Shark fin, known in China as yu chi or "fish wing," is used as a textural additive to soup--a delicacy consumed by wealthy and powerful Chinese since at least the start of the Sung dynasty in 960 A.D. Once valued by a small group of the elite, growing prosperity has created broader demand for this high-status dish to celebrate weddings or business luncheons. A burgeoning demand for shark fin soup in both Asia and the West motivates fishers to kill the sharks only for their fins.

Finning is an ignoble death for an animal so consummately adapted to the sea. With only a tiny percentage of the animal consumed, this practice is also a terrible waste of food for a growing population reliant on protein from the sea. Despite recent estimates that less than 10 percent remain of some large oceanic shark populations, the hunt for shark fins is escalating, and the practice is unregulated in most parts of the world.

The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization estimates that over 100 million sharks are killed each year by finning and as bycatch. A 2006 study estimated that as many as 73 million sharks per year may be killed for fins alone, and the World Conservation Society estimates that the shark fin trade is growing by five percent a year.

Captive Ambassadors
Gripping my packaged fin and feeling depressed, I walk down to the waterfront a few blocks away. At a wharf along the Embarcadero, a fisherman pulls a struggling shark from the water, and a small crowd marvels as he removes the hook and releases it into the green waters below. "Some guys like to eat sharks. I just like to catch them and let them go." The fisherman says, recasting his line into the tidal flow.

The waters of San Francisco Bay are not nearly as clear as the waters of Polynesia, so it’s difficult to see, or to film, sharks here. You can, however, watch them in crystal-clear water farther up the waterfront at the Aquarium of the Bay. From inside the large shark tank, I have filmed a group of schoolchildren watching me as I dived with the sharks, while making a film on local sharks, City of the Shark. Surrounding me, in the film, are large sevengill sharks and smaller soupfins, leopard sharks, smoothhounds, and spiny dogfish. All live in my home waters. Swimming in a tank is not quite as exciting as diving with sharks in the wild, of course, nor is an aquarium true shark habitat, but I am moved to think that these captive animals are acting as ambassadors, impressing and educating the public about the beauty and importance of living sharks.

When we hear about sharks in the media, it is generally in the context of a shark scare or shark attack, especially when a great white shark is involved. Yet little is said about declining shark populations, or that many people encounter sharks in the wild without incident.

At the Farallon Islands, 28 miles west of the Golden Gate, a boat has brought a few intrepid tourists to enter a cage for a glimpse of a white shark in the flesh. An anxious group gathers near the stern of the boat and searches the rough waters encircled by barren rocks. I’m here to film, but am as interested in the tourists as in the sharks."White shark!" the divemaster exclaims, pointing excitedly as the group squeezes to the rail. Below in the cage, the divers get to see a truly wild animal in its own habitat. Most aboard have never seen a live shark before, and they leave the vessel with a feeling of respect and even admiration.

Cage operations are controversial, but shark tourism may raise awareness and help protect sharks. Some irresponsible practices such as chumming and feeding sharks have been eliminated in the Sanctuary. Perhaps seeing sharks first-hand--whether in a cage, an aquarium, or in the open ocean--will motivate more people to protect them. My own experience diving and filming sharks in the wild has convinced me that sharks are beautiful animals, and that all ocean life is important and worth protecting.

David McGuire is a diver, ocean voyager, field associate with the California Academy of Sciences, and independent filmmaker specializing in underwater cinematography. Based in San Rafael, he is the founder of Sea Stewards (http://seastewards.org), an organization dedicated to protecting sharks and advocating a healthy ocean. He is the writer, producer, and underwater cinematographer of Sharks: Stewards of the Reef (see http://trilliumfilms.net).