News Brief: Couples choose to leave shark fin off wedding menus

An animal rights protection group yesterday said that after a six-month campaign promoting a boycott of shark fin in wedding banquets, 14 couples have told them about their decision to serve shark fin-free meals, saving an estimated 1,738 sharks., the Taipei Times reports today (full article here).

The Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan (EAST) said that between 26 million and 73 million sharks are killed every year worldwide for shark fin dishes in Asia, taking a number of shark species to the brink of extinction.

Among the more than 400 species of sharks, 111 are close to becoming endangered species, the group said.

The group, in association with the Humane Society International, launched a campaign in June urging couples to say no to shark fin soup in their wedding banquets to stop the overfishing of sharks and thereby help maintain a sustainable ocean environment.

EAST said that although 44 couples expressed their support and willingness to join the campaign, many of them encountered family members who refused to give up the ingredient, especially senior family members who believe that face would be lost if costly shark fin soup was not included on the menu.

Fourteen couples have sent copies of their shark fin-free wedding banquet menus to the group, reaching a total of about 428 tables or 4,280 guests, the group said, adding that this may have saved 1,738 sharks.

News Brief: COA says food supplies good as Lunar New Year approaches

 

with the Lunar New Year holidays about to start, the Council of Agriculture says that it has helped to harmonize supplies of key products reaching wholesale markets, Radio Taiwan International reports today (full Chinese-language article here). 

The COA forecast that in the 5 days leading up to New Year, the supply of vegetables, fruit, fish and meat as well as flowers would be between 25 percent and 116 percent higher than normal, so the public did not have to panic buy.

 

News Brief: Life on a Taiwanese tuna boat

Student recounts Greenpeace experience

Amy Lan (藍之青), a 22-year old student from National Chengchi University’s department of diplomacy, shared her experiences about the two months she spent as a volunteer crewmember on Greenpeace vessel Esperanza on its mission to protect the Pacific and promote the establishment of ocean reserves in Western and Central Pacific Fisheries, the Taipei Times reports today (full article here).

Lan’s group encountered about 10 fishing vessels, four of which were Taiwanese, which she boarded to conduct interviews and better understand fishing conditions. She also saw first-hand how longline fishing is done.

An unforgettable episode from her journey was when the group saved a swordfish caught in the ropes of a tuna longline and watched as it swam away. The experience led her to think about the many fish killed as byproducts of tuna fishing.

Lan said she was surprised to see the hard lives of the fishermen, working on a small fishing boats in cramped conditions for seven to eight months at a time without docking and only making meager catches.

Text and photos © Taipei Times

Feature: Vegetarian Riddle

In case this blog is becoming a little "serious news heavy", here is a more light-hearted feature
(apologies for cross-posting):

吃素的人吃/喝什麼牛, 什麼雞, 什麼羊, 什麼馬, 什麼魚, 什麼猴, 什麼鼠, 什麼豬? …
What kind of "cow", "chicken", "sheep", "horse", "fish", "monkey", "rat" and "pig" products can vegetarians eat?
(8 answers in Chinese, each 2 or 3 characters, though other variations perhaps possible.)

[p.s. this is "environmental vegetarianism", therefore not 牛奶 (cow's milk) or 雞蛋 (chicken egg), i.e. no animal products]
[p.p.s. no 素雞 ("vegetarian chicken") or anything like that]

for an example of what is sought:
if it asked for “dragon”, the answer might be 龍眼  (longan; lit. "dragon eye") or 龍鬚菜 ("dragon whisker vegetable"; see photo)

                                                                               Text and photos © Jiyue Publications 2011

Discussion Topic: Should "environmental vegetarians" eat seafood?

Should I or shouldn't I?

For Buddhists, Yiguandao followers and other vegetarians motivated by a desire not to kill animals, the answer is easy: they view all meat eating as wrong.

For those following a vegetarian diet for health reasons, the issue is perhaps equally straight forward.

But for vegetarians whose primary motivation is environmental, in particular, the contribution to climate-change gas emissions of meat production, it is not. If harvested sustainably, what is the harm in eating fish and other seafood, such as these crabs currently promoted in Yeliu?

Crabs for sale at Yeliu, New Taipei City

                                                             Text and photos © Jiyue Publications 2011