Asian Rights Group Fights Shark Fin Ban
California’s criminalization of possessing and selling shark fins is unconstitutional, the Asian American Rights Committee of California claims in state court.
“Shark fin soup is an Asian cultural delicacy with origins in the Ming Dynasty. It is a ceremonial centerpiece of traditional Chinese banquets, as well as celebrations of weddings and birthdays of one’s elders,” the committee’s complaint states.
The group claims that Assembly Bills 376 and 853, co-authored by Paul Fong, who is of Chinese descent, violate the Constitution’s interstate commerce clause and constitute an unlawful taking of private property.
As of July 1, 2013, owning or selling shark fins in California will be punishable by up to six months in prison and a $1,000 fine.
The Legislature passed the law to try to stop “shark finning,” in which a shark’s fin is cut off and the live shark is tossed back into the ocean to die a slow death.
A pound of shark fin can fetch up to $600.
“By outlawing the acquisition, possession or sale of shark fins in California, the Shark Fin Ban not only burdens but entirely eliminates this interstate trade.”
The group claims its members “supply nearly 100 percent of the shark fins consumed by Asian Americans in California.” Its members also supply shark fins to most large cities in the U.S.
The group seeks declaratory and injunctive relief preventing the state from enforcing the ban.
It is represented by Christopher Carr with Morrison & Foerster.
Nice to see us Asian Americans sticking up for something regardless of its profit potential.
Source Courthousenews.com
Shark fins contain high levels of a neurotoxin called BMAA, which is linked to neurodegenerative diseases in humans such as Alzheimer’s and Lou Gehrig’s disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), according to a new study.
The findings suggest that people who eat shark fin soup and shark cartilage pills may be at significant risk for these diseases, the University of Miami researchers warned.
The scientists tested seven shark species — blacknose, blacktip, bonnethead, bull, great hammerhead, lemon and nurse — in waters throughout South Florida.
“The concentrations of BMAA in the samples are a cause for concern, not only in shark fin soup, but also in dietary supplements and other forms ingested by humans,” study co-author Deborah Mash, director of the University of Miami Brain Endowment Bank, said in a university news release.
The new study was published Feb. 21 in the journal Marine Drugs.
In a study published in 2009, Mash and her colleagues found that patients dying of Alzheimer’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis had unusually high levels of BMAA in their brains, up to 256 nanograms per milligram (ng/mg). In comparison, healthy people had only trace amounts or no BMAA in their brains.
The new study found BMAA levels of between 144 and 1,836 ng/mg in the shark fins.
Many shark species are on the road to extinction because of the demand for shark fin soup, the authors said. “Because sharks play important roles in maintaining balance in the oceans, not only is shark fin soup injurious to the marine environment, but our study suggests that it is likely harmful to the people who are consuming them,” co-author Neil Hammerschlag, director of the university’s marine conservation program, said in the news release.