Malaysian ministry bans shark's fin soup

It's a beginning. Let us hope that other nations follow this example and that the ban will move from the ministries to the restaurants as well. Read on:

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Malaysia's Natural Resources and Environment Ministry has struck off shark's fin soup from the menus at official functions, to help conserve the species, a report said Saturday.

Minister Azmi Khalid told the official Bernama news agency that the ministry had made the commitment to the Malaysian Nature Society.

"By refraining from the consumption of shark's fin soup, it is hoped that the ministry would contribute in one way or another towards the current conservation efforts for sharks species," he said.

"Their demise would start off a domino effect, which at each stage could result in the depletion or overpopulation of other fish and marine species leading to an imbalance in the marine ecosystem," he said.

Malaysia's population is dominated by Muslim Malays, but there are also large ethnic Chinese and Indian communities.

Source AFP:

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5joY14wM8i-TlqgI17VnbqEM4X3DA

Contributed by Tim Hochgrebe added 2007-09-15