Eug
Senior Member
The guy's calling the Chinese community racists, and now you're trying to make light of it. Lame attempt at humour if there ever was one.
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City councillors wants to ban shark fin soup
- Thread starter Eug
- Start date
Register123
Active Member
There is absolutely nothing to with race with regards to this issue, what a lame attempt at trying to validate an extremely inhumane practice.
AKS
Senior Member
Humans in general are inhumane. If we were humane, we would all become vegans. Just because we bought it from the supermarket doesn't mean an animal wasn't slaughtered to be sold to humans.
Eug
Senior Member
Well, to be fair, there are more "humane" ways of slaughter than others. There is a certain standard that must be met for slaughtered Canadian livestock for example.
However, what some of the posts here do seem to illustrate is that the misinformation from some of the anti-shark fin advocates has taken hold. Like I've said before the authorities abhor the practice of live finning (as do I), because it is "inhumane" and it isn't necessary. What so many people forget is that the vast majority of shark fins don't actually come from live finning.
js97
Senior Member
Ever have veal, baby rack lamb, or even foie gras? The only difference between those dishes and shark fin is culture and race. So why aren't councillors going after those dishes? I wouldnt' say it's not much of a stretch. One could argue Shark Fin may be more humane as the animal is at least allowed to live a natural and 'free' life - How do you think they get the liver/meat so tender? They overfeed and deprive them of exercise...
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RC8
Senior Member
1. I don't eat meat, so I'm not a hypocrite when I call for this ban.
2. I'm not calling anyone racist. I'm saying that their view is conservative insensitive and backwards. Just like racism. I know many Chinese who support the ban on shark fins, so it clearly has nothing to do with ethnicity. My father was born in Beijing.
3. While live-finning is inhumane and is an issue, I believe the biggest issue here is that shark populations are dwindling and decreasing. I would like to see the marine ecosystem preserved as well as possible, that is, fishing only at a rate at which populations can replenish themselves over the course of a year. Instead we'll just keep bringing species to extinction until we are left with nothing - for what? So that you can enjoy a meal slightly more? Senseless destruction in my opinion, when fishing at sustainable rates would still allow for widespread consumption and preservation.
4. As much as I disapprove of veal, etc. (and I strongly do) At least they are not wild animals being hunted.
2. I'm not calling anyone racist. I'm saying that their view is conservative insensitive and backwards. Just like racism. I know many Chinese who support the ban on shark fins, so it clearly has nothing to do with ethnicity. My father was born in Beijing.
3. While live-finning is inhumane and is an issue, I believe the biggest issue here is that shark populations are dwindling and decreasing. I would like to see the marine ecosystem preserved as well as possible, that is, fishing only at a rate at which populations can replenish themselves over the course of a year. Instead we'll just keep bringing species to extinction until we are left with nothing - for what? So that you can enjoy a meal slightly more? Senseless destruction in my opinion, when fishing at sustainable rates would still allow for widespread consumption and preservation.
4. As much as I disapprove of veal, etc. (and I strongly do) At least they are not wild animals being hunted.
AKS
Senior Member
What makes wild animals being hunted any better than animals raised for food? Just because they live in the wild, they're better than the ones raised on farms so the ones raised on farms are okay to kill and feed to humans. Ones living in the wild are precious and should be saved? If that's so I hope if there's ever reincarnation, I end up in the wild. It's a double standard.
RC8
Senior Member
I'm just regretting the type of ecological destruction that the seas are subject too just because you can't grasp their health so easily. People would not (and do not) tolerate the scale at which sea animals are killed for consumption. We think back to the extermination of bison as a tragedy, but people show a similar disregard for massively important animals like cod or tuna.
There's different ways to destroy an environment, though. If you 80 have hectares of ecosystem X and you destroy 30 hectares of it for cattle-ranching and leave the rest alone, you caused a certain type of regrettable damage.
If you take the same 80 hectares of ecosystem X and you don't 'destroy' anything directly, but rather find a very important species in its food chain and you selectively eradicate it, you have probably managed to damage pretty much all 80 hectares permanently.
The moral loss is greater with the cow, I think. Cows are fairly smart and nice. Sharks are vicious, though they are just doing what they do. But the damage done to the ecosystem when you remove a wild animal from it at an unsustainable rate is arguably greater than the one from cattle-ranching assuming the land was cleared decades ago. Factoring the carbon footprint of cattle-ranching specifically might just make them equivalently damaging. Something like farmed rabbits would be ecologically the most sustainable thing to farm for food, probably.
js97
Senior Member
Yes, I totally agree. But I wanted to point out that the support and initiative for this ban is based on the qualitative aspects of the food and its procurement, rather than the actual quantitative environmental impact it has. A bunch of politicians getting their names in the media at the cost of reducing cultural diversity (that the left projects itself to be so tolerant of), and the whole government hand dictating what we should eat/not eat. That's what bothers me the most.
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RC8
Senior Member
That's like saying we shouldn't prosecute criminals who kill Canadians in Sudan because the government is setting double-standards by not prosecuting criminals who kill Sudanese in Sudan.
It's wrong to kill sharks and eat them. It's also wrong to do that with a bunch of other animals, but in democracy most people need to be in favour or against something for it to become a reality. Sharks got lucky, and it's better they did than they didn't.
I bet that everyone who opposes the shark fin sales also opposes the Canadian seal hunt. It's got nothing to do with this being a 'foreign' issue.
AKS
Senior Member
Well, depends which topic. But the seal hunt was a world wide issue. EU put a ban to seal pelt or something because people were angry how they were harvested. Canadians were against it because it meant they couldn't export it to them anymore. If the benefit is towards Canadians, they seem to be against it. But I guess shark hunting is not to Canadian benefit, so they seem to see fit to ban it. I don't know if EU has banned sharks.
RC8
Senior Member
This is a Toronto issue at this stage. Most people I've met in this city aren't very fond of the seal hunt or the tar sands. The Federal government supports both, and is unlikely to take action on sharks.
dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
On Thursday Bill C380 was introduced in the House of Commons, just as I suggested needed to happen months ago. We'll see where it goes from here but I'm very optimistic. Comparing the tar sands and seal hunts is a whole different issue than shark fins.
AKS
Senior Member
I don't think seal hunts and sharks fins issue is all that much apart. They claim it's inhumane to hunt sharks for their fins and sharks are dying out. I say it's inhumane to club seals to death. I'm sure the seals population will be in danger soon or later too if they keep at it. They don't multiply like fishes.