Shark fin defiance backfires

Taiyuan (CNS) – 2800 shark fins were distributed for free by a restaurant in Taiyuan, capital of North China's Shanxi Province, on December 3, in what the owner of the restaurant described as an activity to respond to Yao Ming's appeal to protect the creature. He added that the give-away of these shark fins brought a 50 million yuan loss to the restaurant.

Not everyone is appreciative of the counter-conservation event. One citizen, a Mr. Yao doubts the owner's motives and assumes that it is "a kind of advertising for his restaurant, not a genuine boycott".

The owner, for his part, says that he was also touched and inspired by the newly released documentary film Ocean, in which some species are getting endangered due to people'a appetite to them. He explains that he has the responsibilty to reject shark fins and the activity is not a show. He promises to find artificial substitutes for the foods made by natural creatures.