Exhibition teaches about plight of sharks

This article was written by Rita Fang and published by The Taiwan Journal on June 6, 2003.

Pingtung County's National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium is currently holding a six-month-long special exhibition on sharks. The exhibition is organized by the Western WildAid. According to the group's Web site, shark stocks are being overfished due to modern technology, indiscriminate fishing methods and increased demand for shark fin products. Up to 100 million sharks are slaughtered annually as the demand for shark fin soup, an expensive delicacy in Asian cuisine, has skyrocketed in the past two decades. The group is also opposed to the cruel practice of "finning," where a shark's fins are sliced off and the shark dumped back into the sea. No shark species are protected internationally and few countries have any management of shark fisheries whatsoever.