish007xx]

[Hyouretsuzan]

How come you're not up about it with shark oil then? We gotta kill them for their oil, ya know.

[Catapult]

How come you're not up about it with shark oil then? We gotta kill them for their oil, ya know.

Mundanely, shark oil and fish oil are by-products of the wider aquaculture industry, tying in with the practice of using as much of the Catch as possible.
That fish you bought from the store called "flake" - it was probably shark.

But when most of the value of the catch is just in a small part of the animal because of insatiable demand for the delicacy, sustainable fishing practices start getting disregarded. The finning practice that was subsequently developed removes only the fin from the shark and returns it to the water where the Shark then dies a slow and painful death. And this can be inflicted upon swathes of populations at a time, knocking ecosystems out of kilter. This is why Shark Fin Soup is a problem.

[chococo]

The large selection of meats in the game is gonna upset vegetarians.

[Toblerone]

The large selection of meats in the game is gonna upset vegetarians.

No they don't. I'm a veggie in real life but my character isn't. My bard still eats Lava Toad Legs even if I wouldn't eat frog legs.

That being said, I agree with OP. There's a difference between meat in general and something like Shark Fin Soup where animals are threatened because of it. Having it in game reflects the opinions about it of the developers, and therefore could be construed as support for the product.

I encourage anyone to read about the struggle of sharks here: http://fin-free.com/factsheets/top-r...o-ban-the-fin/

[Mholito]

I don't think this is anything to make a fuss over! Especially because you can't just cut off the fin and toss it into the sea in the game.