The country's most exclusive restaurant gave in to protests from US and Taiwanese conservation groups yesterday and agreed to remove shark’s fin from its banquet menus.
“We plan to replace the shark’s fin dish in our State Treasure Banquet and serve artificially raised abalone and sea cucumber,” said Chang Yun, a spokeswoman for Silk Palace restaurant.
However, the Environment & Animal Society of Taiwan (EAST) has demanded the restaurant remove shark’s fin completely, not just from the special menu.
“What they are doing is removing shark’s fin from the State Treasure Banquet, but it will still be served to individual diners. We demand a total ban on shark’s fin,” EAST director Chen Yu-min (陳玉敏) said.
The Silk Palace agreed to the compromise after EAST and the US-based Humane Society International (HSI) urged the government to stop the banquet hall from serving shark’s fin.
The newly opened luxury restaurant is affiliated with the National Palace Museum.
In their petition to the Cabinet, the Council of Agriculture and the museum, HSI and EAST argued that Silk Palace was the venue for state banquets and drew many foreign tourists as well.
Of the restaurant’s four State Treasure banquet set meals and five individual diner’s set meals, eight include shark fin soup or shark fin dishes.
“Taiwan catches and imports a total of 600 tons [sic] of shark’s fin each year. Shark’s fin is a luxury food. Serving shark’s fin at the Silk Palace damages Taiwan’s international image,” EAST said in a statement. “Taiwan residents should boycott eating shark’s fin and the government should launch a campaign to raise public awareness.”
EAST said harvesting shark’s fin was very cruel because after cutting off shark’s fin, fishermen throw sharks back into the sea, letting them bleed to death.
Killing sharks for their fins depletes the population and the disappearance of the predators has serious consequences for the marine environment, the statement said.
A study of shark populations by the World Conservation Union has concluded that 111 species of sharks are under serious threat, with 20 classified as critically endangered, 25 classified as endangered and 66 classified as vulnerable, EAST said.
The organizations urged the museum to set an example by demonstrating its commitment both at home and abroad to protecting marine ecosystems and animal welfare.
The Silk Palace banquet hall outside the museum was built at a cost of NT$400 million (US$13 million). It opened to the public late last month.
A 12-course State Treasure Banquet for 10 people costs about NT$20,000, while an eight or nine-course menu for one person costs between NT$1,000 and NT$3,000.
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