Please remove Shark Fin Soup

[Red_Wolf]

Please remove Shark Fin Soup from the game. Shark Finning is a destructive practice that has no place in reality or virtual reality. You may think that Shark Finning is the marine equivalent of Ivory poachers, but at least Ivory poachers have the decency to kill the elephant before removing their tusks for profit. Sharks are not as lucky. Their meat and carcass is essentially worthless so often their fins are carved off while they are still alive. The squirming body of the shark is then thrown back into the ocean to die a cruel death from blood loss and suffocation. It is not uncommon to kill one year old shark pups in this manner before they reach maturity.

Like most MMO’s, I thought this food item was merely a reference to Asian culture and could be overlooked. My opinion changed when I read a disturbing item description with an obvious political agenda. I find it interesting that SE justifies killing the Megalodon for it’s fins with the Shark Fin Soup item description:

“While not included in the soup, the remainder of the sharkflesh is salted and dried until rock hard, then shaved into paper-thin slices which, when boiled in hot water, create a savory soup that is the base of countless other recipes.”

This is an outright lie. A virtual lie because the only other recipe that includes Megalodon is a trophy recipe from GSM. The truth is that shark meat is not used as the broth in Shark Fin Soup or any other popular soup. It is not savory. Shark Fin Soup actually uses a pork or chicken broth. Ironically, the chicken broth is the only part of the soup that has any nutritional value or taste.

The fins make up about 5% of the shark’s body. Many Asian fisheries and docks have issued laws to prevent this barbaric slaughter of an animal for so little. There are laws that require fisherman to bring back the entire shark body back to the dock to be finned. However, given that the body has so little value it is more profitable to work around these laws than to comply with them. So there is an increase in black market sales, poor oversight of the fin to body ratio at docks, and fisheries that sail halfway across the world to South America and other less legislated countries. Docks and fishing ports that receive shark fins in this manner are usually put behind tall barbed wire fences with lookout towers. The prison-like security is mostly to prevent film crews from broadcasting these practices. There are no international fishing laws to prevent sharks from being finned alive at sea.

A conservative estimate is that 70-80 million sharks are killed every year for their fins alone. This is a significant environmental impact on our oceans’ eco system. The moral issue is that this practice is not to feed people. It is to provide a tasteless rubbery unbeneficial garnish to a bowl of chicken broth.

Do the right thing SE and stop perpetuating a lie. Please remove Shark Fin Soup from the game.

If any of you are interested in learning more, here are two common videos.
Yao Ming’s PSA:
http://youtu.be/mJG7RaLX-DM

Gordon Ramsay’s documentary:
http://youtu.be/4SAkq6lsnoE

[Ehayte]

This might be my favorite post ever.

Just for the record, I made that sentence up there ^^ as a post when the OP said, in its entirety:

Please remove Shark Fin Soup

Please remove Shark Fin Soup from the game.

I didn't know it was going to get so real.

[SendohJin]

it tastes so good though.

[Tiggy]

It's a video game. Not the real world. Our world does not effect Eorzea and Eorzeans having similar struggles as a real world make it more realistic. Taking this out just to be politically correct with the Earth's problems would be a massive over reach. We still read stories all the time about settings in the old America's with slavery. It's not cool to own slaves any more but should we go back and edit those books so it isn't present? No. That's part of the setting and part of a history worth remembering. It is deliberately a time and place that doesn't exist in the real world anymore just like Eorzea is a time and place that doesn't exist in the real world. In Eorzea overpopulation and over fishing aren't a problem. Don't mess with the setting due to some misguided political correctness that only has relevance on Earth. Shark Fin soup and the killing of sharks is part of our history. Ignoring the reality of it's existence in other forms of media does nothing but make you feel better at the end of the day. It doesn't erase our history, it doesn't repopulate our oceans with sharks, and it won't stop people from killing sharks. Eorzea isn't some pristine land with no problems and nothing but happiness and Unicorns. If over fishing of sharks will become a Eorzean problem then so be it. Don't create a problem with this game just because of the conditions on Earth.

Also, have you gone fishing in Eorzea? There are so many sharks it's unreal. Bathing suits are obtained by desynthing them to get at the clothes left in their bellies from the person they ate. Eorzea could stand to lose some sharks.

[drgonzo]

Yeah .... its a game .... what is freaking wrong with you... On another topic was about to go out for lunch.... Anyone wanna join me for some shark fin soup .... i tortured the shark just enough to make it nice and tender ....

[FranSeara]

It's a video game. Not the real world. Our world does not effect Eorzea and Eorzeans having similar struggles as a real world make it more realistic. Taking this out just to be politically correct with the Earth's problems would be a massive over reach. We still read stories all the time about settings in the old America's with slavery. It's not cool to own slaves any more but should we go back and edit those books so it isn't present? No. That's part of the setting and partmake you feel better at the end of the day. It doesn't erase our history, it doesn't repopulate our oceans with sharks, and it won't stop people from killing sharks. Eorzea isn't some pristine land with no problems and nothing but happiness and Unicorns. If over fishing of sharks will become a Eorzean problem then so be it. Don't create a problem with this game just because of the conditions on Earth.

This might be the only time I agree with you today Tiggy.
Good going!!!

[Stupiduglytaru]

OP kills bat, bat wing drops, OP npcs it

THIS IS AN OUTRAGE REMOVE ALL ANIMAL PART DROPS NOAW

[KaedrianLiang]

Wish more people would put this much effort to writing about the shark issue IRL. Over a game though? Get your priorities straight.


IRL simplified explanaton on the consequences of having sharks wiped out:

If sharks are wiped out, the fish(A) populations they prey on will grow out of control.

The fish(B) that fish(A) prey on will be wiped out, then the over abundant fish(A) population that wiped out their own food supply would be left to collapse on itself.

Then the fish(C) that were below fish(B) in the food chain would grow out of control like fish(A) and the cycle repeats itself all the way down the food chain, til theres nothing left.

Granted this process will take thousands of years once the Sharks are wiped out, nature may or may not find a way. Again though a simplified explanation.

[Tiggy]

This might be the only time I agree with you today Tiggy.
Good going!!!

I have my moments lol.

[Vejjiegirl]

it tastes so good though.

Actually according to some sources, Shark Fin soup is tasteless. People only eat the soup for the texture which is said to be chewy.