A US and a Taiwan conservation group are demanding that a Taiwan banquet hall stop serving shark’s fin to prevent sharks’ extinction, a newspaper said last week.
According to the United Daily News, the US-based Humane Society International (HSI) and the Environment & Animal Society of Taiwan (EAST) have asked Taiwanese authorities to stop the Silk Palace banquet hall in Taipei from serving shark’s fin.
In their petition to the Cabinet, the Council of Agriculture and the National Palace Museum, under which the Silk Palace banquet hall is attached, HSI and EAST said the Silk Palace, which opened in June, is the venue for state banquets and draws many foreign tourists.
Out of the restaurant’s nine set courses, eight have shark’s fin dishes or soup.
“Taiwan catches and imports a total of 600 tons (544 tonnes) 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 executive director Chu Tseng-hung said.
“Taiwan residents should boycott eating shark’s fin and the government should launch a campaign to raise public awareness,” he said.
Chu said harvesting shark’s fin is very cruel because after cutting off shark’s fin, fishermen throw sharks back into the sea to let them bleed to death. Killing sharks for shark’s fin will deplete shark populations and harm marine ecology.
National Palace Museum officials said that although the Silk Palace banquet hall is owned by the museum, its operation has been “outsourced.”
They said shark’s fin is an important part of a Chinese banquet, but the museum will see if it can make changes after carefully studying the petitions from HSI and EAST.
(DPA)
上週有一家報媒報導，美國和台灣的保育團體，要求台灣一家宴會餐廳停止供應魚翅，以防鯊魚絕種。
《聯合報》的報導指出，美國國際人道協會（HSI）和台灣動物社會研究會（EAST）已要求台灣有關當局，停止在台北「故宮晶華」宴會餐廳供應魚翅料理。
美國國際人道協會和台灣動物社會研究所送交行政院、農委會和國立故宮博物院的請願書中提到，六月在故宮開幕的故宮晶華推出國寶宴，吸引許多外國遊客前來。
但該餐廳提供的九種套餐中，就有八種套餐內含魚翅料理或湯品。
台灣動物社會研究會執行長朱增宏說：「台灣每年捕捉加上進口的魚翅就有六百噸（五百四十四公噸）。魚翅是奢華的食材。故宮晶華販售魚翅有損台灣的國際形象。」
他說：「台灣人民應拒吃魚翅，政府也該加強活動宣導。」
朱增宏說，魚翅的取得方式非常殘忍，漁民割下魚鰭後，就把鯊魚丟回海裡，任由牠們失血致死。為了魚翅捕殺鯊魚，將使鯊魚數量銳減，並危害海洋生態。
國立故宮博物院方面表示，雖然故宮擁有故宮晶華的所有權，但營運的部分卻是「委外」負責。
故宮表示，魚翅是中華宴席中一道重要的料理，他們會詳閱美國國際人道協會和台灣動物社會研究會的請願書後，再看看能否配合調整菜單。
（德通社／翻譯：袁星塵）
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